In the book, All Quiet on the Western Front, a young German soldier lies in a crater taking cover from artillery fire.  Suddenly a French soldier leaps into the same crater, taking cover as well.

The man almost instinctively bayonets the soldier and kills him. This was the first man he ever killed. He is stunned and begins to wonder about the name of his victim. Seeing a wallet in the dead man’s pocket, he takes it out. In it is a picture of a young mother holding a child.

The German soldier gets a lump in his throat as he suddenly realizes this dead man is not an enemy but a husband, a father, someone who loved and was loved.

This sorrowful and regrettable moment is just the time for forgiveness and reconciliation with God. “The sinful woman fell at the feet of Jesus and began washing them with her tears.”

It is at this moment that the Holy Spirit floods into the heart and fills it with mercy and forgiveness. But, we have to open our heart and welcome Him. The Sacrament of Confession is the tool we need to open our hearts.

Is there someone here who needs to be forgiven? Is there someone at home or at work that is ready to forgive you? Pray for the grace to know that moment of mercy. If we could regret even our smallest wrongdoing, we should not allow the sun to go down before we seek or give forgiveness.

It is the Christian way of making all things right before God. “So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”