Let me share with you this story I found on the Internet.
“Six year old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor. He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten. Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad. He didn’t know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove, (and he didn’t know how the stove worked)! Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor. Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas dirty. And just then he saw Dad standing at the door. Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon’s eyes. All he wanted to do was something good, but he’d made a terrible mess. He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a smacking. But his father just watched him. Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas dirty in the process. That’s how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess. Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend or we can’t stand our job or our health goes sour. Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can’t think of anything else to do. That’s when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him. But just because we might mess up, we can’t stop trying to ‘make pancakes,’ for God or for others. Sooner or later we’ll get it right, and then they’ll be glad we tried.”
Pope Francis reminds us that it is not easy to trust in God’s mercy because our sins do not allow us to go to His Presence and enjoy His love and mercy. The Pope says during his homily on March 17, 2013, “It is not easy to entrust oneself to God’s mercy, because it is an abyss beyond our comprehension. But we must! … ‘Oh, I am a great sinner!’ ‘All the better! Go to Jesus: He likes you to tell him these things!’ He forgets, He has a very special capacity for forgetting. He forgets, He kisses you, He embraces you and He simply says to you: ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more’ (Jn 8:11).”
Let us not be afraid to go to the sacrament of reconciliation and to experience the wonderful mercy of God. Let us remember that our parish offers this wonderful sacrament on Tuesdays at 4:30 pm* and Saturdays at 3:00 pm. In addition, there will be an evening of penance service with individual confessions this Monday, March 18th at 7:00 p.m. You can also call me and ask for an appointment for confession.
*Confessions will not be available on Tuesday, March 18th.
God is our Father who is always ready to forgive us regardless of what we did. The only condition to receive His forgiveness is to want to receive God’s forgiveness. Let us make a good examination of conscience and go to this marvelous sacrament.
God bless you, and may the Blessed Virgin Mary be with you always!
Fr. Jorge Ramirez
