Reconciliation

Experience God’s Love In the Sacrament of Reconciliation
by Fr. Bob

People ask questions like, “Why do I have to go to confession?” or “I confess my sins directly to God” or “My sins are small.” As a result, people don’t celebrate this sacrament as much as they used to.

Each sacrament represents an opportunity to experience God’s love and to receive God’s grace in some particular way. With the Sacrament of Reconciliation we receive God’s forgiveness for our sins as well as receive a boost of grace to keep us going in the right direction. By going to confession we actually get to hear those beautiful words from the priest (who represents Jesus Himself), “I forgive you.” To actually hear these words is music to our ears.

But this is only one of the “goods” that we receive by going to confession. I think there’s also something to be gained by the actual saying of our sins to the priest. Nobody likes to tell their sins to somebody else, including me. But the actual telling of our sins forces us to admit to ourselves that we are imperfect and in need of God’s love. Also, I think the more often that we celebrate the sacrament and confess many of the same sins over and over helps us to work on the areas of our life that are imperfect. It causes us to say things to ourselves like, “I never want to have to say this sin to the priest again,” or “With God’s help I’m really going to try not to commit that sin anymore.” As we keep trying over many days and weeks and years, we are able to make progress and become better people — more like the people that God wants us to be. The actual confessing of our sins out loud to a priest helps us with this.

At St. Benedict the Abbot we have scheduled confessions every Saturday at 11:00 a.m. with either Fr. Paul or me, as well as one of the priests of the Holy Spirit from the Bethel Animation Center. We also hear confessions on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. — or anytime by appointment. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the opportunity God gives us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to experience his love and to feel better about yourself.