O magnum mysterium

At the heart of the Christmas story is a mystery, the mystery of the Word made flesh. This is something that we can never grasp or understand, but rather something we can allow ourselves to be comprehended by, so that we ourselves are surrounded by it and changed by it. In this season of Advent, part of our preparation to be transformed by this mystery is spending time in recognition of how much we are in need of transformation, in contemplating the ways in which we fall short of the image of God in which we are made. 

 

This is why Advent is thought of as a penitential season: not because we have to earn the joy of Christmas through four weeks of breast-beating and wearing a hair shirt. Rather, just as the Incarnation is a mystery, a freely-given grace which has the potential to encompass and change us, so also the knowledge of God's forgiveness for our shortcomings has the potential to teach us profoundly about God's unlimited capacity for love. 

 

At this time, many Christians choose to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as Confession. In the Anglican tradition, it is understood that the weekly confession that we make as part of the Eucharistic liturgy is sufficient for restoring our relationship with God. However, it can sometimes be difficult to feel the emotional truth of this reconciliation. If we are feeling particularly burdened by something we have done, by a broken relationship or a spiritual shortcoming, the Sacrament of Reconciliation can provide that extra reassurance of God's forgiveness. It can be an outlet for admitting those things which we can barely even admit to ourselves. At the heart of it, though, is not our own sinfulness, but the great mystery of God's love, reaching out hands of forgiveness.