He’s a good friend, one of the most savvy priests I know; an astute theologian, pastorally sensitive, respected by his peers and his people. Six-months ago he took over as pastor of one of the most prestigious parishes in our nation’s capitol. Senators, cabinet members, ambassadors, White House staff, journalists and media commentators worship there every weekend. They love him already. But a couple weeks ago, in his homily for the first Sunday of Lent, he shocked them: “This is sure a unique parish. You must all be saints here. Nobody ever goes to confession.”

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the tragic drop in our Sunday Mass attendance, throughout the country, and here in our own beloved archdiocese. Today — pardon me for bringing up another delicate topic — I share with you my anxiety about a severe decline in another sacrament, Penance.

And, the way I see it, the two are related. If the Lord is not our only true God, if we can get along just fine without him, why do we need to worship him faithfully at the Eucharist on the day designated as his?

In the same way, if I do not need to be saved from my sins — because I don’t happen to have any — why do I need a Savior? Why do I need his mercy? Why do I need sacramental reconciliation with him? Others might. Not me!

Two weeks ago, after one of the exhilarating ceremonies at our cathedral when we officially welcomed those to enter the church at the Easter Vigil, one of the candidates (who had previously been baptized Christian in another faith, and who now was preparing to enter into full communion with the church at Easter Vigil) chatted with me.

“ I’m excited about being confirmed and receiving first Eucharist at Easter,” he began. “But, I’m really looking forward to my first confession.” I must have looked startled.

“ That’s one of the reasons I want to be a Catholic,” he went on. “I’ve been weighed down by my sins for a long time, and I really look forward to confessing them and being assured of God’s forgiveness.”

Well, I’ll be! You sure won’t have to stand in line long, I almost said. Maybe he could teach all the rest of us lifelong Catholics about the beauty and power of a sacrament we don’t seem to need anymore.

The Second Vatican Council, far from discouraging the Sacrament of Penance, encourages it. Regrettably, it began to decline after the Council. Some priests began to offer “general absolution,” where, at the conclusion of a communal service of reconciliation, sacrament absolution, without personal, individual confession, was given.

While communal services to prepare for the sacrament are most effective and most laudable, individual, personal confession must always follow for a genuine celebration of the sacrament. Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, countless documents of the Holy See, Archbishop Cousins, Archbishop Weakland, and now yours truly offer a strong reminder that “general absolution” is not allowed.

Isn’t it supposed to be the essence of the “good news” that we have a savior who came “to take away the sins of the world?” Denial of sin may be as bad as sin itself. Yet, the heart of Lent — heck, the heart of discipleship, for that matter — is our humble acknowledgement that we are sinners, and the admission that I have specific sins. That occurs so personally, so tangibly, in confession.

But, you counter, it’s not that I’m denying my sins. No, I admit them. I just don’t think I need to confess them to a priest.
Well, this gets us right to the core of the sacramental nature of the church. If I do not need the sacrament, if I do not need a precise, personal, individual moment of confession, contrition, and absolution, if I can go directly to God without any interaction, without a sign, symbol, or the mediation of another person, where will that ultimately take us?

Why would I need the water of baptism to wash me clean? Why do I need bread and wine transformed into His Body and Blood to nourish my soul? Why do I need an exchange of vows for marriage? Why do I need the church? Why, for that matter, do I need the incarnation? It’s just between God and me, isn’t it?

For some, it is. But not for Catholics. We humbly believe we need all the help we can get. On these Sundays of Lent, as we hear those moving Gospels of how Jesus reached the Samaritan woman through the imagery of water, how he healed the blind man through the sign of mud, paste, and the anointing his eyes, how he raised Lazarus with ritual and words, we profess our faith that the Lord still gently and powerfully comes to us in tender signs such as water, words, anointing, bread, wine ... and confession of sins and words of mercy.

The Sacrament of Penance is:
a gift, not a burden;
a blessing, not a curse;
a joy, not a drag;

A few weeks ago I had to fly to Washington for a meeting. All day long I had to stand in line. I stood in line at the airport to check-in; I stood in line for security; I stood in line for a cup of coffee; I stood in line to get on the plane; I stood in line to exit the aircraft; I stood in line to catch the Metro; I stood in line to register at the hotel; I stood in line to get on the bus to go to The Catholic University of America for the meeting. Then, I had a little time so I went to the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, right there on campus, for confession ... and, guess, what? I did not have to stand in line.

To be a sinner is our great curse; to admit it is our great grace.

Nowhere is that more powerfully, personally evident than in the Sacrament of Penance.