REFLECTION:

Today, I’m going to focus only on our first reading from the Book of Proverbs, because honestly, we don’t get Proverbs at Mass that often. So when Proverbs shows up, we better take advantage of it!

And there’s one line that really caught my attention: “All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the Lord who proves hearts.”

Basically, Proverbs is telling us something we already know about ourselves: we are very good at making ourselves look right. We can justify almost anything!

Whenever I teach about the Sacrament of Confession, I remind people that the Catechism speaks about three important acts of the penitent: contrition, confession, and satisfaction. But before you even walk into the confessional, there’s something else that is so important: the examination of conscience. You have to stop and honestly look at yourself. And one thing I always tell people about Confession is: when you confess your sins, just state the sin. You don’t have to give Father the director’s cut, the extended edition, and all the bonus scenes!

Because sometimes the more we talk, the more we start justifying ourselves. “Father, I lost my temper…but you should have heard what they said to me.”

“Father, I gossiped…but technically, everything I said was true.” “Father, I haven’t forgiven this person…but Father, you don’t know what they did!” And after five minutes, somehow the person who came in to confess has become completely innocent! That’s exactly what Proverbs is warning us about: “All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes.”

We’re very good at seeing things through our own eyes. We know our reasons. We know our excuses. We know the whole story. But Proverbs continues: “The Lord proves hearts.”

That is what an examination of conscience is really about. It’s not simply me examining myself. It is allowing God to examine me. Instead of saying, “Lord, let me explain…” Maybe our prayer needs to become: “Lord, show me.” Show me where I was wrong. Show me where pride got in the way. Show me where I hurt someone. Show me where I need to change.

Because conversion begins when we stop trying to convince God that we were right and become willing to let God show us the truth about our hearts.

So maybe today, take just a few quiet minutes and ask: “Lord, where am I making excuses for something that you are actually asking me to change?” Because sometimes our biggest problem isn’t that we don’t recognize our sins. It’s that we’ve gotten really good at explaining them.