New birth occurs in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Rather than punishment for our sins, confession rescues us from the snares and traps entangling our spirit, giving relief from the emotional scourging of self-scrutiny. We fall into those traps by straying away like children who run into the street while Mother Mary tries to call us home. She is crying out for her children to return to the safety of her arms. In fact, her whole existence is the return journey home.
One penance given to me after a confession was to ask Mary to help me to live in a constant state of “Let it be done to me according to Thy word.” She shows me how to consistently accept what is because I trust in the will of the Father. There is peace in this, the peace of a child who knows that her Father has everything under control. God’s will is always more beautiful than my own.
—from the book Universal Mother: A Journal for Finding Yourself in Mary
by Holly Schapker and Cecelia Dorger
