Scripture Reading: Leviticus 9:1-7, Leviticus 16:29-34, Hebrews 4:14-16, Hebrews 5:1-10, Hebrews 10:11-14
I will never forget the disappointment I felt when my eighth-grade teacher reported to me that, since I wasn’t Catholic, I didn’t need to go to confession. That day I’d sat listening to all of my friends collude as they decided they would confess their issues with cussing, and I was equally fascinated and disappointed. I was fascinated because they seemed to have no real issues that they felt they needed to share. I was disappointed because I did. I didn’t just want to talk to the priest about my problem with cussing. I wanted to talk to him about the sadness I felt that refused to lift. I wanted to talk to him about the problems I had at home. I wanted to talk to him about the friendship issues I had.
You see, this was before the days when counseling was a more well-known option. Many people make a practice of going to speak with a counselor, a pastor, or attending groups centered around anxiety and grief today. However, as a middle schooler growing up in the early 2000’s, talk about counseling was nonexistent for me. I just did what I had to do to deal with it. By contrast, the Catholic sacrament of confession, which my friends practiced, led them to confess their sins, repent, identify a spiritual task to accomplish, and receive a prayer for forgiveness. And it sounded wonderful to depressed, thirteen-year-old Liv. I wish I had known the opportunity to talk to a priest was always available to me.
In Christ, we have access to the Great High Priest.
When I read Hebrews, I am reminded that the early Church experienced a similar conundrum. The Christians to whom this book is addressed were growing weary of the persecution they were under. They were tempted to abandon the faith and return to old traditions. Jewish Christians were used to the relief the priests brought as they offered sacrifices before the Lord, prayed for the people, and led them in repentance. They began to talk of returning to the old way, but Jesus changed everything, and the writer of Hebrews reminded them of this.
Jesus Christ is both the Great High Priest and the sacrificial Lamb. He took on all of our sins so that we could access God’s presence any time of day on any day of the year. Jesus is the one who reconciles us to the Father, and because of His sacrifice, we no longer need anyone else to act as a mediator or make sacrifices for us. Counseling and confessing areas of sin to a trusted friend or mentor are great disciplines to practice. However, we have access to the comforter who leads us into all truth as a result of Jesus’s sacrifice. And when we call on His name, the Holy Spirit can comfort us and counsel us, reminding us that we are never alone when we battle against depression, fear, friendship issues, or family problems this Advent.
Written by Liv Dooley
