Update

As we approach the end of our Bible study, it's time to look ahead to the fall. At our last meeting I handed out a sheet of announcements. If you missed it, be sure to ask me for the information at our final meeting on April 21, or let me know and I can email the document to you. It covers our summer reading assignment, the date of our first meeting in September, and a request to show our support to the church for giving us space for our meetings.

At Thursday's meeting we had a brief discussion about the Sacrament of Penance. Once I got home, I continued to think about this great Sacrament and how important it is for us to take advantage of it when we can. I did not mention this while we were together, but participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a year is one of the precepts of our faith--those most basic requirements of the faithful in maintaining a relationship with the Body of the Church.

On March 17, Archbishop Timothy Dolan released The Altar and the Confessional where he writes,"Our culture does not need to be taught how to confess; it needs to discover where forgiveness can be found. Our culture does not need to further expose the stain of its sinfulness; it needs to discover the only One who can wash it away. We Catholics have the blessing of teaching our “confessional culture” about true mercy, but we cannot give what we do not have! I challenge the Catholics of the Archdiocese to make a good confession this Lent and then to tell one other person – perhaps a friend or relative or colleague who has been away from the sacraments for a long time – about the liberating joy of God’s mercy!"

Making a good confession takes preparation, takes time, and takes courage, but it's so worth it! If you fell off the wagon on every single intention and sacrifice that you had planned for Lent, but you finish Lent with a good Confession, you've had a good Lent.