ENCOUNTERING THE POWER OF THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION

I have been so edified recently to see the long lines for confession on these warm summer days. God's mercy is always waiting to welcome us. Yet I know it can be difficult, too. Do you ever leave confession feeling heavy and unforgiven? Or does it ever seem like you go through the motions, naming alist of sins, receiving absolution, but never truly growing? This was my own experience of the sacrament for most of my life. The good news: Confession is intended to be a transformational experience!

I've been listening to a podcast called Restore the Glory, where the hosts sit down with Catholic leaders to talk about healing and the spiritual life. Recently, they welcomed Fr. John Horn, co-founder of the Institute for Priestly Formation to kick off a series on Confession, and I wanted to share a bit of it with you.

The anchor line for this series is from the Council of Trent: "Not enough that the arrow has been extracted from the body, the wound which it inflicted must also be healed. So with regard to the soul. Not enough that the sin has been pardoned. The wound which it left must also be healed." (Catechism of the Council of Trent, Part II: The Sacrament of Penance, citing St. John Chrysostom.) This explains why the Church always pairs absolution with penance and ongoing conversion, rather than treating confession as a spiritual car wash. If I keep confessing the same sins, perhaps it’s a case where the arrow has been removed, but the wound in me underneath it has yet to be tended to.

The episode explains how a fruitful confession looks not only at our actions but the false beliefs about God underneath them, beliefs often shaped by prior experiences with authority figures. Yet even if we recognize that and make a good confession, he notes the greatest barrier may be unforgiveness of self, which blocks the mercy of God even as He is pouring it out upon us. How many years I did this, walking out absolved with the ‘arrow’ removed, and a gaping wound that prevented God’s love from truly reaching me.

So how do we begin to heal that wound underneath? Fr. Horn's answer is refreshingly practical. First, name the belief in the confessional, not just the sin. Instead of only listing what you did, tell your confessor the lie underneath it too: This might be "I don’t believe God has really forgiven me or that He loves me." Second, don't rush into your penance after confession. Take a moment to ponder what God just did for you. Third, if your confessor is open to it, ask them to briefly pray for healing of that block, not just for the sin itself. And fourth, expect this to take more than one confession. A wound formed over years by a false image of God rarely heals in a single visit, which is exactly why the Church speaks of Confession in terms of a habit of ongoing conversion rather than a single transaction.

I recommend listening to this whole 3-part series on Confession and even taking notes. There is so much to draw from. I close this message, smiling in joyful hope over one of the scriptures they reference: Zephaniah 3:14-18. May you more and more experience God rejoicing over you in gladness!

In the Heart of Jesus,

Fr. John Rumpza, Parochial Vicar