The Pope’s Example

CEBU, Philippines - On page 26 of the March 17 issue of The Freeman is a photo released by the Agence France Press of Pope Francis kneeling at the confessional during the penitential in St. Peter’s Basilica of the Vatican.

This act of the Roman Pontiff is a prima facie evidence that he is as human as we are, liable to commit sins/imperfections. We Roman Catholics hold that the Pope is infallible (i.e., he cannot commit mistakes when he makes solemn pronouncements on matters of faith and morals). We do not hold that he is impeccable (i.e., he cannot commit sins).

Thus, he too needs to go to confession, although sins may not be so grievous as ours. You see, when one is so close to God, he is comparable to a person looking at his face in the mirror under a bright light. He sees clearly what’s wrong with his face. Whereas, one looking at himself in the mirror under a dim light hardly notices the defects on his face.

That photo mentioned above gives us Roman Catholics a very good example from the highest human personality in our Church. Although he is open to truth wherever it comes from, as shown by his meeting the leaders of the various religions at UST’s gate prior to his meeting with the Youth, Pope Francis does not give up the Roman Catholic and I would like to die as one.

With due respects to non-Roman Catholics, especially to those who go only by what the Bible says, I value very much the Sacrament of Penance or Confession. It is psychologically sound and it is a great help towards one’s mental health. Listening to our story while lying on their couch is the sources of psychiatrists’/psychologists’ income. Priests hearing confessions do not receive a single centavo for it!

In her book, “My Father Confessed to Me”, my daughter Liebe writes in the very first paragraph: “My father was hearing the confessions of so many people while he was in the active ministry of the Roman Catholic priesthood for eleven years. He never revealed to us his three children (Gusen, Dolly and yours truly) nor to our mother the sins mentioned to him in the confessional nor the identity of the penitents who confessed their sins to him.”

I still go to confession not withstanding the “injustice” done to me by some Filipino clerical mafia in the Colegio Filipino in the Eternal City of Rome way back in 1977. It led to my coming back to our country on account of some mysterious sickness. But I have forgiven the perpetrators because Gid forgives my sins as I forgive those who sin against me.

Indeed God writes straight with crooked lines. I find consolation in the Gospel last Sunday (John 12:20-33) which in part says: “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just one grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

My children and grandchildren are grateful to God that I survived until now, about 38 years after I almost died due to the machinations of some clerics in Rome. What they did was an “injustice” not only to me, but also to the Archdiocese of Cebu that sent me there on a scholarship and most especially to the Roman Catholic Church which assures those who go to confession that the priest would keep the “seal of confession” under the penalty of excommunication for those who break it.

St. Ambrose called Adam’s sin for eating the forbidden fruit “felix culpa” = “happy fault” for after it, God sent His only begotten Son to redeem man. Besides my offsprings, the Ocaña Learning Center, Inc. (O.L.C.I.) is grateful to God our Father because if it were not for that “injustice”, I would not have gotten married and I would not have thought of starting a school. OLCI started in 2004 with only 14 pupils. For S.Y. 2014-2015, its population rose to 174. This coming Sunday, March 29, six (6) will graduate from Nursery, nineteen (19) from K1, and fourteen (14) from Grade Six. Praise the Lord!

In spite of that “injustice” mentioned above, I still go to confession in preparation for the First Friday of every month. And I confess to Almighty God via the priest in the Redemptorist Church where there is a regular schedule for confessions. Above the entrance of said Church are the Latin words: “Copiosa apud Eum redemptio” = With Him (God our Father) is abundant redemption. This jibes with what Pope Francis wrote: “God never tires of forgiving us.” It is we who tire of asking for His forgiveness.