Litany of the Fearful Heart & Confession
Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Divine Providence Family,
I remember as a very young child I was scared of the dark. Perhaps many of us are…but above all, we must never forget that the darkness is not dark to God. He is the light of the world.
In our Gospel today, we read the story of Jesus making clay by mixing his spit with the dust. This recalls the moment when God formed man from the dust, with the breath of His mouth. Jesus is making a new creation. God breathed on dust to create man. God breathed again, after His resurrection, to institute the sacrament of Confession, the sacrament of new creation (John 20:22-23).
As I have mentioned before, hearing confessions is my favorite thing to do. I love to witness the power of the mercy of God to unbind and enlighten. I go to confession weekly myself, because I enjoy being forgiven and I receive ever-greater strength to live in the light. As children of the light, let us cast aside fear of the dark. We need not be hampered by our guilt or our sense of unworthiness. Let us freely and frankly confess our sins to the Lord, confident that the darkness is not dark to Him.
Even then, the light and the freedom can be daunting, however. The man born blind and his parents are both afraid of the power of Jesus’ opponents. But the man born blind, who now sees, is fully freed from fear when he chooses to worship Jesus. If we set Jesus first, and worship him properly, we too can be free from fear. I would invite you to pray the Litany of the Fearful Heart on the next page. Find freedom from fear by growing in your trust of the Light.
I also invite you to ponder these words from St. Ambrose:
“As the divine light, he touched this man and enlightened him; as priest, by an action symbolizing baptism, he wrought in him his work of redemption. The only reason for Jesus mixing clay with the spittle and smearing it on the eyes of the man born blind was to remind you that he who restored the man to health by anointing his eyes with clay is the very one who fashioned the first man out of clay. And that this clay is our flesh that can receive the light of eternal life through the sacrament of baptism. You too should come to Siloam. Let Christ wash you and then you will see.”
The pool of Siloam means “sent.” Jesus sends us on a mission once we see the light. We can be missionary disciples when we are free from fear. When we really live out our baptismal call to be disciples and to make disciples, we can set others free from fear as well. As a Family of Parishes, we are beginning to answer the call of missionary discipleship. I would like to highlight a wonderful evening of fellowship and formation this past week for music ministers from the Family of Parishes that brought musicians together from across our Family.
I would also encourage folks to take advantage of the opportunities for Mass on the evening of March 19 at 7:00 PM at St. Bartholomew, the feast of St. Joseph, and March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation. Please join me in the novena to St. Joseph leading up to his feast, and pray especially for me, on the fifth anniversary of my ordination. God has been good to me. He is giving me courage and setting me free from darkness and fear. I pray for the same for all of you!
