During his Friday morning Mass, Pope Francis talked about Confession. He explained that although God never tires of forgiving, Christians should go to confession to embrace Him.
POPE FRANCIS
'Confessions often seem like a procedure, a formality.... And that's that. Everything is mechanical. No! Whereâ??s the encounter in all of this?â?
The Pope concluded that God forgives every kind of sin, and that Christians should never get tired of asking for forgiveness.
EXPERPTS OF THE POPE'S HOMILY
(Source: Vatican Radio)
'First of all, God always forgives us. He never tires of this. Itâ??s we who get tired of asking for forgiveness. But HE does not tire of pardoning us. When Peter asked Jesus: â??How many times must I forgive? Seven times?â?? â?? â??Not seven times: seventy times by seven.â?? Namely always. Thatâ??s how God forgives us: always. But if you have lived a life full of so many sins, so many bad things, but in the end, a bit repentant, you ask for forgiveness, He will immediately pardon you! He always forgives us.â?
'There is no sin which He wonâ??t pardon. He forgives everything. â??But father, I donâ??t go to confession because I have committed so many really bad sins, so many that I canâ??t be forgivenâ?¦.â?? No, this is not true. He forgives everything. If you go (to confession) repentant, He will forgive everything. Whenâ?¦ so many times He doesnâ??t even let you speak! You start to ask for forgiveness and He lets you feel that joy of forgiveness before you have even finished confessing everything.â?
'Confessions often seem like a procedure, a formality. Everything is mechanical! No! Whereâ??s the meeting in this? The meeting with the Lord who pardons you, hugs you and rejoices. And this is our God who is so good. We too need to teach (others): teach our children, our youngsters to make a good confession, because going to confession is not like going to the dry cleaners to get a stain removed. No! Itâ??s about going to meet with our Father who reconciles, who forgives us and who rejoices.â?
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