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“God is ever-faithful.”  I can’t tell you how many times in my years here at Saint Jude I have made that statement in a homily.  “God is ever-faithful.”  I would ask you two questions today: do you believe it?  And, if so, what does that mean to you?  Because we often feel our trust in this promise being put to the test. 

As Jesus walked about in Galilee, many knew who he was.  The fact that he was out in the open was confusing to them, as they also knew there were those who intended to kill him.  He was in Galilee and not Jerusalem, because, as scripture says, “his time had not yet come,” and they could not understand why he was taking such a risk.

These past few days, there have been a couple of recurring themes in the words of Jesus.  First, we have his repeated testimony of, “I can do nothing apart from the Father.”  Second, he is addressing and challenging those who will not accept him. 

We may not realize it, but there are a lot of things in life that we try to do on our own.  In doing so, we’re fooling ourselves.  Our world offers us so many resources to aid us in daily living: GPS, text messaging, social media postings, ordering pretty much anything and having it delivered to our front door, automated car washes, placing your grocery order, prescription order, or office supply order online, and then just walking into the store and picking it up. 

When it comes to sin, forgiveness, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we’re all probably pretty good at the examination of conscience, coming up with a list, and the “telling” part (the confessing part) of the sacrament.  We’re probably pretty good at that with any experience of forgiveness, whether in the sacrament or otherwise.