There is an old story about a man to whom a devil appeared. The man asked: “How is it that you are here? You should be in hell.” The devil answered: “I carry my hell with me wherever I go.” Unrepented sin is a kind of hell, and the sinner carries it with him/her wherever he/she goes.
Just as the devil carries with him his hell so can we through the things we have done or the things we have failed to do. They can haunt us and follow us around day after day.
But thanks be to God we have a way to leave hell behind. We have a way to free us from the things that haunt us, that trap us, that disturb us, that cause us anxiety or pain. Thanks be to God that we have the sacrament of reconciliation…
By now you have summarized this is my Lenten confession homily. -Now I am not going to tell you the fact that an impressive array of psychiatrists and counselors can testify that without some admission of sin a person will lack deep interior peace. -Nor the fact that repressed elements can poison human life. -Nor the fact that this sacrament restores and increases sanctifying grace, the life of the risen Christ in us. -Nor the fact that this sacrament also communicates actual grace, God given insights and strengths to overcome specific faults and deepen particular virtues.
No to all those things, but I want to say this week I have put time aside for confessions so you can leave behind hell.