Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 75(2) May 2025
Faith in Medicine
Repentance
Fr Sean Sheehy is a priest in Kerry Diocese.
Repentance
is powerful. In a homily, St. John Chrysostom (c. 388 A.D.) noted that
repentance, “alone will turn a wolf into a sheep, make a publican a
preacher, turn a thorn into an olive, make a debauchee a religious
fellow.” It brings about a radical reorientation of our heart toward the
things of God expressed in faith, hope, and charity. To facilitate this
need for repentance in preparation for forgiveness Jesus bestowed on His
Church, through her bishops and priests, the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
This is a powerful expression of God’s initiative in saving us from our
sinfulness. Here He enables us to enter into a more intimate relationship
with Jesus and through Him with one another empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness are two of the most
important gifts Jesus brought to this fallen world. Repentance calls for
an examination of conscience: Where have I failed to lovingly obey God’s
Commandments and live Jesus’ Beatitudes along with fidelity to the laws of
the Church? Let’s remember to repent, confess our sins, and experience the
forgiveness of God that brings us a refreshed sense of wellbeing. You and
I, with a repentant heart seeking forgiveness can experience God actually
saving us when the priest pronounces the holy words of Absolution in the
Sacrament of Penance. It is in the repentance and forgiveness of sins that
we know that God is saving us in that moment (Lk 1:77).