Parish Newsletter: Healing and Mercy
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ,
On 23rd September every year is the feast of Saint Pio of Pietralcina, better known as PADRE PIO.
He died on this day in 1968, more than fifty years ago.
No one knows how many confessions Padre Pio heard; more and more people came to receive this sacrament at his hands. He could “read souls” and touch hearts in a very profound way. God used him as an instrument of his mercy and healing, sometimes in amazing and spectacular ways.
Not all priests are like Padre Pio! Not all priests can “read souls” as he did. In the confessional some priests seem to bubbling over with charisma and holiness; other priests may appear to be bubbling over with nothing! But all that is part of the scandal of the incarnation.
How long is since you made your first and last confession? How long is it since you received the assurance of God’s mercy through the ministry of a priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
Somewhere, there is a priest waiting to hear your confession. And God will use him, whoever he is, to enlighten and help you. He may not be a Padre Pio! He may not be a candidate for canonisation, but still God will use him to be an instrument of grace and forgiveness for you. So, make your confession soon. Very soon.