A. Back ground; previous 3 sundays, church invited us to reflect
(1) importance of knowing the concept of Catholicism-purpose of your creation
(2) your life has to be lead with 7 Catholics Ethics and with adhering to the laws of the church
(3)you should surrender your will to God's will and convert your talents to good attitude, to be a proactive Catholic. Proactive means you will,see and realize God's hand in all of your actions.
Today
It reflects the value of confession and pardoning:(Prodigal son and his father)
B. Preamble for today's reading:
B.1 why confession needed?
Principle behind confession is, you, your self analyze, with respect to catholic ethics(+church rules), where you have gone wrong, feel sorry about that, get discussed with catholic priest, then get it pardoned from God. Priest will act as an intermediary with you and God,and assure you, God has pardoned your sins. Sometimes it is better to be alone because it gives you some time to be who you are. After the confession, You can enjoy mindfulness peacefully.
B.2 Is priest a must?
Even today Gospel, prodigal son says" I have sinned against heaven and you.."
Here you will see, father has pardoned him, representing God!. Say, you have stolen Rs 200,000 from A. B has stolen Rs 300,000 from you. You feel sorry about your action and confessed to priest. Your sin will be absolved. But if you don't pardon B, for his sin, absolve of your Sin, is going to be questionable. The beauty and magical thing of Catholicism is, when you pardon B for Rs 300000. You have lost 100000. Who will give you that?. God will provide that may be not money wise. Similarly, you may not have money to repay rs 200000 for A. When you have the confession, God will see that A, will be benefited!
SO CONFESSION AND PARDONING INVOLVES RECIPROCATIVE FUNCTIONS!, where for your wrongful action, God has to do many work!
B.3 can you live sin-less life?
When you jump up,always you are fallen to earth!. This is due to gravitational pull towards earth.(But when you jump in moon, you will not fall,but float). Similarly, you have earth bound temptations, which you may sin, due to the fact, that you are imperfect person. So always we have to be watchful, about our sins,and get it pardoned thru' a priest,who gives you a guarantee about God's pardoning to you.
You are prune for sins!
Take example of communication satellite!
You can connect your telephone to any telephone in this globe with 3(Geo- stationary)satellites placed,over earth orbit(10k/km over earth,where any element place in that orbit,moves in same speed and same direction as earth).
Though theory says,it automatically moves in this orbit, due to various conditions,satellite goes out of track, hence you need to put back to track. This will be done by firing oil,that is stored,in satellite,which is 1/3 of weight of satellite.
Similarly,due to earth bound attractions, you tend to deviate from God. You need to put it to correct track,which needs firing of oil.
Hence during this lent,regulate your will to go for confession+fasting+mercy work+why not specially go thru' MERCY DOOR'
B.4 Door of Mercy is very rare occasion, that you can receive indulgence for your sins, in your life time. This type of occasion, church offered was year 2000(jubilee) and next occasion is normally in 2025. Earlier door of mercy was established only at St peters basilica. This extraordinary jubilee year declared by Pope Francis, has extended the location not only to St peters' basilica, but to most of shrines in world+ few churches. Why few places?
More indulgence are multiplied the less they are esteemed. What is offered abduntly are not sufficiently appreciated. U need considerable time to prepare your self properly to gain PLENARY INDULGENCE:
Don't miss this chance!
B.2 catholic saline
Saline is given directly to bloodstream (intravenously) to patients who are too sick to take orally. Saline contains water& salt in optimum concentration needed for body to function properly.Similarly2 sacraments, Eucharist+confession,will give U spiritual strength to lead happy life. When God is present everywhere,do U need to go to church or need to Confess your sins to another human (priest). Could not we confess directly to God?;
Ans:
(1)When air is everywhere, do U need a fan?
(2)When another human says,"I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY of effect of your sins absolved by God".are you relieved?.
You cannot convert a piece of bread into Holy Eucharist,neither you cannot unilaterally absolve your sins without a priest. You are not worried about character of doctor,who gives you saline;Similarly you should not worry about priest,who gives U these sacraments. Holy Spirit, formed church. HE will manage priests!.
Hand washing of sins are not a sacrament of catholic church. You can hand wash your cloth, but strong stain cannot be removed from that(you get a stain mark), but in dry cleaning, you use a third party to clean your stain, he will use more strong detergent to clean, so that you will get stain less, shining cloth, similar to original cloth.
B.3 indulgence
-taking away of temporal punishment due to sins when their guilt has already been forgiven. Indulgence is special action of church,when pope decreed that certain works which were suitable for promoting common good"COULD REPLACE ALL PENETENTIAL PRACTICES"&when you are genuinely sorry for &had confessed your sins &done such works were granted,to complete forgiveness for your sin. Pope Francis has declared(rare occasion)DOOR OF MERCY until 20/11/2016.
To gain INDULGENCE
(1)go through door one time per day.
(2)person who is going thru' the door is only eligible to receive indulgence.
(3)He/she can offer that indulgence to release holy souls in purgatory
(4)After confession you should live in state of grace,20days are given to fulfill the ritual.
(5) Just after going thru' door, you have to pary for the intention of pope(our father+holy mary+glory to be)
Mercy doors are establish in every cathedral+major shrines such as, in srilanka madhu,matara&Hiniduma+few churches
B.4 difference between civil and religious law.
In religious law, you identify your weakness direct, with respect to 7 Ethics of Catholism,+chuch rules then confess thru' priest, with God.
In civil law, police will identify where you have gone against the law, and put up a case. Judge will decide who is at fault. A society will become matured with adhering to religious law. Catholicism, guaranteed that the effect of the sins can be washed off, with, proper confession. YOU GET PARDONED TO YOUR SINS, WHILE YOU FORGET OTHERS SINS, TOWARDS YOU!
Today's readings:
Joshua(Jos 5:9-12) says"- 'LORD to Joshua ?I've taken shame away from U/They had no more manna'
Paul(2 cor 5:17-2) says 'In Christ,there are new creations. We are ambassadors for Christ'.
Lk15:1-3:11-32-Parable of Prodigal Son/Man with2sons/younger son went away/wasted all money on a life of sin/ate pigs food/realised his father's servants hv more food/Went home/his father kissed him/father celebrated with a feast/Elder son heard music&dancing/was angry.
Reminds:
(1)You tend to be church going,following all ethics & hand washing your Sins(without going to a priest)like elder brother(who thought he is sin less because he is with father)
OR
(2)careless about sins,all of sudden,you feel trouble in your life &need God then go for confession!like younger brother.
Your life is swinging from these 2states.
Avoid hand washing sins,direct with God,which dilute,depth of your sin&in long run, you will end up with easy life,only by having Eucharist,without difficult confession,but NO HAPPINESS!
Conclusion:
You should not pry into the faults of others. You should not look for things done and undone by others. You should see what you have done and left undone. This is not an easy task. The catholic confession allow
You to practice to analyze about what has gone wrong with you and take a remedial action. Pope Francis extraordinary Jubilee celebration ,going thru"DOOR OF MERCY" is one of rare occasions , you can get in your life time. Don't miss this opportunity.
GBU
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