"Be reconciled to God" 2 Cor.5:20

By Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI

   On Ash Wednesday, the Apostle Paul exhorted us to “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor.5:20). The whole season of Lent is a time of reconciliation, to humbly and sincerely look at our relationship of love with our loving God, and with one another.
   To forgive our sins and bring us God's mercy, Christ has given the Church the wonderful Sacrament of Reconciliation - Penance. I share with you some reflections on the Sacrament of Penance, Reconciliation for the forgiveness of sins to help us grow in God's love in the spiritual life.
    This Sacrament is one of the two Sacraments of healing that Christ has given to our beautiful Catholic Church. As there is much misunderstanding of this Sacrament, and as many Catholics today do not fully appreciate the meaning of this wonderful Sacrament of God's mercy, it is important that we go back to the basics to have a fuller appreciation of this Sacrament which is vitally important to live as good Catholics.
   To help us understand this beautiful Sacrament, I am featuring here some of the teachings that are given to us by the Catholic Catechism, which hopefully will lead to a better understanding of this Sacrament of God's forgiveness and pardon.
   1421 The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.
 
THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION
   1422 "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion.

WHAT IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED?
   1423 It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.
   It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.
  1424 It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession"- acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.
   It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace."
   It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God." He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother."

WHY A SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
AFTER BAPTISM?
    1425 "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has "put on Christ." But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." And the Lord himself taught us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses," linking our forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us.
   1426 Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish." Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life.
This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.

THE CONVERSION OF
THE BAPTIZED
1427 Jesus calls to conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the kingdom: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." In the Church's preaching this call is addressed first to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel. Also, Baptism is the principal place for the first and fundamental conversion. It is by faith in the Gospel and by Baptism that one renounces evil and gains salvation, that is, the forgiveness of all sins and the gift of new life.
1428 Christ's call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, "clasping sinners to her bosom, [is] at once holy and always in need of purification, [and] follows constantly the path of penance and renewal. "This endeavor of conversion is not just a human work. It is the movement of a "contrite heart," drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first.

INTERIOR PENANCE
  1430 Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sack-cloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.
   1431 Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).   
   1432 The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart. Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him: "Restore us to thyself, 0 Lord, that we may be restored!" God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God's love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. The human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our sins have pierced.
Let us fix our eyes on Christ's blood and understand how precious it is to his Father, for, poured out for our salvation, it has brought to the whole world the grace of repentance.

SAN ANGELO — The Catholic Diocese of San Angelo is sponsoring a conference from 2-4 p.m. this Saturday, March 24, to promote respect for human life at all stages. 

The “Gospel of Life Conference,” will be at the Sacred Heart Cathedral School, 20 E. Beauregard, San Angelo. Admission is free. The event is open to the public.



The event will be led by Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI, of the Diocese of San Angelo, in what will be his first public appearance since his regularly-scheduled ad limina visit with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican last week. The conference will also include presentations by Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel, and members of the Sisters of Life. The invocation will be delivered by Rev. John Pope, pastor of Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in San Angelo.



Mrs. Thorn, of Milwaukee, Wisc., holds a degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota. She is an international speaker and author on the topics of abortion’s aftermath in women, men and others, as well as the process of post-abortion healing. She has also written about the role of stress in making abortion decisions, and ways to help women in crisis pregnancies. She and her husband are the parents of six children.



Project Rachel is a post-abortion healing ministry founded in 1984. It offers a network of specially trained clergy, spiritual directors and therapists who provide one-on-one care to those struggling with the aftermath of abortion. Project Rachel provides confidential and skilled help to anyone who is struggling after an abortion loss, women and men; parents, grandparents, siblings, friends and others whose lives have been impacted. 

In her presentation, “Abortion: Soul Wound of the World,” Mrs. Thorn will discuss the harmful effects of abortion on individuals and society at-large.



“Living the Gospel of Life” will be the topic of a presentation by members of the Sisters of Life, a religious community was founded in 1991 by Cardinal John O’Connor, Archbishop of New York. Like members of all religious orders, the Sisters of Life make traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. They also profess a fourth vow, to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life.

 The Gospel of Life is the English translation of the 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae,” written by Pope John Paul II, which defines and defends the sacredness of human life from conception until natural death. In his preamble, the pope wrote: “Even in the midst of difficulties and uncertainties, every person sincerely open to truth and goodness can, by the light of reason and the hidden action of grace, come to recognize in the natural law written in the heart (Rom 2:14-15) the sacred value of human life from its very beginning until its end, and can affirm the right of every human being to have this primary good respected to the highest degree” (E.V. 2).



Speakers at the Gospel of Life Conference will promote respect for human life as well as address the harm inflicted on persons and society when it is disregarded.



“Acting with and promoting respect for human life is the responsibility of everyone,” said Bishop Pfeifer. 
“Each one of us has a moral duty to recognize that life comes from God. We must be caretakers and nurturers, not arbiters, of life.”



At the invitation of the bishop, the conference is cosponsored by the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic fraternal organization founded in 1882 by Father Michael McGivney, a parish priest, in New Haven, Conn. The organization has grown to 1.8 million members and has affiliates in every U.S. state as well as in Mexico, Canada, Poland and the Philippines. Last year Knights donated more than $154 million to charity and volunteered nearly 71 million hours of service to charitable causes. 

For additional information about the Gospel of Life Conference, visit sanangelodiocese.org. 


   For questions or interview requests, please contact Jimmy Patterson, Director of Communications, Diocese of San Angelo, at 432-889-6640.

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Forcing Planned Parenthood as Participant Risks Funding for All Women’s Health Programs and 130,000 Texas Women
 
   The Catholic Church has always believed in and advocated for access to health care as a fundamental safeguard of human life.  In particular, the Church vocally supports women’s access to preventive medical services--such as screening and treatment for breast and ovarian cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis--as essential to comprehensive, affordable, and quality health care. Unfortunately, many abortion proponents insist on forcibly grafting contraception, sterilization, and abortion into our basic definitions of medical care, then criticizing anyone who objects as being an “opponent of women’s health care.”  
    While the Texas Catholic bishops do not support all of the services offered through the Women’s Health Program, they did support the provisions of Senate Bill 7, which prohibited Medicaid funds going to abortion providers or their affiliates.  There are currently more than 2,500 certified Women’s Health Providers in Texas, many of which offer comprehensive primary and preventative care to low income women and are not abortion providers or affiliated with abortion providers.
   There are only 44 Planned Parenthood locations in the Women’s Health Program and many do not provide comprehensive health care--say, for example, mammograms or many common gynecological services--which are critical for women’s health.  It is the Texas bishops’ position that true women’s health services should be separated from services that are not health care: namely, contraception, sterilization, and abortion.
   By insisting that the state of Texas cannot direct funds to thousands of providers statewide who offer true, comprehensive, women’s healthcare--and instead require Medicaid funds go to prop up 44 Planned Parenthood clinics--the federal government risks removing preventative health care from hundreds of thousands of women in Texas.
    The Texas Catholic Conference is the association of the 15 Roman Catholic dioceses of the State of Texas and is the official public policy voice of the Bishops of Texas. For more information on the Texas Catholic Conference, visit www.TXCatholic.org.