Father Allan Paul Eilen said he wishes more Catholics understood the truth, beauty and goodness of the sacrament of reconciliation.
He told “Practicing Catholic” producer Rachael McCallum on the program that will air at 9 p.m. Nov. 1 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, “The Lord is more willing to forgive us than you and I desire to be forgiven. In that prayer of absolution, it begins with God the father of mercies, and then through the death and resurrection of his son Jesus, reconciles the world himself in his victory over sin and death, and then the Holy Spirit to pour out for the forgiveness of sins. This is through the ministry of the Church.”
Father Eilen, pastor of St. Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake, explained that confession shouldn’t be viewed as presenting a laundry list of negative behavior that one must confess to receive Communion.
“That’s true, I never want to take Communion if I’m not in a state of grace,” Father Eilen said. He went on to say sins are serious and “being scrupulous is a good thing. Being overly scrupulous is not. Not everything is a mortal sin. … If my conscience is telling me that this is something more serious, then let’s go to confession first and just make a spiritual communion. … If we receive his (Jesus’) body and blood unworthily, in other words, with serious sin on my soul, I bring condemnation down upon myself.”
But, Father Eilen argues, Jesus sees us in the image and likeness of the Father, “in our eternity and in terms of what he created us for initially.” He used the example of Jesus being more offended by St. Faustina’s lack of trust in him than the actual sins she committed.
“At times, I certainly have to examine my conscience and come in with a humble and contrite heart to confess my sins, but a laundry list of negative behavior is not the main purpose of confession. It’s to be healed. To be healed, I should never be afraid to come and to come often. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take all the grace I can get.”
Father Eilen explained that after baptism, there are two sacraments a person needs to live a Christian life: reconciliation and the Eucharist. He said that these two sacraments are neglected and attacked the most.
“We come whenever we need to,” Father Eilen said. “With every sin comes pleasure, power, popularity. Ironically, those are the three temptations that Jesus experienced in the desert after baptism, when the Holy Spirit drove him out to the desert to pray and to fast.”
To hear more from Father Eilen on how to make confession a meaningful experience, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. Nov. 2 and 2 p.m. Oct. Nov. 3.
The program also includes a discussion with Jeremy Rohr about pornography use among young people. Also, Cynthia Palm shares how she journeyed from Southern Baptist roots to Catholicism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the program can also be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
