Padre Martinez and Confession

Padre Martinez is a priest in Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop. Among other rebellions he does not practice celibacy claiming:  “No priest can experience repentance and forgiveness of sin unless he himself falls into sin.” But I would argue Padre Martinez fails to value properly the grace that prevents us from falling into sin. To be forgiven a debt is a wonderful thing but isn’t a life LIVED in more perfect grace far greater.

 

Padre Martinez goes on to say: “The soul cannot be humbled by fasts and prayer; it must be broken by mortal sin to experience forgiveness of sin and rise to a state of grace. Otherwise religion is nothing but dead logic.”  Who among us Christians has not experienced the great sorrow of the burden of sin and then the great peace of having the weight lifted by Christ through confession. Afterwards we might be tempted to believe that we could not be brought to our present place of joy except through the sin we had committed. While surely God uses our sin to humble us and the consequences of sin to bring us back to him that is no reason to assume that the path of sin it the only way to holiness.  

 

Contrary to what the Padre believes I believe the soul can be humbled by fasts and prayer. There seems to me no greater mark of humility then the lifting of the heart to God with prayers of adoration and sincere thanksgiving (most perfectly accomplished thought the Eucharist). Acts of adoration remind a person of their true relation to the infinite God and giving thanks humbles the soul by acknowledging its dependence on God for all good things. Thank God for EVERYTHING all day and see if you do not grow in humility.

 

And yet Padre Martinez rightly implies that a religion that is nothing but dead logic is not desirable.  Does a life without the occasional mortal sin necessarily make one’s religion into dead logic. Sometimes when a person confesses the same sin over and over then the sacrament can seem to loose its zing and smacks of “dead logic”. The ideas of Padre Martinez might suggest a “good” mortal sin so they can experience the graces of a lively repentance.  This thinking is erroneous not only because of the passage in Romans  but also because it focuses and unhealthy amount of attention on one kind of prayer(repentance). Prayers of repentance are an essential part of a complete breakfast but an unbalanced diet lacking adoration, thanksgiving, and intercession leads to spiritual malnutrition. I’ll take another helping of thankfulness, please!

 

We can’t be like picky children and we must eat all that is on the plate to get a healthy balanced diet. A few years ago my spiritual director and confessor got me into the practice of confessing not only the ways in which I had failed but also the ways in which I had triumphed by the grace of God. The practice serves to transform even the most “humdrum” confession/examination of conscience into an act of humble worship and repentance.

 

I don't know anybody who sins so they can go to confession. Perhaps poor Padre Martinez had spiritual scurvy or perhaps he just wanted to justify his own licentious behavior.