FINDING JESUS IN THE CONFESSIONAL.
In Mark 10 a rich young man approached Jesus and asked him "Good Master what must I do to gain Eternal Life' Jesus replied "Why do you call me good, only God is good. You know the commandments 'thou shalt not kill, thou shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not defraud, honour your father and your mother". And the young man said "All these I have kept since my earliest days. JESUS LOOKED STEADY AT HIM AND WAS FILLED WITH LOVE FOR HIM....
When I read this account from Mark I am struck by the words in capitals. Jesus looked steadily on him and was filled with love for him. In the early Church there was a man called Marcellus who led a heresy in which he said that sins were not important it was all about 'giving to the poor' This was condemned as a heresy and yet today that heresy has returned and bishops, priests, and schoolteachers are ignoring Jesus. They regard the commandments as just some kind of 'rules' to be cast aside as unimportant. Mark who wrote the Gospel was a companion of Peter in Rome and wrote the Gospel it is believed on the request of the Christians there. So his Gospel dates to around the 60's AD. It was the teachings of Peter he was putting to paper. In quoting Jesus 'that only God is Good' the Christians were reminded that they were 'imperfect'. Jesus in the our Father says "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us" So despite accepting Christ as their Saviour they would stay in the imperfect state, and although their sins of the past were forgiven they would still sin in the future. You may remember that wonderful passage after the Resurrection when Christ breathed on the Apostles and said "Whose sins you will forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sis you will retain they are retained". The Apostles were given the power to forgive or not to forgive sin, acting as priests of Christ.
Tertullian of Carthage, 210AD writes the following on Confession, which perhaps is relevant in some way today. "Yet most men either shun the work as a public exposure of themselves, or else defer it from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty that salvation, just like men who, having contracted some malady in their private parts of their bodies, avoid the probing of physicians, and so perish of their own bashfulness".
Since the sexual revolution there has been a marked decline in young people attending confession because, yes, it does take courage. Yes, they just hang on the the false statement that 'Jesus loves me as I am" No, Jesus will never stop loving you, that is true, but he does not accept you as you are because he wants you to be a saint. How wonderful it would be if Jesus could look on me, as well as you, and be filled with love for us because all these commandments we have kept since our youth. The world has little to offer young people but Jesus has everything and he wants so much to shower us with his gifts and his love. Yet as Tertullian says "We are held back by our bashfulness"
When I read this account from Mark I am struck by the words in capitals. Jesus looked steadily on him and was filled with love for him. In the early Church there was a man called Marcellus who led a heresy in which he said that sins were not important it was all about 'giving to the poor' This was condemned as a heresy and yet today that heresy has returned and bishops, priests, and schoolteachers are ignoring Jesus. They regard the commandments as just some kind of 'rules' to be cast aside as unimportant. Mark who wrote the Gospel was a companion of Peter in Rome and wrote the Gospel it is believed on the request of the Christians there. So his Gospel dates to around the 60's AD. It was the teachings of Peter he was putting to paper. In quoting Jesus 'that only God is Good' the Christians were reminded that they were 'imperfect'. Jesus in the our Father says "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us" So despite accepting Christ as their Saviour they would stay in the imperfect state, and although their sins of the past were forgiven they would still sin in the future. You may remember that wonderful passage after the Resurrection when Christ breathed on the Apostles and said "Whose sins you will forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sis you will retain they are retained". The Apostles were given the power to forgive or not to forgive sin, acting as priests of Christ.
Tertullian of Carthage, 210AD writes the following on Confession, which perhaps is relevant in some way today. "Yet most men either shun the work as a public exposure of themselves, or else defer it from day to day. I presume they are more mindful of modesty that salvation, just like men who, having contracted some malady in their private parts of their bodies, avoid the probing of physicians, and so perish of their own bashfulness".
Since the sexual revolution there has been a marked decline in young people attending confession because, yes, it does take courage. Yes, they just hang on the the false statement that 'Jesus loves me as I am" No, Jesus will never stop loving you, that is true, but he does not accept you as you are because he wants you to be a saint. How wonderful it would be if Jesus could look on me, as well as you, and be filled with love for us because all these commandments we have kept since our youth. The world has little to offer young people but Jesus has everything and he wants so much to shower us with his gifts and his love. Yet as Tertullian says "We are held back by our bashfulness"
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