Why go to confession?
Confession: It puts you straight with everyone
Penance, aka confession, is the sacrament of the forgiveness of sin. You can’t beat it for convenience. It’s available practically whenever. Tell a priest you want to go to confession and you’ll get his attention. One bishop I know was cornered on an airplane. Another passenger figured out what was going on and asked if he could confess too. It must have been an interesting game of musical seats. An interesting question for priests
might be: Where was the strangest place you ever administered the sacrament of penance? The answers I’ve gathered include “in a sports bar, at a graduation party” and “on the golf course, walking up the fairway.”
Confession has benefits. Here are ten:
1. Confidentiality guaranteed. There’s nothing like confessing your sins to someone guaranteed not to tell anyone else. Sometimes you need to talk in absolute confidence. Even under subpoena, a priest can’t tell anyone what’s said to him in confession. He can’t even hint at it. Now that’s confidentiality.
2. Housekeeping for the soul. It feels good to be able to start a clean life all over again. Like going into a sparkling living room in your home, it’s nice when clutter is removed – even if it’s your own.
3. A balm for the desire for revenge. When you have been forgiven you can forgive others. If the perfect Jesus forgives me, who am I to want to avenge the slights in my life. Think: “Why did they promote him over me?’ or “Mom played favorites!”
4. Low cost therapy. It’s free, which makes it cheaper than a psychiatrist for dealing with guilt.
5. Forced time to think. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. To examine our lives and acknowledge failings marks the first step of making things right with God, others and ourselves. Life can be more worth living when
you ponder the meaning of your own life.
6. Contribution toward world peace. Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, said that the imbalances in the world that lead to war and tensions “are linked with that more basic imbalance which is rooted in the heart of man.” Peace of soul leads to peace of heart leads to peace beyond oneself.
7. A better neighborhood. Confession leaves you feling good about yourself, thereby cutting back the inclination to road rage and aggressive shopping cart driving. With the grace of the sacrament you’re energized to, as Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “go and sin no more.”
8. Realistic self-perception. Confession helps overcome arrogance when you have to admit you’re as much of a sinner as anyone else. It helps build tolerance for others’ perceived shortcomings.
9. One more benefit of being Catholic. There are lots of benefits, including a sense of community, liturgical rites to help us encounter God in prayer, and the wonderful sense of humanity exemplified in the saints, from Mary, the loving Mother of God, to Augustine, the exasperating son of Monica. The sacrament that leads us to inner peace is among the greatest boons.
10. Closeness to God. Confession helps you realize that you have a close connection to God and receive his grace
through the sacraments. What can be better than knowing God’s on your team, or, to be less arrogant about it, that you are on God’s.
By Sr. Mary Ann Walsh from the USCCB Blog Website
***********************************************************************
My personal reflection about the Sacrament of Reconciliation by JP Pacis
Being a person who avails of the Sacrament as frequent as possible, I can honestly tell you it helps me keep myself firm to the ground and let go of any evil desires that are lingering in my mind, heart, body and soul. For me, I take the Sacrament of Reconciliation seriously. Honestly, I am not a perfect person. Nor am I a saint. Like yourself, I am a sinner.
Once a month, I clean my e-mail inbox from gmail.com so that I don't have to search high and low for e-mails that I have received throughout a certain period. I receive receipts, confirmations, payment stubs, personal information, family e-mails, junk mail and so on and so forth. Like sin, we do a lot of it - selfishness, pride, hurting other people's feelings, thinking how people hurt you or how you belittle them based on recent behaviors, etcetera.
Last Sunday, August 12, in Father's homily, he mentioned that when we are instructed at the end of the Mass to "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and one another. And we respond, 'Thanks be to God!'", we are bringing God into the people that we meet. Whether they are in our family, our loved ones, the people you run into in the streets, the people that you encounter at work or at a social gathering, we have to remember that command we have been given. Most of us receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ is within us! Indeed, we are suppose to be Christ-like to others at all times. Not just in the physical structure of the church but most especially the real church - society as a whole! Our obligation to help the poor, uphold the dignity of man, live out our baptismal promises, marriage vows, perpetual vows, all these are things we have to do. If we fail to meet any of them, then we have sinned.
Our Lord, in the image of the Divine Mercy and in the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, calls us to make our hearts like that of His, loving and merciful. We always ask Jesus to hear our prayers, but do we make our hearts worthy to accept Jesus into our lives? Confession is a good way to prepare our hearts for Jesus to reign supreme in our lives. We allow God's mercy, through His Son's Lifegiving Sacrifice on the Cross to wash our sins and be clothed in the white cloth that we wore in baptism.
Confession is something I would encourage everybody in the group to avail. If you have not been to confession for such a long time, do not be afraid, the priest will guide you. You don't have to do a face to face confession if you desire not to. There are still screened windows in many parishes around the Metro Columbus area. Confession will release you of any burden that you may be carrying. It also eases your mind and heart of any guilt or guilty pleasures that you may have entertained or thought of. I think of confession as taking a nice bath, you wash away your sinfulness and not become a new man, but become a newly cleaned man! The feeling I get is like after visiting the dentist for your regular cleaning check up, you can smile again freely because you have clean teeth again and your aura brightens up!
Jesus continues to wait for us to confess our sins. Let us do our best to stay pure and be ready for our last day. You never know when it is, for the time and hour is only reserved for Our Heavenly Father.
