VOICE FROM THE SOUTH
By FR. EMETERIO BARCELON, S.J.
Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ
We all need reform. We need to reform both as communities as well as personally. What better time than the start of the New Year? Personally we need to look at the past year and see where we can reform in our actions as well as in our attitudes. Where can we be better Christians and followers of Christ? We have to go to confession where we do not only ask pardon for our failings of the past year but also receive grace for the needs of the coming year. The Church requires us all to go to confession at least once a year and the beginning of the year is as good as any time or better to fulfill this obligation. If there is an obligation it is only the minimum. We need to go to confession more than once a year.  If possible once a month go to confession, because in confession we receive not only pardon for sins but also grace for the days to come. All we have to say is that we are sorry for our past sins that have already been forgiven in confession and we want to be sorry for them again.  And we receive many graces that we need to live as the Lord want us to do.
At this time, there are many accusations against the people of the Church so we in the Church need reform but we needed reform during all the periods of history.  Because of the weakness of human nature, there is no time in which the Church did not need reform.  Right up to the time of the apostles, one of His disciples betrayed Him and another denied Him and others walked away from Him. Then in the post apostolic times, the early fathers kept asking the early Christians to reform.
At the time of the Protestant revolution,  the Church needed reform.  The Protestants asked for reform but their reform cut off integral parts of the Church.  They concentrated on the intellectual portion, and did away with the sacrificial portion. The  Protestant churches threw away the altar and kept only a podium for preaching. They did away with a basic part of our faith -- that of sacrifice.  From the very beginning, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac to show his obedience to the Almighty. This sacrifice was consummated in the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, which we continue in the sacrifice of the Mass. The devil was able to deviate from the truth the millions of Christians from the offering of the Sacrifice.  It was true that the Church needed reform, but in the guise of reform they also threw the baby out with the bath.  They demanded reform but in the process they cut off the Sscrifice of Christ in their reform. They have to bring back the Sacrifice in their reform.
And as said earlier, there was no time in which the Church did not need reform.  The need is greater at some times or regions but reform we have to have again and again both as communities and in our personal lives.  What time is better than at the start of the New Year?.  We must reform if we are to control our human tendencies.
We need reform in our personal lives and in our communities. And we can start today. In confession we have forgiveness of sins but also grace to move forward. We need to love Jesus a lot more. We need to appreciate the Sacrifice of the Mass and Communion more and make the love of Jesus operative in our daily lives. He loves us so as to give His life for our salvation. We reciprocate this love in our daily lives. We need reform that starts in confession and the grace of the Sacraments. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>
Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ
We all need reform. We need to reform both as communities as well as personally. What better time than the start of the New Year? Personally we need to look at the past year and see where we can reform in our actions as well as in our attitudes. Where can we be better Christians and followers of Christ? We have to go to confession where we do not only ask pardon for our failings of the past year but also receive grace for the needs of the coming year. The Church requires us all to go to confession at least once a year and the beginning of the year is as good as any time or better to fulfill this obligation. If there is an obligation it is only the minimum. We need to go to confession more than once a year.  If possible once a month go to confession, because in confession we receive not only pardon for sins but also grace for the days to come. All we have to say is that we are sorry for our past sins that have already been forgiven in confession and we want to be sorry for them again.  And we receive many graces that we need to live as the Lord want us to do.
At this time, there are many accusations against the people of the Church so we in the Church need reform but we needed reform during all the periods of history.  Because of the weakness of human nature, there is no time in which the Church did not need reform.  Right up to the time of the apostles, one of His disciples betrayed Him and another denied Him and others walked away from Him. Then in the post apostolic times, the early fathers kept asking the early Christians to reform.
At the time of the Protestant revolution,  the Church needed reform.  The Protestants asked for reform but their reform cut off integral parts of the Church.  They concentrated on the intellectual portion, and did away with the sacrificial portion. The  Protestant churches threw away the altar and kept only a podium for preaching. They did away with a basic part of our faith -- that of sacrifice.  From the very beginning, Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac to show his obedience to the Almighty. This sacrifice was consummated in the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, which we continue in the sacrifice of the Mass. The devil was able to deviate from the truth the millions of Christians from the offering of the Sacrifice.  It was true that the Church needed reform, but in the guise of reform they also threw the baby out with the bath.  They demanded reform but in the process they cut off the Sscrifice of Christ in their reform. They have to bring back the Sacrifice in their reform.
And as said earlier, there was no time in which the Church did not need reform.  The need is greater at some times or regions but reform we have to have again and again both as communities and in our personal lives.  What time is better than at the start of the New Year?.  We must reform if we are to control our human tendencies.
We need reform in our personal lives and in our communities. And we can start today. In confession we have forgiveness of sins but also grace to move forward. We need to love Jesus a lot more. We need to appreciate the Sacrifice of the Mass and Communion more and make the love of Jesus operative in our daily lives. He loves us so as to give His life for our salvation. We reciprocate this love in our daily lives. We need reform that starts in confession and the grace of the Sacraments. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>