Are you striving for a sincere life? Do you regret certain things? Do you want to right what is crooked? Do you want to make things right with God and with others ? Do you want inner peace?…
Then go to confession!
Confession is a sacrament that is at once very normal and very divine. What is more normal than “saying sorry” to someone you love? And what is more divine than granting forgiveness? Yes, reconciliation with God is what is celebrated in the sacrament of confession!
In confession, God is represented by a priest. The priest does two things in God’s name. First, he listens to the confession of our sins: our deficiencies in love, toward God, others, ourselves and creation.
Second, the priest grants God’s forgiveness. “And I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he says in the name and in the person of Jesus Christ. This is the “absolution,” the beating heart of confession. These are the words that grant forgiveness!
Through confession, the disturbed harmony between God and us is restored. Hence the name ‘sacrament of penance’, where ‘penance’ does not mean punishment, but restoration, conversion, atonement.
A good confession is more than a ‘reset’. It liberates, gives us a fresh perspective on our lives again, fills us with energy to start anew with more love. Regular confession promotes a quiet growth process: confession after confession, we allow God to lift us up with his grace. Up-grace!
