After a tough losing game of soccer, the defeated team doesn’t remove their uniforms and toss them away. They simply wash them and wear them at the next game. This is the same when sin enters our lives. We should not give up on ourselves and walk away.

Instead, we need to turn to Jesus and tell him we are sorry for what we did and ask for his forgiveness and mercy. And we know that Jesus responds by giving his forgiveness through the priest’s absolution.

The priest’s absolution restores every sorry sinner to his or her original dignity, cleansing them to resemble the day of their Baptism. We can compare what happens in the confessional to shining a diamond in the rough. The sheen of the diamond emerges. This is why we never throw away diamonds. They are precious. Each confession shines that particular individuals’ sheen, until the image and likeness of God appears again radiantly.

Then, we get up and walk away whole and forgiven. Like his father, Jesus would rather forgive than punish. And again, like his father, Jesus never measures our life journey by our last mistake. Jesus wants every lost sheep saved.

This is why we look to God our father so warmly, as the priest’s absolution is saying, “I love you and have a place waiting for you. Get up and follow me, and sin no more. If you do slip-up again come back, I will be waiting.” When Jesus loves, he never gives up even if we do.

Jesus found his Church to gather lost sheep, and not scatter them. Jesus’ Church invites people to come and never pushes sinners away. The God whom Jesus calls father is outstanding in love and relationships. Our God sees perfection as there is always more to see and love.

For us, God’s creation’s perfection is seen as being always on the way, but never reaching completion here on earth. In this way, our ever-changing circumstances constantly stretches us to become more than we are.

To live always seeking perfection, we need to trust in Jesus’ love for us and hope in God’s protection. Ernest Hemingway wrote of hope: “The rain will stop, the night will end, and the hurt will fade. Hope is never lost that it cannot be found.”

It can be frightening to realize that the God who governs the seas, the tides, and the wind wants to love us and be a part of our lives and our growth. Yet, with the birth of Jesus, God the father, gave us a human heart we can love. In fact, God became human so we can hear his voice, see with our own eyes, and reach out and touch him, through Jesus, with our own hands.

Therefore, think of creation as a mirror reflecting eternity. As we look into that mirror, although we see our sinfulness, we also see God and uncover our true selves. Then, we would get along much better as we each live our lives as a model for others.

Always remember in our life’s journey:

It is more about where we are heading than where we are coming from.