Today's Marists 2024 Volume 8, Issue 2

Merciful Tenderness in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation
by David Raymundo Sánchez Garduño, SM, International Novice Director, Davao City, Philippines
It has been said that each stage of human history needs different
methods in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. That is because each
historical moment presents different temptations, different ways of
being of the people and different faces of evil. It seems to me that there
is a way that always remains and applies to all times, because it is the
way in which all human beings understand the closeness of God; a
way that, curiously, was Jesus’ way of embracing humanity: mercy.
How to understand mercy? It is a word widely used in recent
times, especially by Pope Francis. And yet, it would seem that it is
somewhat disconnected from reality. In a world that dulls us due
to the violence and addiction we experience, how can we make
it happen? When we talk about mercy we talk about forgiveness,
reconciliation with God, with ourselves and with others... but
it is important that we recognize that it also plays its part in the
rehumanization of the person. Rehumanization, yes, as a process of
transformation not only of behavior but also of making the sinner
“human” again; not an object, but rather a bearer of a concrete and
life-giving relationship with others, with oneself and with God.
It never ceases to surprise me every time I sit in the confessional at
the possibility of seeing my brother’s or sister’s face in the person in
front of me. A person who, due to various situations, in a certain way
forgot to be human and became an object due to the brokenness
that sin had on that individual. I know that it is the touch of God that
transforms the person. However, I also know that the ways in which
I can help them to recover their dignity as a very beloved child of the
Father have to do with the attitude with which someone can restart
one’s life, as a person with dignity.
As a Marist, the attitude that Father Jean-Claude Colin had reminds
me and helps me to have that necessary “tact.” He said that “in the
Society, we have to profess all those opinions that give greatest
play to the mercy of God, on account of the great weakness of poor
human nature.” (A Founder Speaks, #37, 2) “Professing” has to do
with giving the penitent space so that he/she can explain oneself, so
that one’s heart can speak and thus be able to recognize that one’s
path has not always been in accordance with what God wants for that
individual. This is thus a privileged space for tenderness (as Pope
Francis would call it today), tenderness because as a confessor I lend
my ear to listen (without judging) to the depth of the individual, in
one’s weaknesses and defects, while seeking the hidden light that
speaks of one’s dignity as a person.
Maybe that is why Fr. Colin, when a young man came to confession
and said, “I’m not ready, I’ll come back another time”, would hold
him back insisting: “Oh, you’re ready enough: another time you’ll
remember what I just said and that will prevent you from coming;
then you will be afraid.” (A Founder Speaks, # 40, 3) The ability to
listen is not only about “listening to what the other says,” but also
the ability to see that the right time for conversion as a personal
transformation is now, and therefore we need to stand for the here
and now of grace. We need it today!
We hear many stories of destruction and violence. Everything would
seem to have no solution. I believe, however, that the Sacrament of
Reconciliation changes lives. It is the specific person in front of me in
the confessional that makes the difference. Usually in my experience,
if a person has touched the mercy of God, he/she enters with a
fallen face and comes out with a radiant face. Love has touched that
individual.
It is true, that as instruments we do not know to what extent help was
provided at the time of listening. If we trust in mercy, we must trust
that the Holy Spirit is the one who has worked. Listening like Jesus,
hugging those as Christ would, lifting the fallen brother or sister
through the grace of reconciliation. What grace and what a gift we
have in our hands!
That is why we Marists can be instruments of mercy: because we open
our ears and hearts before the brother or sister crushed by sin to help
them, with the grace of God in the forgiveness received through the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, to recover one’s dignity, to recover the
face that is truly human because the person has been touched by
tender love of God. Not only that, we are instruments because the
tool, us, is used at the right time, not later, but in the presence of God.
The conversion of everyone cannot wait, the personal transformation
of each individual is here and now. Mercy is for today.
16 Today’s Marists Magazine