As Catholics, we know that a “Good” confession doesn’t just happen.
We’ve all been guilty of dashing into the confessional and blurting out the most recent fight with _________ in which we said unkind things, or we lied, or gossiped- spit out the words of an act of contrition–and maybe we really were contrite and will try to do better.
But we knew, as we left, that maybe that confession was a sin of omission so we vowed to do better next time, said our penance, did our penance by apologizing to the wronged party and went on our way until “next time.”
A truly “good” confession is about reconnecting with God’s mercy, that’s why we call it the
“Sacrament of Reconciliation.”
CCC 1422,1442-1445,1468
To make a “good” [as in honest and complete] confession requires solitary time for reflection and prayer so the Holy Spirit can help us bring to mind all the ways in which we have fallen short of God’s hope for us, and sinned by commission and omission.
For non-Catholics that means we have to consider not only what we’ve done wrong but what we have failed to do that we should have.
If you were raised in a Pre-Vatican II Catholic household and you were caught red-handed,* stealing candy, or caught in the act of beating up your brother “for no reason” but it was actually because you coveted the praise he got for his spelling paper and that extra piece of cake. If your guilt was apparent for all to see, in addition to a trip to that aforementioned woodshed you were also sent “to the box”…to the confessional.
*Red-handed is not an ethnic slur but rather a straight forward Scottish expression for having been caught with blood on your hands from being a poacher…from coveting/stealing another person’s livestock.
A Pandemic Lockdown is an efficient way to get the TIME necessary for deep reflection, especially since its frequent deadly outcome made most of us, regardless of religion or lack thereof, take a measure of our life and our “readiness” for eternity.
Sadly, the recent American Reflection on its sins were ALL of the red-handed, caught in the act variety, and even then in the face of blatant proof some persons or corporations had the audacity to either gaslight the victims or simply deny the video that proved their guilt. And shamefully, many have been set free because of money, status or both.
America has long since favored the cover-up and silence-for-money route of dealing with their sins against the common good. Until recently, when encouraged by a governing body who threw out the rulebook for decency toward one’s fellow man, and went on a spree of sin–simply because it could–America’s evil nakedness was exposed.
The Exposure of American Sin began in earnest in 2017 after a year of vitriolic campaigning during which nearly half of American Catholics abandoned the Ten Commandments for a candidate who was anathema to righteousness.
Concomitant, was a resurgence of the 2006 “me too” movement with regard to the continual and unabated sexual harassments of girls and women at schools, in the workplace and even publicly endorsed by a new President who campaigned saying he could and had used his power and status to violate women’s bodies–and he found huge support for his tendencies in like-minded men and gaslighted women —
Case in point, one unconscious white college co-ed who was raped next to a dumpster and then blamed for tempting the WHITE BOY beyond his control. He was portrayed as a young man with a bright future rather than a rapist. We must readily admit the outcome would have been different had the boy been Black. Nevertheless, he only got 4 months. She will have a lifetime of trauma.
America’s sins weren’t just local…but GLOBAL.
If you were paying global attention during this time, many of Pope Francis’ criticisms were of American relentless consumerism, the oligarchy attempting to replace democracy in a Republican White House with executive order after order that endangered the most vulnerable people, animals and allowed for pillaging the planet for profit. America was were guilty of all he accused–and more.
Pope Francis also called America out for policies and executive orders that gave behemoths of money to the already uber rich, while ignoring the poorest of the poor and the marginalized.
When The Encyclical Laudato Si, on “caring for our common home” came out [Climate Change and Ecology] there was a huge negative uproar in many American pulpits. Out came out the Traditionalist Catholics who rejected Vatican II as ruining the faith and liturgy, lead by Cardinal Sarah who was then and is for just a bit more, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. [he’s just turned 75 and Pope Francis has accepted the resignation [Feb 20,2021] all are required to “offer” at that age].
To be fair, Cardinal Sarah wasn’t the start of the American Anti-Francis campaign but the “deeply insulted” American Catholics were using Cardinal Sarah’s criticisms of Vatican II and his reversing some of the liturgical practices–most notably a few years ago by reversing Vatican II and forcing priests to face the altar rather than the congregation–to infer combat the Traditionalists and Republican Catholics exacerbated the tension by joining, albeit misaligned, forces.
Soon the rabid and radical American Catholic Media began challenging Francis’ papacy saying it wasn’t legitimate and would be the ruination of Catholicism. I won’t list those screeds because their words are distortions and lies and I will not give them an opportunity to poison any more minds. It does remind one of the idiocy of challenging President Obama’s birthright and American citizenship ad infinitum.
These attacks on Francis were unwarranted because Francis’ condemnation of America was right on the money! WE WERE/STILL ARE GUILTY of American policies that did/do everything he;s accused us of.
We ARE a nation in need of metanoia and repentance and reparations.
To be Fair, Cardinal Sarah spoke to the Catholic News Agency and said he never opposed Pope Francis and you can read it here.
FYI: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [CDF] is, in layman’s terms, sort of the Pope’s #2 guy, in charge of interpreting Catholic doctrine for the rest of us, particularly Bishops and priests. But more than that, he has tremendous power or as it says from the Vatican website:
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has as its duty the promotion and safeguarding of Catholic faith and morals, and is currently competent to address the delict of sexual abuse of minors. The Congregation advises a diocesan bishop or religious ordinary as to the appropriate process for particular cases, and may authorize corrective measures to be taken.
