When people asked GK Chesterton why he converted to the Catholic faith, he replied, “To get rid of my sins.”
I read a story about a family who liked to leave little notes in offering to Our Lady each night before they fell asleep.
On the note, the mother might write, “Blessed Mother, I made a good effort with dinner, as an offering to you.” One of the children might write, “Blessed Mother, I tried to complete all my homework to the best of my ability as an offering to you.” The father might write, “Blessed Mother, I did not complain when the bus was running late on my way home from work as an offering to you.” And such notes were left each night beneath the statue of the Blessed Virgin that the family kept inside their home.
One day, one of the children behaved badly all day. He was rude to his parents, punished by his teachers, argued with his siblings, and displayed naughty behaviour for the entire day. That night – as usual – the naughty child wrote his note to the Blessed Virgin and placed it beneath the statue. But on that night, it read, “Blessed Mother, I did everything wrong today. I am sorry.”
And I have been reflecting on that offering of the naughty child who was humble enough to say “sorry”. GK Chesterton was a British writer, philosopher, lay-theologian and art critic, who famously converted to Catholicism in 1922. When people asked Chesterton why he converted to the Catholic faith, he replied, “To get rid of my sins.”
And I have been reflecting on that reasoning today, because it seems that though we Catholics have such a powerful gift of MERCY in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we have very little urgency and understanding of how to use it…
Great Saints understand the value of this Sacrament of Reconciliation… Pope Saint John Paul II received the Sacrament of Reconciliation weekly. Saint Faustina routinely prayed for her confessors before she entered the confessional because she knew that they would require Grace to be able to do the Will of God and administer the Sacrament to the best of their ability without impatience and misunderstanding.
And it occurs to me that there is so much waste in the way that I receive the ministrations of my Beloved. You see, God gives me forgiveness – right there, without my even trying. All I need to do is TAKE it. What more could He do to save me? He takes my every offence of Him and He allows me the PRIVILEGE of being able to say SORRY. And that makes everything better. Just that simple sorry fixes everything – because all I need to do is ASK and my Beloved to save me and HE WILL.
And I have been reflecting on that today, and I am simply overcome. Because GK Chesterton had the right idea. I am Catholic “…to get rid of my sins…”
And when you really stop and think about it, how simply wonderful is that!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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