The second thing I see is a person who is still trying – a saint in the making. I don’t care if this is the person’s third confession this week; if they are seeking the Sacrament of Reconciliation, it means that they are trying. That’s all that I care about. This thought is worth considering: going to Confession is a sign that you haven’t given up on Jesus.
This is one of the reasons why pride is so deadly. I have talked with people who tell me that they don’t want to go to Confession to their priest because their priest really likes them and “thinks that they are a good kid.”
Read the rest of Fr. Mike Schmitz’s article, on the confession from a priest’s perspective, here.
Truly one of the greatest blessings I’ve had over the last 7 years in Singapore has been access to the confessional and learning the habit of frequent confession. Sometimes confessing sins requires a struggle against pride, against embarrassment. Especially if the priest you are confessing to is your friend. But the priests I’ve confessed regularly to – Fr. Val, Fr. Michael, Fr. Marin, Fr. Joe, Fr. Mario – have never allowed me to feel embarrassed or left me wondering whether their opinion of me has diminished in any way because they knew what sins I commit.
However, one thing that I need to remind myself these days is to not allow confession to become routine, to not take it for granted, to realize and experience both the gravity of the sin (against a God who loves me and died for me) and the depth and consolation of the mercy that is offered to me.
Jesuit priests at the Martyrs’ Shrine, Ontario.
Photo:Berni Schoenfield
Source
Splendour 