May 19, 2024.
“And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20, 22-23)
One of the oldest heresies is called “pelagianism”, it consists in believing that we can count on only our own strength in the battle to reach perfection and that man, therefore saves himself, without owing anything or almost nothing to the Lord and his death on the Cross. This lack of faith in the Grace of God can be seen in, among other things, the decrease in participation in the sacrament of confession. Against this trend, so current, we must react by renewing our faith in the Holy Spirit and by being convinced that, although we must do our best, we aren’t who actually does it but it is God. Jesus does not want us to forget this and therefore in Pentecost giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit he gives us also the gifts of forgiveness of sins through the sacrament of penitence. The Holy Spirit, which we should call the “Sanctifying Spirit” acts, as well as in other ways, through the gift of forgiveness which we receive after confession, because by being forgiven we are reborn in holiness, we can again enjoy communion with god, participating in the resurrection of Christ.
It is God, as Maria said in the words she spoke to her cousin Elizabeth, who performs the miracles and is capable of doing them even with such poor and fragile tools as we. This is why confession is so important, because it is a proclamation of our faith not only in the redeeming love of Christ – who forgives our sins – but also that He with his grace, with his strength is capable of making us saints. Because we believe in Him we confess and continue fighting. And because we fight we conquer.
Intention: Ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of saintliness, with perseverance. Ask him at the same time as we ask for forgiveness of our sins, by confession.