Those who have never made a detailed and systematic examination of all the sins they can remember having committed since their earliest years; and have written them out, without any conscious omissions, on a sheet of paper, and brought them in penitence to Christ and laid them at the foot of his Cross – those who have never done that can see themselves only as reflected in a polished surface dimly and not face to face.  And if they happen to think that they can get on well enough without worrying about their sins or seeking the forgiveness of God, they thereby unwittingly expose their ignorance both of what they are and of what they ought to be.

But those who this Lent make for the first time in their life a searching and honest written self-examination like that, will be well on their way to a new life with God.  For that will be their moment of truth.