Pastor’s Letter: March 8, 2026

Pastor’s Letter: March 8, 2026

6 Mar 2026 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

Blessings to you all! I pray that your Lenten journey continues to be fruitful! Several people have been asking how our Campaign for tuition assistance is going—truthfully, we have been receiving a steady stream of gifts and commitments. At the time I’m writing this, we are right about $1.9 Million in donations and pledges—we certainly are well on our way toward our total goal of $3 Million to support the future of our school and our students. What a great gift for the future of our parish!  I have had many people comment to me about the generosity of our students who gave gifts to the Campaign—it drives home a truth I have really been enjoying during my time here at St. Philomena—we really are all united together as a parish family. Everyone is important and everyone helps in their own way. Know of my continued thanks and prayers for everyone!

Continuing on our journey through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this week we will look at a couple more questions, the first a common one from non-Catholic friends…

Doesn’t God alone forgive sins?

Yes! Jesus himself forgave sins (Lk 5:17-26), and he gave his Church authority to do likewise: “…He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’.” (Jn 20:22-23). The early Church exercised this authority in various ways, whether in dealing specifically with moral life and sins or in exhorting people to faithfully live the love of Christ. (Mt 18:15-20; Lk 7:47; 1 Cor 5:1-5; 2 Thes 3:14-15; Jas 5:13-16 [priests called for anointing of the sick and sins are forgiven]; and 1 Pet 4:8 are a few good passages)

The priest forgives sins by the power of God, when he pronounces the words of absolution, which are: “And I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” There is no doubt that Christ can forgive sins since he is God, and he passed on this power to Peter and the Apostles: “you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death (or gates of hell) shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:18-19).

In 2 Cor 5:17-20 St. Paul explains how the Apostles are ambassadors of Christ’s work of reconciliation. In our Faith, we have always seen that at work in the way priests share in the ministry of Christ and forgive sins through His work in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

 Has confession always been the same process?

From the 100s-400s it was a public process often dealing with serious sins such as murder, apostasy, and adultery. Normally, the sinner would go before the bishop and confess his sins. These sins weren’t publically known but the sinners did wear an outward sign (like ashes on the forehead) while they were living out their repentance. When the bishop and community were satisfied at the sinner’s repentance, he or she was absolved of sin by the bishop and reincorporated into the Church. There was some controversy during the 200s when some heretics taught certain serious sins could not be forgiven, but Pope Callistus (218-222) said that the he would forgive them and the Church does forgive all sins for those who are genuinely sorry. During this early period of the Church a lot of people delayed confession because they were afraid or embarrassed. Knowing that people really needed this sacrament, the Church developed a more approachable process.

From the 500s-1100s the private confession developed, where the sinner came to the priest individually and was absolved of sins. This also gave the benefit of spiritual counsel within the Sacrament when needed. This format made coming to the Sacrament much easier and more attractive for Christians in need of forgiveness. After this, the doctrine and process was spelled out by the Church—individual confession to a priest became the universal form of the Sacrament.

Next time, we’ll look more closely at some of the ins and outs of the Order of Penance…and be sure to listen to the homily next weekend which will give us a practical look at this great Sacrament of Forgiveness! Know of my prayers and blessing for you all!

In Christ,
Father Luke