A Sunday Thought About a Salutary Confession to Start the Week Off Right
The sacrament of confession can be both effective and salutary. Effective for sure, when the priest, acting in the place of Jesus Himself, gives absolution. Salutary because in forgiving our sins, health returns to our sick and sorrowful soul, burdened as it was with sin. With these thoughts in mind, I went to confession last week, as I try to do on a regular basis.
This time, however, something the priest said jumped out from behind the grill. Not that the guy shouted or was even excited. In fact, he spoke with a soft Spanish accent that communicated a sort of caring for souls that you'd like to hear from any priest to whom you're confessing your sins. The cause of the jump had to do with this priest echoing a theme we just talked about last Sunday on this blog.
Last week we talked we talked about how in the past when people sinned they faced up to it. As opposed to today, where people make all sorts of excuses for themselves so that, in the end, they pretty much conclude they've not sinned at all - or at least haven't committed sin of any real consequence.
And so, as if on cue, this young visiting priest, likely from Spain or South America, speaking in soft, sincere tones, asked me to pray for those who do not know that they have sinned. He spoke briefly of the feeling you get in your heart (he called it "pain") when you commit sin. Then he explained that that feeling was the "voice" of the Holy Spirit - the Holy Spirit who lives in each of us, and whom far too many of us ignore. I guess he was trying to say I had somehow listened to the Holy Spirit, having carefully confessed my sins to him. But more than complimenting me, he really wanted me to pray for those who ignore their sins, thereby ignoring the Holy Spirit who dwells in them.
His comments were few, but they really did jump out at me, not only because I had been thinking about this idea of people not facing up to their sins, but also because I had not realized that the Holy Spirit would be the source enlightening our minds and moving our hearts to acknowledge and feel sorrow for our sins. Of course, I probably should have known this already; but I didn't - or at least hadn't really thought about it.
Thank You, Holy Spirit, for guiding and enlightening this young, sincere, visiting priest. And thank You Holy Spirit for the grace You give me to make it my business to get to confession.
He'll give that grace to you too, if you haven't been to confession for a while. And he'll give you the grace to keep you going. Just ask, if for no other reason than the common sense understanding that your soul, without confession, remains sick and in need or healing.
You may even notice that, once you've made a good confession, there's a skip in your step. You heart feels a bit lighter, you mind a bit sharper. Really.
This time, however, something the priest said jumped out from behind the grill. Not that the guy shouted or was even excited. In fact, he spoke with a soft Spanish accent that communicated a sort of caring for souls that you'd like to hear from any priest to whom you're confessing your sins. The cause of the jump had to do with this priest echoing a theme we just talked about last Sunday on this blog.
Last week we talked we talked about how in the past when people sinned they faced up to it. As opposed to today, where people make all sorts of excuses for themselves so that, in the end, they pretty much conclude they've not sinned at all - or at least haven't committed sin of any real consequence.
And so, as if on cue, this young visiting priest, likely from Spain or South America, speaking in soft, sincere tones, asked me to pray for those who do not know that they have sinned. He spoke briefly of the feeling you get in your heart (he called it "pain") when you commit sin. Then he explained that that feeling was the "voice" of the Holy Spirit - the Holy Spirit who lives in each of us, and whom far too many of us ignore. I guess he was trying to say I had somehow listened to the Holy Spirit, having carefully confessed my sins to him. But more than complimenting me, he really wanted me to pray for those who ignore their sins, thereby ignoring the Holy Spirit who dwells in them.
His comments were few, but they really did jump out at me, not only because I had been thinking about this idea of people not facing up to their sins, but also because I had not realized that the Holy Spirit would be the source enlightening our minds and moving our hearts to acknowledge and feel sorrow for our sins. Of course, I probably should have known this already; but I didn't - or at least hadn't really thought about it.
Thank You, Holy Spirit, for guiding and enlightening this young, sincere, visiting priest. And thank You Holy Spirit for the grace You give me to make it my business to get to confession.
He'll give that grace to you too, if you haven't been to confession for a while. And he'll give you the grace to keep you going. Just ask, if for no other reason than the common sense understanding that your soul, without confession, remains sick and in need or healing.
You may even notice that, once you've made a good confession, there's a skip in your step. You heart feels a bit lighter, you mind a bit sharper. Really.
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