Exam Time

We went to a local Penance service last night, it was beautiful. Wonderful (and so very grateful) to see so many priests who came to hear our confessions. The church was packed. Another wonderful thing to see. We were there for two hours and it felt so good to stand in line, knowing the graces of the Sacrament that would come. I felt like the lady waiting in line for "Obama" money..

"Ma'am, what are you here for?"
"Some grace!"
"Whose gonna give it to you?"
"God!"
"Where'd He get it?"
"I don't know! His Stash!"

Father Corapi has a very good examination of conscience..

“Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment…..For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God….His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1776).

Most Catholics understand that it is necessary to make a good examination of conscience before they receive the sacrament of Penance. If you don’t examine your conscience properly you obviously can’t make a good confession. Today in the world of noise, both interior as well as exterior, this needs to be stressed very emphatically. Often the voice of conscience, which is very akin to the very voice of God, comes as a still tiny whisper, not a loud and obvious sound. In order to hear such a whisper we need to preserve a certain holy silence at times.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us in paragraph 1779, “It is important for every person to be sufficiently present to himself in order to hear and follow the voice of conscience. This requirement of interiority is all the more necessary as life often distracts us from any reflection, self-examination, or introspection: Return to your conscience, question it….Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness. (St. Augustine).”

I am convinced that the world of constant noise is a major contributing factor to the tidal wave of sin we have experienced in recent generations. If the voice of conscience is drowned out by a million loud and distracting sounds and concerns, then sin is facilitated. This noise is not merely external sounds: radio, television, I Pods, talk, talk, talk, etc., but also the interior “noise” that most contemporary people suffer from. “Be still and know that I am God,” is something we would do well to remember. More..