An Incarnation of Tenderness

Since most of the things I write about come from a thought sparked by someone I encounter which I dwell on for a long time, you can imagine my excitement when my penance from a recent confession was actually just to think. And, since this priest obviously knew how quickly I get distracted, his instructions to think were very specific:

Right now I want you to recall a tender moment with God, he said.

A tender moment with God? I can recall that. Okay, continue. (I probably really just mumbled mhm, but whatever).

Now, he said, go back to your pew, and for your penance spend time in adoration recalling that tender moment.

Boom. Dynamite penance. Life slightly altered. (more altered by the sacramental forgiveness, but since I'm not perfect I notice this thought he gave me more than that).

In recalling that moment, I was able to encounter the Lord that day (yesterday, as I type this), but even more than that the recollection of that moment has helped me continue to grow in my understanding of what the Sacrament of Reconciliation is all about (again, it was yesterday, so I probably haven't grasped the whole lesson yet).

Confession isn't simply about a God who forgives us even though we suck (although yes, we do suck, and yes, He does forgive us anyways), but a God who desires to forgive us. This Sacrament reminds us that our God wants us to know His love and His healing so desperately that He gives us an avenue of grace to know that our sins have been forgiven.

Tenderness, then, shown so perfectly in this sacrament, is the crux of the incarnation. The tenderness of our God is realized in Him stepping out of heaven and taking on human form. He took on our form to save us, and to do so in a way that would show us how near He always is.

Hopefully, we never forget His tenderness. Hopefully, we never feel separated from Him. Since we often do, though, he gives us the grace of an amazing sacrament and says: I love you, never feel distant from that love.

Those, on the other hand, who recognize that they are weak and sinful entrust themselves to God and obtain from him grace and forgiveness. It is precisely this message that must be transmitted: what counts most is to make people understand that in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, whatever the sin committed, if it is humbly recognized and the person involved turns with trust to the priest-confessor, he or she never fails to experience the soothing joy of God's forgiveness.      

-Pope Benedict XVI