Every Sunday in my parish's bulletin our pastor writes "From the Pastor's Desk," a few paragraphs to help you understand and connect with your faith in deeper ways. This past Sunday was a particularly striking writing that helped me to understand an often misunderstood Sacrament.
It is often a struggle for me to go to confession...I find it hard to get my pride under control sometimes. After God's grace allows me to stifle my ego long enough to get into the confessional, I only discover acceptance and healing behind that door. God's love for us is yet again revealed in its fullness as we are fully forgiven for the wrongs we have committed. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is so truly beautiful.
I just wanted to share the writing from the pastor's desk this week - it begins with a congratulations to all of the 2nd graders in the parish who experienced their first confession last week. I hope you find it as comforting as I did. Thank you Fr. Gannon!
"A special congratulations and wish for many graces to our second graders who experienced their first confession these past weekends. Confession remains a stunning, incalculable gift from God to the Catholic Church. Today, we now understand more about the human person scientifically than ever before. We understand better the functions of the heart and how the brain controls it. Psychology has unlocked not all but many secrets of the mind.
Confession is precisely a gift because it addresses the whole human person. While fundamentally supernatural, it is also very healthy psychologically. Those who skip confession actually deprive themselves of not only God's infinite grace but also a remarkable sense of liberation. Ultimately, they endanger their souls. Whatever is good for the soul will be good for the body. Fasting, when done wisely, can affect the body in a healthy way, though it will stretch us.
Confession is the same. First, one enters the confessional. Then one must compel self towards tremendous humility; we must admit we are sinners and then admit each sin out loud. While not easy, it becomes tremendously cathartic. It compels us towards an honest and stringent examination of our heart, admitting that we cannot eradicate our sins by ourselves, but that we need God. The penitent in the confessional then listens to the priest and accepts his guidance.
The priest then assigns the penance. Deep inside the human person is the natural desire to make up for evil; this good desire needs cultivation. Then the person formally declares his sorrow through the Act of Contrition. Then comes the profound supernatural moment where the priest pronounces the words of absolution. At an exact moment in time the sins are all forgiven. The human voice of the priest, invoking the infinite power of Jesus Christ, facilitates the liberating sensation one has when one leaves confession.
Bad temptations to avoid in the confessional; first, to make excuses for sins. Don't. Just list them in all humility. Everyone is a sinner. Second, to talk about others' sins. Don't. Third, to try to hide sins. If one deliberately omits a serious sin, or even falsely answers a question of the priest then one commits a mortal sin and must confess all this in the next confession. God already knows the truth. He wants us to admit the truth in humility. To avoid an embarrassing admission, or to try to impress the priest, is only an attitude that causes deeper injury to the soul. In fact, priests are most impressed by thorough confessions where the penitent makes no excuses and succinctly lists all of their sins very carefully. But the fundamental motivation is always to renew the necessary grace from God in the soul. Of course, one may and should ask the priest any question to alleviate disquiet in their soul.
Let us not only pray for our second graders that their parents will continue to bring them to confession, but that we will all take advantage of this gift that only heals, liberates, and leads to eternal life."
In His Love,
Lindsey
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