I love the Sacrament of Confession. It's one of the primary reasons I love being Catholic.
True, God can forgive you of your sins whenever He desires. But it is through the visible form of the sacrament that we can be assured of the spiritual reality that is taking place. Jesus gave priests the power to forgive sins in His Name when he said in the Bible that what his apostles bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and what they loosen on earth shall be loose in Heaven. God is so generous with us to give us this gift; He certainly gives us multiple ways to come closer to Him!
I suppose what I like about Confession is that it is an actual EVENT. It is something tangible I can participate in and see unfolding. Prior to it happening, it is an event I must work up to. It is something I must prepare for. It takes courage and humility to bear one's sins (especially knowing that another human being--the priest--will hear you), but it is cathartic and redemptive when we remember that we are confessing our sins to God and that the priest is merely an instrument of God's grace.
In my weak fallen ways, I need the perspective of an ACTUAL EVENT to help me better comprehend what Jesus did for me when he died on the cross for my sins. That is why I appreciate the Sacrament so much. It helps me to remember that when Jesus died on the cross, He forgave me completely. And I can better accept his forgiveness when I know that I am seeking it!
It has taken me years, but I think in the last few I have finally been able to FEEL a difference in my soul after I have received the Sacrament. There is a lightness, a happiness to it. And when I am in need of going, there is a heaviness that encumbers me.
If you haven't been to confession lately, please go! Be patient with yourself and allow yourself to be OK with the fact that you probably won't feel any different after you experience it. It is hard for us to feel different because it is hard for us to forget our own sins. But God is capable of forgiving and forgetting!
Praise God! :-)
