Approaching Confession Like the Prodigal Son

Saturday, March 22nd Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Second Week of Lent

Today’s Gospel is the famous Parable of the Prodigal Son. This parable bears many similarities to the Sacrament of Penance, and since Lent is often the season in which we fulfill the Church’s command to confess our sins at least once a year, it is fitting that we should hear this parable today.

Like all the sacraments, the Sacrament of Penance (also known as Confession) requires sufficient preparation on our parts before we receive the sacrament. Before we enter the confessional, we should take sufficient time to examine our conscience and excite within our hearts a sincere sorrow for our sins and a firm purpose to sin no more. In examining our conscience, we must pay particular attention to any mortal sins that we have committed, as we must confess these in order to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily.

We must then make an act of the will to desire true sorrow for some supernatural motive—either that of having offended God or because we hate God’s punishment—and to hate at least every mortal sin that we have committed. We must also resolve, by an act of the will, to never sin again. If we confess a mortal sin but have no intention of avoiding it in the future, we are not truly sorry for that sin. We must resolve to avoid the sin as much as possible, mainly by avoiding the near occasions of sin that often cause us to fall, so that we may have true sorrow for our sins.

We see the prodigal son doing this in today’s Gospel: “And returning to himself, he said:…I will arise, and will go to my father, and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee: I am not worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants” (Lk 15:17-19 DRB). He recognized his sins and the fact that he had fallen from grace, no longer deserving to be called his father’s son. He then resolved to confess his sins to his father and to change his ways, leaving his life of sin behind and living as a servant to his father. This signifies that the prodigal son was truly sorry for his sins, not merely because they had caused him to become destitute but because by them he had hurt his father and was no longer worthy of him.

As the prodigal son was on his way home, his father ran out to greet him, embracing him and kissing him. Similarly, when we have true sorrow for our sins and resolve to confess them and receive forgiveness, our merciful God lovingly embraces us and guides us to the fulfillment of our resolution. The enemy tries to keep us from making a good Confession, but God’s loving embrace gives us the grace to remain steadfast and resolute if we choose to cooperate with that grace.

The prodigal son then confessed his sins, and his father gave him physical reassurance of his forgiveness: “Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make merry” (Lk 15:22-23). Likewise, after we confess our sins to the priest and he gives us appropriate advice, he says the words of absolution by which we know that our sins are forgiven, washed clean in the Blood of Christ poured forth for us on the Cross.

After his confession, we no longer hear from the prodigal son. We hear from his jealous older brother, but the prodigal son himself is silent, enjoying the celebration that his father throws for him. This too carries an important message for us, showing how we are to accept God’s mercy in the confessional with faith, not agonizing over our confessions afterwards but humbly entrusting them to Christ’s Sacred Heart. The Church assures us that if we confess all mortal sins of which are aware and have a sincere sorrow for all these mortal sins, our sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance. We need not agonize over our past confessions but instead turn with hope and faith to the present moment, imploring God’s grace to help us avoid sinning again.

May the Parable of the Prodigal Son inspire us to make a good Confession this Lent, if we have not yet done so, and may the example of the prodigal son fill us with hope and faith as we trust in the infinite mercy of our Heavenly Father.

The prodigal son and his father. Public domain.