THE FAR REACHING EFFECTS OF THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Our sins not only hurt ourselves, but they also hurt other people. No sin is an isolated event. One
of the beautiful benefits of the sacrament of Reconciliation is that, in a mysterious way, not only
do we receive grace and healing when we receive this sacrament, but so do the people we have
hurt by our sins. Sometimes God allows us to get a glimpse of this as in the following testimony:
“When I lived in Dallas I attended a parish mission that forever changed my view of the sacrament
of reconciliation. The priest wanted us to understand the far reaching effects of this sacrament as
a channel of healing not only for ourselves but also for those people we have hurt by our sins. So
he shared a story of man who had been drinking pretty heavily one night and had come very
close to hurting his 3 year old daughter. The next day he had so much remorse that he became
very fearful of himself and as a result he began to distance himself from her. His daughter had no
idea what he had stopped short of doing to her but she began to suffer from the growing distance
in their relationship. Over time their relationship was so bad that when she was 18 she left home
and told him she would never see or talk to him again. About 10 years later this man could not
take the guilt any longer. Although he had said he was sorry to God he never brought this sin to
the sacrament of Reconciliation. After 25 years he finally went to confession and received absolution for this sin. Well, it didn’t take long for God to work. That night when he returned home his
daughter, whom he hadn't talked to for ten years, called him and they reconciled.”