Uh oh

I was just thinking to myself, "Self, it's been almost six weeks since you went to Confession! Usually your conscience has pointed out imperfections and other more serious failings by now! Perhaps you are getting a bit lax with the old examination of conscience? Or perhaps you are actually making wonderful progress!" Hmmm, I thought to myself. Ponder, ponder.

In the midst of this pondering, of course, today, I got a nice big fat (although not mortal) reason to stop in the church on Saturday. Maybe I'll blog a little about it tomorrow.

I feel so sad for Catholics who haven't been to Confession in years. If you are one, believe me, I understand that you are really suffering. I know it can be scary - when I went back after ages and ages, I was shaking in my boots!

But this fear isn't really rational. The priest won't yell at you. You are there to receive the mercy of a God who has not ceased to love you, even for all those years when you were angry with Him or just ignored Him. Confession is not a rite of humiliation (although to do it well does require some humility) and it is not meant to be painful (although recognizing that you have sinned is extremely uncomfortable). On the contrary, the Sacrament of Confession is one of the most beautiful experiences a human being can have on this earth.

The fierce, fire-and-brimstone American revivalist preacher, Jonathan Edwards, wrote a rather cruel but famous sermon hundreds of years ago called "Sinners in the hands of an angry God." As you can imagine, it was basically about how the sinners were going to get it, and get it good. The Sacrament of Confession, on the other hand, offers us the image of "Sinners in the hands of a merciful God."



Now that is a much more beautiful picture.