A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
We're continuing with our Sunday discussion of the Sacrament of Confession with the help of Father Alfred Wilson's book, Pardon and Peace.
A key theme of his writing centers on the idea that Confession can be a source of anxiety for many of us. That's been my experience much of the time since I reverted to regularly going to Confession. Simply reading about this was helpful. First, I realized I wasn't alone in experiencing anxiety. That helped me to acknowledge my feelings as "normal." But, more importantly, I began to understand why I felt this way. Here's how Father addressed the issue:
“It is unfortunately true that some penitents find Confession a source of serious nervous strain. The mere thought of the approach of Confession day causes them to become nervous and preoccupied; and for days beforehand they are recurrently spring-cleaning their consciences. After Confession they never feel satisfied that they have done enough; perhaps their examination of conscience was not sufficiently thorough, perhaps they should have given more time to preparation, perhaps their sorrow was not what it ought to have been. They keep going over their examination of conscience in case they left out something, they multiply acts of contrition and scheme to test the sincerity of their contrition, they try to work themselves up to a fakir-like frenzy of fervor and devotion. How insulting all this to the merciful Christ! What sort of a Master do they think they have? A single, simple, straightforward effort is enough. He who has done his best, with moderate diligence, has done all that Christ demands. If a penitent wants to do more than is demanded, he should examine his motive. If the motive is love, well and good; if the motive is fear, it is cowardly distrust and far from good. If he thinks a never-racking effort necessary, he insults Jesus by implying that He intended to make Confession a botheration. If he does not think all this fuss necessary, he condemns himself as ridiculous and his conduct as dishonorable to God. If Jesus is satisfied, there is no reason why anyone should worry."
While it's customary to prepare for Confession with an examination of conscience, as with the Sacrament itself, this should not be source of anxiety.
"The actual obligation of confession is surprisingly easy and should reassure those who are inclined to make examination of conscience a fierce, nerve-racking ransacking of the soul. We are obliged to confess only mortals sins. Now even a very ordinary Catholic would not need to look for mortal sin. The thought of the sin would have been torturing him ever since the time it was committed, and the difficulty would be to forget rather than to remember. As soon as he knelt down to prepare for Confession, his sin would be nagging at him, and would, so to speak, give him a knock-out blow between the eyes. No need to find out the sin; it will find him out and, like an unwelcome guest or a bore, will introduce itself. A sincere person can, therefore find necessary matter for confession in a split-second. There is never any obligation to make a complete catalog of venial sins, and it is seldom or never wise to try.
These days, of course, a "very ordinary Catholic" might not necessarily have the awareness of sin, along with the same sense of how serious certain sins might be, that prevailed in Father Wilson's time (1946). But let's go with Father's observation that, unless we're completely desensitized to sin, we'll have some idea that something's wrong. (If you don't have that, it's time to do some soul-searching or maybe bone up on the doctrines of your Catholic Faith.) The most important take-away of this passage for me was understanding that I didn't need to turn over every rock, so to speak, in a stress-filled state of seeking every possible slip and fall that occurred since my last confession. I had, in fact, been doing something like that for many years. (I assure you it's a major stress inducer.) At its worst, it can cause you to put Confession off by finding any excuse for why you can't get to Confession.
To be clear here, I'm not advocating you skip your examination of conscience, and neither is Father Wilson. But turning over rocks isn't the right approach. Indeed, if you follow his advice you're already aware of your sins and will have asked for pardon. So when you go to Confession, you can skip the rock-turning and simply tell the priest what you already know.
One more thought: Examining your conscience is best done on a regular, even a daily, basis. Don't wait until it's time for Confession. Bottom line, anxiety isn't a necessary component of Confession. If that's been your experience, consider taking Father Wilson's words to heart.
We'll continue our discussion of Confession with the help of Father Alfred Wilson's Pardon and Peace next week. Meanwhile, I hope you'll join us during the week for our regular posts.
A key theme of his writing centers on the idea that Confession can be a source of anxiety for many of us. That's been my experience much of the time since I reverted to regularly going to Confession. Simply reading about this was helpful. First, I realized I wasn't alone in experiencing anxiety. That helped me to acknowledge my feelings as "normal." But, more importantly, I began to understand why I felt this way. Here's how Father addressed the issue:
“It is unfortunately true that some penitents find Confession a source of serious nervous strain. The mere thought of the approach of Confession day causes them to become nervous and preoccupied; and for days beforehand they are recurrently spring-cleaning their consciences. After Confession they never feel satisfied that they have done enough; perhaps their examination of conscience was not sufficiently thorough, perhaps they should have given more time to preparation, perhaps their sorrow was not what it ought to have been. They keep going over their examination of conscience in case they left out something, they multiply acts of contrition and scheme to test the sincerity of their contrition, they try to work themselves up to a fakir-like frenzy of fervor and devotion. How insulting all this to the merciful Christ! What sort of a Master do they think they have? A single, simple, straightforward effort is enough. He who has done his best, with moderate diligence, has done all that Christ demands. If a penitent wants to do more than is demanded, he should examine his motive. If the motive is love, well and good; if the motive is fear, it is cowardly distrust and far from good. If he thinks a never-racking effort necessary, he insults Jesus by implying that He intended to make Confession a botheration. If he does not think all this fuss necessary, he condemns himself as ridiculous and his conduct as dishonorable to God. If Jesus is satisfied, there is no reason why anyone should worry."
While it's customary to prepare for Confession with an examination of conscience, as with the Sacrament itself, this should not be source of anxiety.
"The actual obligation of confession is surprisingly easy and should reassure those who are inclined to make examination of conscience a fierce, nerve-racking ransacking of the soul. We are obliged to confess only mortals sins. Now even a very ordinary Catholic would not need to look for mortal sin. The thought of the sin would have been torturing him ever since the time it was committed, and the difficulty would be to forget rather than to remember. As soon as he knelt down to prepare for Confession, his sin would be nagging at him, and would, so to speak, give him a knock-out blow between the eyes. No need to find out the sin; it will find him out and, like an unwelcome guest or a bore, will introduce itself. A sincere person can, therefore find necessary matter for confession in a split-second. There is never any obligation to make a complete catalog of venial sins, and it is seldom or never wise to try.
These days, of course, a "very ordinary Catholic" might not necessarily have the awareness of sin, along with the same sense of how serious certain sins might be, that prevailed in Father Wilson's time (1946). But let's go with Father's observation that, unless we're completely desensitized to sin, we'll have some idea that something's wrong. (If you don't have that, it's time to do some soul-searching or maybe bone up on the doctrines of your Catholic Faith.) The most important take-away of this passage for me was understanding that I didn't need to turn over every rock, so to speak, in a stress-filled state of seeking every possible slip and fall that occurred since my last confession. I had, in fact, been doing something like that for many years. (I assure you it's a major stress inducer.) At its worst, it can cause you to put Confession off by finding any excuse for why you can't get to Confession.
To be clear here, I'm not advocating you skip your examination of conscience, and neither is Father Wilson. But turning over rocks isn't the right approach. Indeed, if you follow his advice you're already aware of your sins and will have asked for pardon. So when you go to Confession, you can skip the rock-turning and simply tell the priest what you already know.
One more thought: Examining your conscience is best done on a regular, even a daily, basis. Don't wait until it's time for Confession. Bottom line, anxiety isn't a necessary component of Confession. If that's been your experience, consider taking Father Wilson's words to heart.
We'll continue our discussion of Confession with the help of Father Alfred Wilson's Pardon and Peace next week. Meanwhile, I hope you'll join us during the week for our regular posts.
Happy Sunday!
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