While many of us shudder at the thought of going to confession, I’d like to you to contemplate it in a new way. This Sunday we hear from the Gospel of Saint John Chapter 11, relating the story of raising Lazarus. His sisters take Jesus to the tomb, where their brother Lazarus has already been dead four days. Jesus famously brings Lazarus to life, but listen what he adds at the end.
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I knew that you hear me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that you did send me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come out." The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him;
Jesus doesn’t just want to give you new life – he wants to unwrap you from the bondage of sin. Freed of that constraint, you are free to live a life of true and holy freedom.
Father of Grace and Mercy – You are the ultimate emancipater – freeing us from the bondage and death of sin. May we approach confession confident that you want nothing more than to say, “unbind them, and let them go!” Amen
Click for the audio here - https://soundcloud.com/user-185285779/lenten-reflection-freedom