CONFESSION AND GOD’S HEALING AND
INFINITE MERCY!
One of the greatest gifts that our
merciful Savior gave to the world, that first Easter Sunday, was the Sacrament
of Confession. Jesus passed through the walls and then breathed the Holy Spirit
upon the Apostles and said: “Receive the
Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive shall be forgiven; whose sins you
retain shall be retained.”(Jn. 20:21-23)
In this moment, with these words and
with the breathing forth of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles Jesus instituted
the Sacrament of His infinite mercy that we call Sacrament of Confession,
Penance, Reconciliation, forgiveness, and Sacrament of His infinite mercy.
In this brief essay we would like to
encourage all to have great trust in God’s mercy and to approach with trust,
confidence, humility and faith the Sacrament of Confession. We will offer ten
short encouraging words or suggestions to help us to receive this great
Sacrament.
1.
TRUST IN GOD’S INFINITE MERCY. Jesus complained to Saint Faustina saying
that the greatest sin that wounds His Sacred Heart most is the lack of trust in
His infinite mercy. Jesus said that if
the sinner had as many sins as the grains of sand on the seashore, if he were
to simply trust in Jesus’ mercy then that would be enough to engulf and swallow
these sins in the ocean of His infinite mercy.
St Paul reminds us: “Where sin
abounds God’s mercy abounds all the more.” Indeed the greatest sinners can
become the greatest saints if they simply trust unreservedly in God’s mercy.
Examples abound: Mary Magdalene, the Good thief, Saint Augustine, Saint
Margaret of Cortona, St Ignatius of Loyola, St. Camillus de Lelis, Saint Mary
of Egypt, and many more…
2.
PREPARATION. Prepare yourself well
for the reception of the Sacraments. In fact sacramental theology enunciates
this important principle: one receives graces in proportion to the disposition
of the heart and the prior preparation before receiving the Sacrament. Have a good examination of conscience booklet
at hand. Give yourself time to prepare to encounter the loving and merciful
Savior. Do your examination in silence
so that you can meet yourself with the merciful Savior in your soul-searching.
Write down the sins on a sheet of paper so that when you go in to the priest
who represents Christ, due to nervousness, you will not draw a blank. Usually,
the better the preparation the better the results—as is the case in any
practice!
3.
PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH CHRIST. Strive to understand that our religion is
fundamentally a personal relationship and friendship with Jesus. Jesus indeed
is the friend who will never fail us. If we can understand that the essence of
sin is hurting the one who loves us, the one who desires a deep friendship with
us, the one who died on the cross for us, then it will be much easier to avoid
sin in the future. At the Last Supper
Jesus called the Apostles friend; we are the friends of Jesus. Sin is not so much that of breaking a rule,
but breaking the loving Heart of Jesus.
4.
APPRECIATE THE SACRAMENT, THE GRACES
AND THE OPPORTUNTIES. A constant danger for practicing Catholics is to take the
Sacraments for granted. As in a
marriage, it is always possible to take one’s spouse for granted. Likewise, we
can take Jesus and His Sacraments for granted. Our attitude should be such that
every time we receive the Eucharist as well as Confession we should receive it
as if it were our last time and that we will be judged upon the way we received
the Sacrament this time. As the sign in
the sacristies remind us: “Say Mass as
if it were your first Mass, last Mass and only Mass.” So may we strive to receive Confession as if
it were our first, last and only every time we approach this Sacrament of God’s
mercy.
5.
FIRM PURPOSE OF AMMENDMENT. There are five steps in making a good
confession: 1) Examination of Conscience; 2) Sorrow for sin; 3) Firm Purpose of
Amendment; 4) Confession of sins to the priest; 5) Carry out the penance given
by the priest. The third step, in many
penitents, should be improved. By this
we mean this: that to confess well there must be a firm commitment on our part
to avoid any person, place or thing or circumstance that could lead us into the
snares of sin. This demands
self-examination, self-knowledge, humility, and fortitude. This also demands a rewinding the film of our
life to see where, why, when, how, with whom, and where that led us into the
falling into sin. There are many sayings
that spell this out: “He who does not
know history is condemned to repeat the same errors.” Socrates stated: “A life that is not examined is a life that
is not worth living.” A key proverb of
the desert Fathers says it in two succinct words: KNOW THYSELF! If you like,
using an image from SUPERMAN: We have to know our own kryptonite—our own weak
point, our own Achilles heel!
6.
PRAY FOR THE PRIEST CONFESSOR. On one occasion Saint Faustina left the
confessional and felt intranquility, lacking the peace that she usually
experienced after making her sacramental confession. Jesus appeared to her and told her the reason
for this lack of peace was because she did not pray for the priest confessor
before entering the confessional. A short prayer for the priest Confessor—Hail
Mary, prayer to the Holy Spirit or prayer to the Guardian angel—can drastically
improve one’s confession. Try it!
7.
QUALITIES OF A GOOD CONFESSION. In the Diary of Saint Faustina Jesus
highlights three indispensable conditions for a good confession. They are:
transparency, humility and obedience.
When we confess to the priest, who really represents Jesus the Divine
Physician, then we should be as clear and transparent as possible. Then we
should never try to justify, rationalize or blame others for our sins and that
means we should be humble. Finally, we should obey whatever advice or counsel
that the priest gives us recognizing that the priest acts in the person of
Christ.
8.
CONFESS FREQUENTLY. It is of capital importance in the spiritual
life to receive the sacraments well but also with great frequency. The Church allows as well as encourages
frequent Confession as a most efficacious means to grow in holiness. One is obliged to confess mortal sins in
number and species. However, the saints and Popes strongly encourage us to
confess even venial sins; this is called the “Confession of devotion.” One
could also confess past mortal sins and renew sorrow for them. All too often
sins leave a deeply engrained habit or stain in our soul. Frequent Confession
serves to gradually expunge and eliminate the stain! The warning however is to
avoid making mechanical, routine or perfunctory confessions—to confess without
any firm purpose to amend our ways!
9.
CLARIFY DOUBTS. If it is such that there is some moral
confusion, doubt or uncertainty about some moral matter, or personal behavior
then you should be humble and forthright to ask a good confessor to clarify the
doubt. In other words moral theology
teaches us that we should never act on a doubtful conscience. On the contrary, we should clarify the moral
question with our confessor before acting. Having a well-formed conscience,
having a pure and clear conscience, having interior peace of soul is one of the
greatest gifts that one can experience this side of heaven.
10. THANKSGIVING. After you have completed your confession then
make sure that you thank God abundantly for His infinite mercy, for His
kindness, for His compassion, for the gift of the sacrament of Confession. God
rejoices in the hearts of those generous souls who render Him constant
thanksgiving. May the prayer of the
Psalmist be our prayer: “Give thanks to
the Lord for He is good; His mercy endures forever.”
