This week we have Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent. We must prepare well to live a fruitful Lent. The readings today can help us enter Lent with our personal examination and discernment of Conscience. Jesus said in the Gospel,
Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye,
but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?
How can you say to your brother,
‘Brother, let me remove that splinter in your eye,’
when you do not even notice the wooden beam in your own eye?
You hypocrite! Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
The best way to prepare for Lent is to make a personal plan of discernment, examination of your conscience, prayer and confession during Lent. You know the beam in your own eye! You will learn to be more honest with yourselves, humbly accept your shame and ask for God’s forgiveness.
I learned a lot a few years ago about Confession from a well-known Exorcist who came to give a lecture for our priests, at the invitation of our Bishop.
He explained that the Devil is real and is a person. The Devil is not a God, although one of his lies is to convince us that he is a divine as God. He is not! The Devil is a creature, a person created by God as God created everything there is. God did not make the devils bad. God made them angels, but these angels made their own free decision not to love God, but to be rebellious and angry at God, and angry everything in creation made by God. Demons hate man and always try to corrupt or seduce us and win our soul to eternal Hell.
The exorcist explained how God forgives the sin of man. First, man has to sincerely ask God’s forgiveness specifically by naming his sins. God forgive sin in a very interesting way. God forgets our sin when He forgives us. In the Bible we find references in several places that, when we confess sincerely our sins and ask for forgiveness God puts our sins behind his back, that is, he forgets them. When God forgives us, He completely forgets all our sins.
He explained that it is necessary, before doing an exorcism, that the exorcist asks permission from his bishop. An exorcism is Apostolic when the Bishop authorizes each exorcism. Then the exorcist has to go to confession immediately before the exorcism.
The exorcist recounted stories of priests who have visited people possessed by the devil, without first going to confession. Upon entering the house of the person possessed, a strong voice often comes from the possessed person, a voice that is horrible, not-human. This demonic voice accuses the priest of all his sins not confessed. Consider the fear that strikes the un-confessed priest. This fear takes away the confidence and courage of the priest, making it more difficult for him to confront the demon. It’s pure evil and the priest is naked and weak.
But, if the Exorcist has properly confessed, then God has already forgotten about his sin. If God has already forgiven and forgotten these sins, the devil has no way of knowing them. That is why the exorcist has to confess before entering an exorcism. God has forgiven and forgotten his sin.
Remember the words of Jesus,
Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
A good confession is only made after a good discernment. Listen well to the first reading of the Old Testament,
When a sieve is shaken, the husks appear;
so do one’s faults when one speaks.
When the wheat sifter is shaken, the husks of the wheat appear…
A good discernment should include “shake your sifter”, so that your “garbage” appears. Do it carefully and honestly. And do it often. Confess it, and get rid of it.
I often get people in the Confessional who say something like,
“Father, it has been over a year since I have confessed. I haven’t committed any ‘mortal’ sins.” Translation, I haven’t done my homework with a good examination of conscience. And, since they rarely go to Confession, they are out of touch and out of practice.
The exorcist also told us something very interesting. He said he has never been invited to visit a person for an exorcism when the person has regularly done three things:
- Never miss Mass
- Receive Holy Communion whenever they can
- Confess frequently
Of all the powers that an Exorcist has, he has nothing stronger, or a more powerful prayer than these three things: Do not miss the Mass, always take communion, and confess frequently.
Possession by the Devil is very rare. But we make it impossible when we live the sacramental life of the Church, the life of Grace of the Church with the sacraments that Jesus gave us.
This Lent I ask all of you, pray and make a good and sincere discernment and examination of your sins. Know your sins well and ask humbly for God’s forgiveness. Jesus said,
Remove the wooden beam from your eye first;
then you will see clearly
to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye.
Discern. Confess. This Lent confess sincerely, at least every month or every two months, both adults and youth. Prepare for Easter, and the mystery of the Resurrection.