A-Z Challenge: Why I Love Being Catholic (C)

The challenge is on.  Write a post each day in April (minus Sundays) using the letters of the alphabet as your guide. 

The theme I have chosen is "Why I Love Being Catholic".    


Let's continue.

C-Confession - a sacrament in which repentant sinners privately confess their sins to a priest and receive absolution.

Bible:  John 21:23  "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained".

Personal: I remember sitting in the confessional in 2008 while on our parish retreat.  The words came out as easily as they did all those years ago back in Catholic school.  "Bless me Father, for I have sinned,".  However, it was the next phrase that had me fearful. "It has been 25 years since my last confession."

The priest then spoke the words I'll never forget.  With a gentle smile he said, "Welcome back."

I didn't avoid confession all of those years for lack of believing in it's importance.  I avoided it because it's hard.  It's hard to humble yourself, to examine yourself, and to say your sins out loud.  It makes my sin so real. Confession forces me to acknowledge my sins head-on.

It's easy to think confessing our sins privately in prayer is good enough.  Doing this is a good practice, for sure.  But it can lead to avoidance, lack of truly examining our conscience, and possibly a watered down version of what sin is.

Jesus wants to give us his forgiveness and show us his mercy and love. Through this sacrament he gives us grace to become better versions of ourselves and become closer to him.

Confession is not comfortable. Go do it anyway.  You won't be sorry.  (how ironic is that statement?)