Saint Louis Review – By Archbishop Robert J. Carlson – February 24, 2010

“Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:17).

Deep down inside we all know that something is not right with our world — or with ourselves. War and crimes of violence continue to dominate our headlines. Misuse of the human body has become widespread: drug and alcohol abuse, the ever expanding traffic in pornography. Suicide, divorce and abortion continue to be both a symptom and a cause of the disintegration of family life. These are signs of a soul sickness that afflicts the world and each one of us every day.

The eyes of faith discern a common pattern in these symptoms: alienation that results in the loneliness of isolation. The bonds of communion between persons are pulled apart, and as a result society is fragmented and broken. To the Christian believer this should come as no surprise. Knowing that sin pulls us away from the truth of our being, we might have guessed that all sin would draw us away from communion and into isolation. Every sin — not only those we think of as social, but also those we tend to think of as purely individual — pulls us away from our call to communion with God and each other, and draws us into the isolation of loneliness.

Most of us have at least some idea of the peace that comes from living in communion with God and with our brothers and sisters. In moments of contented stillness here and there, or on days when everything seems to go just right, we all catch glimpses of the joy for which we were created. But we have also tasted the anguish and recrimination that come from broken promises, selfishness and fear. There is a longing in every human heart for the joy, peace and serenity of communion. There is a corresponding ache in each of our hearts when that communion is lacking. And yet the irony is that our own attitudes and actions are often the cause of our heartache!

Consider a simple analogy: On the physical level we all say that we want good health. But how easily we find ourselves pulled away from the exercise and healthy eating that are needed to achieve and maintain good health! We want — and yet we do not really want — physical health. So, too, in the spiritual life: We say that we want the peace, joy and serenity that come from communion with God and each other. Yet how easily we find ourselves pulled into attitudes and actions that destroy the possibility of genuine communion! We say that we want spiritual health — and yet our actions show that we do not want it badly enough to change the way we live!

This internal struggle was described by St. Paul when he said: “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate … I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want … I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Rom 7:15, 19, 22).

Spiritual health comes when we recognize that we are inwardly divided and that we need God’s grace to make us whole. It comes when we confess our sins, when we open ourselves to the healing power of God’s grace, and when we let Jesus absolve us from our sins so that we can begin anew.

The Church gives us the season of Lent to help us diagnose the soul sickness that affects every one of us to some degree or another. During Lent, the readings at Mass, our prayer, the penitential practices we are called to observe (fasting and abstinence) and the good works we are invited to perform (almsgiving) all help us to admit our sinfulness and to change from a self-centered way of life to lives of generous service.

I invite every Catholic family to make this Lent a time of spiritual healing, especially by your reception of the Sacrament of Penance. A good Confession paves the way to curing our soul’s sickness. It helps us to admit our sinfulness, to do penance and to resolve to sin no more.

The Sacrament of Penance is a time-honored and proven-effective cure for the multiple symptoms of soul sickness that so many of us suffer from today. Try it. Even if it’s been a long time since your last Confession. You’ll be glad you did.