Worship

As the late Fr Peter Knowles, O.P., forcefully stated, all the Sacraments are acts of worship – even Confession.  Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus: quoniam in sæculum misericordia ejus – Confess to the Lord for He is good, for his mercy endureth for ever.  We cannot but worship God and praise Him for His goodness and mercy in offering us forgiveness of sins.

(He was a notable and beloved eccentric; having given up on the Western liturgy after its postconciliar reforms, and gone all Byzantine, he would often enquire of the brethren as to such matters as, "How do you Latins baptize?"  Fr Paul, whose ordination I attended last year, likes to joke that the proper reply to such a query is - say it in a broad Aussie accent - "We pour the water over the arse, Faaather!"  Likewise, whilst feasting on fresh oysters, he would hold forth on the rigours of Great Lent...  He is also famous for telling seminarians, making a retreat with him as director, that "The Holy Trinity is not a young man, an old man, and a bird!"  Quite right.)

What brings me to all this?  Going to confession this morning, as is my wont, and realizing anew what grace draws one to this sacrament, and what a plenitude of power for healing, temporal and eternal, it is – when, humanly speaking, how could man ever expect forgiveness for any sin?