Upon walking out of the beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in downtown Cleveland after Confession I texted my accountability partner "God wins again! I am clean. God be praised!" This got me thinking about God's victory in His mercy. I was also truly blessed to get a parking spot at a meter outside of the Cathedral (that still had time on it!) since the Cathedral parking garage was full due to it being a work day on top of people being in town for game seven of the World Series. I am certainly going to classify that as divine intervention. Anyway, I immediately listened to The Priests rendition of Vivaldi's Gloria III: Laudamus te" (We praise You) which I often listen to after Confession or when feeling blessed. The first three lines are "Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. Adoramus te." (We praise You. We bless You. We adore You). This song helps me get into a state of gratitude for God's mercy, which led to my reflection on God's victory which I proclaimed to my accountability partner.
God is unconquerable! The reason I proclaimed "God wins again!" is because God truly continues to be victorious in His mercy toward His creation. The ultimate victory of sin and death is God's through Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So each time we accept His mercy we share in God's victory. It is a beautiful thing! How great is a victory that can be relived again and again? It is truly powerful. I mean, I know I don't get sick of watching the final minute of the Cavs' game seven victory over the Warriors (neither do my Facebook friends since I see it on my feed all the time). I also don't get sick of watching Rajai Davis' eight inning two-run shot over the mini monster at Progressive Field during game seven of the World Series (I know I know we still lost). We should have the same attitude in an exponentially increased sense regarding the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We should never tire of God's mercy! We share in God's ultimate triumph every time we receive this glorious sacrament.
So, let is remember that Deus est invictus (God is unconquerable). Our sins are many, sure. Our sins are deplorable, absolutely. However, no sin is greater than God. Not a single one. It is easy to fall into despair after doing X for the thousandth time. However, do not despair! Go! Relive the victory over sin! Relive the victory over death! Through Christ we persevere and march on. Nothing can defeat Christ. No amount of self loathing will make the previous sentence false. Let's take all of our faults and shortcomings to Christ and let Christ bring us to victory in Him. Amen. Pax.