Penance, aka confession, is the sacrament of the forgiveness of sin. You can’t beat it for convenience. It’s available practically whenever. Tell a priest you want to go to confession and you’ll get his attention. One bishop I know was cornered on an airplane. Another passenger figured out what was going on and asked if he could confess too. It must have been an interesting game of musical seats. An interesting question for priests
might be: Where was the strangest place you ever administered the sacrament of penance? The answers I’ve gathered include “in a sports bar, at a graduation party” and “on the golf course, walking up the fairway.”
Confession has benefits. Here are ten:
1. Confidentiality guaranteed. There’s nothing like confessing your sins to someone guaranteed not to tell anyone else. Sometimes you need to talk in absolute confidence. Even under subpoena, a priest can’t tell anyone what’s said to him in confession. He can’t even hint at it. Now that’s confidentiality.
2. Housekeeping for the soul. It feels good to be able to start a clean life all over again. Like going into a sparkling living room in your home, it’s nice when clutter is removed – even if it’s your own.
3. A balm for the desire for revenge. When you have been forgiven you can forgive others. If the perfect Jesus forgives me, who am I to want to avenge the slights in my life. Think: “Why did they promote him over me?’ or “Mom played favorites!”
4. Low cost therapy. It’s free, which makes it cheaper than a psychiatrist for dealing with guilt.
5. Forced time to think. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. To examine our lives and acknowledge failings marks the first step of making things right with God, others and ourselves. Life can be more worth living when
you ponder the meaning of your own life.
6. Contribution toward world peace. Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, said that the imbalances in the world that lead to war and tensions “are linked with that more basic imbalance which is rooted in the heart of man.” Peace of soul leads to peace of heart leads to peace beyond oneself.
7. A better neighborhood. Confession leaves you feling good about yourself, thereby cutting back the inclination to road rage and aggressive shopping cart driving. With the grace of the sacrament you’re energized to, as Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “go and sin no more.”
8. Realistic self-perception. Confession helps overcome arrogance when you have to admit you’re as much of a sinner as anyone else. It helps build tolerance for others’ perceived shortcomings.
9. One more benefit of being Catholic. There are lots of benefits, including a sense of community, liturgical rites to help us encounter God in prayer, and the wonderful sense of humanity exemplified in the saints, from Mary, the loving Mother of God, to Augustine, the exasperating son of Monica. The sacrament that leads us to inner peace is among the greatest boons.
10. Closeness to God. Confession helps you realize that you have a close connection to God and receive his grace
through the sacraments. What can be better than knowing God’s on your team, or, to be less arrogant about it, that you are on God’s.
By Sr. Mary Ann Walsh from the USCCB Blog Website
***********************************************************************
My personal reflection about the Sacrament of Reconciliation by JP Pacis
Being a person who avails of the Sacrament as frequent as possible, I can honestly tell you it helps me keep myself firm to the ground and let go of any evil desires that are lingering in my mind, heart, body and soul. For me, I take the Sacrament of Reconciliation seriously. Honestly, I am not a perfect person. Nor am I a saint. Like yourself, I am a sinner.
Once a month, I clean my e-mail inbox from gmail.com so that I don't have to search high and low for e-mails that I have received throughout a certain period. I receive receipts, confirmations, payment stubs, personal information, family e-mails, junk mail and so on and so forth. Like sin, we do a lot of it - selfishness, pride, hurting other people's feelings, thinking how people hurt you or how you belittle them based on recent behaviors, etcetera.
Last Sunday, August 12, in Father's homily, he mentioned that when we are instructed at the end of the Mass to "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and one another. And we respond, 'Thanks be to God!'", we are bringing God into the people that we meet. Whether they are in our family, our loved ones, the people you run into in the streets, the people that you encounter at work or at a social gathering, we have to remember that command we have been given. Most of us receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ is within us! Indeed, we are suppose to be Christ-like to others at all times. Not just in the physical structure of the church but most especially the real church - society as a whole! Our obligation to help the poor, uphold the dignity of man, live out our baptismal promises, marriage vows, perpetual vows, all these are things we have to do. If we fail to meet any of them, then we have sinned.
Our Lord, in the image of the Divine Mercy and in the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, calls us to make our hearts like that of His, loving and merciful. We always ask Jesus to hear our prayers, but do we make our hearts worthy to accept Jesus into our lives? Confession is a good way to prepare our hearts for Jesus to reign supreme in our lives. We allow God's mercy, through His Son's Lifegiving Sacrifice on the Cross to wash our sins and be clothed in the white cloth that we wore in baptism.
Confession is something I would encourage everybody in the group to avail. If you have not been to confession for such a long time, do not be afraid, the priest will guide you. You don't have to do a face to face confession if you desire not to. There are still screened windows in many parishes around the Metro Columbus area. Confession will release you of any burden that you may be carrying. It also eases your mind and heart of any guilt or guilty pleasures that you may have entertained or thought of. I think of confession as taking a nice bath, you wash away your sinfulness and not become a new man, but become a newly cleaned man! The feeling I get is like after visiting the dentist for your regular cleaning check up, you can smile again freely because you have clean teeth again and your aura brightens up!
Jesus continues to wait for us to confess our sins. Let us do our best to stay pure and be ready for our last day. You never know when it is, for the time and hour is only reserved for Our Heavenly Father.