Confession is uncomfortable. There’s no getting around it.
But we shouldn’t let our discomfort rob us of the astonishing graces that come to us through this sacrament.
At one level, we ought to feel ashamed of our sins—at least in the sense that we ought to have horror over our own willingness to do evil. If we are remorseful at all, we will feel some level of aversion towards our own sins, and experience some discomfort in saying them out loud.
But certain feelings of shame and dread can grow and fester until they keep us away from the sacrament altogether. We can enter a debilitating emotional state that prevents us from revealing a sin to God so that He can heal it. Undue shame makes us want to hide from God; it’s shame that comes from Satan, “the accuser.”
Undue shame occurs when we allow ourselves to anguish over sin without ever truly bringing it to God. Rather than repent of our sins, we despair, believing that our actions have placed us entirely outside the bounds of God’s mercy. We obsess over our own fallenness instead of focusing on the bounteous Love of God.
Undue shame may also arise from distrust in God’s mercy.
God tells us: “Come and I will give you rest.” We respond: “I don’t believe you.” Jesus mounts the Cross and pours out His life for us and we say with ingratitude, “I don’t believe that’s enough.”
But it is always enough. Christ’s mercy is inexhaustible, healing, and far more powerful than any shame or sin.
So, come to the confessional where God’s Divine Mercy is waiting for you. We promise you will find freedom there.
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