Thursday, May 18, 2006

Pardon and Peace (Part 2)

Alfred Wilson C.P.

Nothing to Tell
(continued)

The purpose of Confession is not so much that we may attain self-knowledge as that we may lovingly and trustingly place our soul in the Master’s Hands that “His mercy may pardon and His grace help us.”

One might compare our souls to motor cars, and Our Lord to a perfect motor mechanic. In our examens we are expected to overhaul the car ourselves, while the Divine Mechanic stands by and helps us with suggestions and His grace. At Confession the Divine Mechanic takes over and, as it were, says to us: “Leave the car to Me! I’ll give it a look over.” He wills to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, and if we have opened all the compartments, as far as we can, and kept nothing locked, He will give us a thorough overhaul. But He will not force the locks, because He has too much respect for the car.

It would be a pity to overlook this consoling aspect of the Sacrament of Penance. We can never be emancipated from the labor of trying to understand and overhaul the car, but we have every right to be thrilled and consoled and rest awhile if the Divine Mechanic comes to give us a hand with the work. Excessive anxiety about our preparation implies that ego has figured too prominently in our thoughts, and we have overlooked the part that the Divine Mechanic wishes to play, and by our foolish fussing have impeded His co-operation. We should be glad of the “breather” called Confession, when the work of overhauling is done for us; and we should gladly, gratefully and wholeheartedly let Our Lord take over. It would be foolish to worry because we cannot make the overhaul, when we are not asked to make it. All we are asked to do is to take the car back to the Maker’s, where, and where alone, the engine is perfectly understood. Once we have taken that much trouble, He will do the rest.

How much does He do for us in those regular sacramental overhauls, we shall know only in eternity. Let us spare an occasional prayer of thanksgiving for the unobtrusive and mostly unrecognized labor which the Divine Mechanic puts in on our souls. If regularly we place the car of our souls in His omnipotent Hands, we need not be unduly preoccupied about the working-condition of the engine, Our Confessions would profit us more if we spent less time worrying about the car and our defective workmanship, and concentrated instead in loving amazement on His staggering goodness. We could profitably meditate on the reality and efficiency of His Divine Workmanship, for then we should suffer far less from discouragement and dismay at our own utter incompetence. Let us leave something not merely to the Mercy of God, but also to the sacramental operation of Christ. The help we shall receive shall be proportioned to our faith. Expect Him to do great things for you and He will do great things.

Worry about our sincerity is not altogether a bad thing, provided we deal with it wisely. “The knowledge of our self-deceit,” says Father Faber, “is the nearest approach to its cure.” To admit our self-deceit is to take the first step towards curing it. It should be a source of consolation and reassurance to know that the acquiring of self-knowledge is difficult and slow work. “We cannot trust much to ourselves,” says the Imitation, “for grace and understanding is often wanting to us. There is in us but little light, and this we often lose by negligence. Oftentimes we are quite unconscious how interiorly blind we are.”

-Next time: Why self-knowledge is essential

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