Vatican,va
The CDF’s power is not to be taken lightly, in the past [during the horrific INQUISITION] HE was known as the GRAND INQUISITOR. When Cardinal Sarah, always blunt and honest, a trait Francis values, commented on anything, it became fuel for the fire for the American anti-Francis throng. Admittedly, Cardinal Sarah much prefers PRE Vatican II.
Francis revealed many things Americans are doing that bothered him in relationship to the Gospel, his mission, and the souls of the American Catholics living in such a culture.
These included the American’s relativism with the truth and American Media penchant for FAKE NEWS. NOT Bearing False witness was not listed as one of the 10 Suggestions…it was anathema to everything holy. Francis decried it–as he should have.
Did you know that many American companies have and continue to go into South American Countries/the Amazon and literally pillage the land of any and all profitable resources by:
Bearing false witness that it will be great for the local economy. WE AMERICANS pay the locals starvation wages making them slaves in their own land; WE AMERICANS steal the profits they promised to share and return nothing but ecological devastation, deforestation, polluted air, toxic water having effectively murdered the land, water and air leaving in its wake death, destruction, and unemployment when WE AMERICAN CORPORATIONS come back to America claiming to be the conquering heroes for their shareholders whose profits soar and greed is never ending.
WE AMERICANS must own what AMERICANS do around the world in our name. Pure and simple. Even more so for the people we elect and put in charge.
America’s SHAME was caught in the act exposing those who were bribed and given kickbacks for their silence. The average American has been none-the-wiser, all the while we’re walking around proudly shouting we are the greatest nation on earth. Not so much.
The Greatest Nation does not leave so many of its citizens homeless, starving, without adequate healthcare, letting some of it’s citizens automatically have more opportunities than others based on skin color or ethnicity. Nor does the richest nation condone murder, sexual abuse, slaughter of children in mass shootings, human trafficking and destruction of our home, and the entire planet for the profit of a few.
The Richest Nation in the world??? Not so much… China and a few others are closing in…but we are coming close to the title of most duplicitous, thieving, and hoarding nation where the richest 1% have taken all that is good from the 99%.
The Beacon of Democracy? Again, not so much. We’ve been forced, almost nightly, to REALLY reflect on White Privilege and systematic racism. While I’m a white American, I’m also a woman who was raised in lower middle class status and when I became a single mother [Thank you Viet Nam and Divorce] I became the white working poor. But still, I could NEVER imagine “the talk” that Black mothers have to have , with their Black children about how to “not be gunned down in a police encounter–especially when your only crime was to be Black in America.” The same goes for persecuted children of immigrants, Muslims and now Asians (again).
Even though I have plenty of personal experience being marginalized by poverty, sexism, and misogyny… I have long owned that I had white privilege “sort-of” but then this year with the real undressing of the police departments exposing a violent bigotry rampant around the country after the death of George Floyd–A violent murder caught in the act on video it became clear that the GOOD COPS–and there are thousands–would be outnumbered by the bad apples if we didn’t step up and help purge them from the ranks. A host of other examples of systemic racism followed. I’ve had to own it all as an American.
I was most horrified, when I saw that video…FIRST of all, that Americans can now see murders as they happen and so frequently, so ordinarily, that it’s part of our daily lives… SECONDLY, that his fellow cops just stood there, knowing the officer on George’s neck was wrong and it was dangerous for George. They watched as this officer committed murder.
WHY, WHY, did they not pull him off George? THAT dear people, is SIN of omission.
I won’t mention the officer’s name because he deserves to die in anonymous ignominy because he’s just a symptom– the SIN, is that we who claim to be American Christians have put up with RACISM for so long in this country because it might challenge/reduce our WHITE PRIVILEGE.
God will use anything and everything–including a PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN to turn evil into good and bring us back into a state of grace.
Romans 8:28
By publicly revealing America’s vast storehouse of sins, we as a nation–just as we as individuals who make a “good confession” —have the opportunity to reconcile with God, with each other and heal as a people…because just as WE THE PEOPLE are the Church, WE THE PEOPLE are the nation of America… and WE ARE GUILTY.
In church we say, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa it means, my fault, my most grievous fault [My bad!-This is on me!] and we, as a nation, surely in commission and maybe in many ways of omission, are indeed guilty.
WE Americans who claim to be [Catholic] Christians, who profess that each and every one of us is Imago Dei –created in the image of God have allowed this abuse by police, by cities and states with FOR-PROFIT prisons who rely on headcounts for profits with crooked judges and racist cops who predominantly arrest minorities on trumped-up charges so they can fill the FOR PROFIT prisons and make money off the misery of others. Also by the death penalty and abortions and death by neglect of the homeless and elderly–out sins are grave. Our sins are MORTAL Sins, make no mistake.
What we have done individually, in wounding our relationship with God , in breaking His commandments and in failing to love our neighbor as ourselves as well as, putting people in power who continue to sin on our behalf, are OUR SINS OF COMMISSION
What we have NOT DONE as a nation to protect persecuted brothers and sisters is AMERICA’S SIN OF OMISSION.
As we enter Holy week this Sunday, with Palm Sunday… and walk with Jesus through His Passion, Death and Resurrection,
Let us take the time to reflect on how we have failed God’s Hope for us as individuals, and for us as Citizen of a nation with truly GREAT POTENTIAL.
Let us take the time this week to take those reflections and make a “good confession,” to ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness and to experience the close encounter that is the Holy Spirit comforting a truly contrite heart.
Let us experience the joy of being close to Jesus and walking in a state of grace.
COMING UP…in Time for Easter,
Fallen Heroes Finale #4…Mercy, Grace, and the Resurrection of Unity
Your sister in Christ,
Thora
Thora Wease Writes 