The need for Confession

One of the most astonishing things which people say is that they have no need to go to Confession because they have no sins to confess.  What makes it so astonishing is that it is clearly untrue.

Have they never left out their morning and evening prayers, never stayed away from Church, never lost their temper, never borne grudges, never told lies, never broken promises, never sworn, never stolen anything, never said nasty things about other people?  St John the Apostle gave the answer long ago when he said, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (NRSV, 1 John 1:8,9).

The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance)

Confession (also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or the Sacrament of Penance) is an important weapon by which the Devil can be beaten.  For when we make a good Confession, we are brought back to God and are close to him again.  People who make their Confession to a priest are called penitents, just as those who make their Communion are called communicants.

We can see how important confession of sin and forgiveness are by the fact that the very first thing Jesus did, when he met his Apostles after his Resurrection, was to give them power to forgive sins, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them…” (NRSV, John 20:23).

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation sins committed since one’s Baptism are forgiven.  Indeed, when you have made your Confession your soul is as spotless as it was on the day you were baptised at the font.  You have see how white the surplices of the choir are when they have just come back from the laundry.  Well, after a good Confession your soul is much whiter than that.  For then all your sins are completely washed away and there is nothing at all to come between your soul and God.

Of course, in order to receive God’s forgiveness in this Sacrament we have to confess all the sins that we can remember having committed since our last Confession, if it is a first Confession, since our Baptism.  As you know, priests never think any the worse of people who make their Confession, whatever sins they may have committed.  Priests just think how glad Jesus must be to see penitents kneeling there to receive the forgiveness which he died on the Cross to win for them.

Perseverance

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation Jesus gives us strength to resist temptation in the future.  That does not mean, of course, that when we have made our Confession, we shall not sin again.  We make up our minds to turn over a new leaf, but the time will come when we give way to temptation.  But we must not get depressed and think, “There!  I might just as well not have gone to Confession at all for all the good it has done me”.  Our first purpose in going to Confession is to have our past sins cleared away and to get forgiveness for them.

The garden of the soul

We must remember that it takes much time and patience and perseverance to master those sins which we seem to commit so easily.  We can compare the soul to a garden which grows both flowers and weeds, virtues and sins.  Going to Confession is like hoeing out all the weeds.  We know they will come up again, but we also know that if we keep on hoeing regularly they will gradually become weaker and weaker and fewer and fewer.  We are not surprised or depressed if the same weeds keep coming up.  What would be depressing would be if new and different weeds appeared every time!  We just keep the hoe going, and are careful not to allow the weeds to get too many or too thick before dealing with them, otherwise the flowers will not have a chance.

So with our souls.  We go regularly to Confession so that Our Lord can hoe out our sins and give the virtues a chance to grow – virtues like truthfulness, honesty, purity, kindness, patience, generosity, good temper and a readiness to forgive.  And gradually we find that the flowers will be overtaking the weeds, and those sins which we once committed so easily and which were so hard to fight against, will hardly appear.

Relying on Jesus

Sometimes we go through a difficult time when nothing seems to go right.  Sins, which we thought we had pretty well conquered, come back as bad as ever.  What we must do then is go to Confession more often, for one thing is absolutely certain, it is only by God’s help that we can make any progress at all.  If we try to ‘go it alone’ we shall fail; but if we rely on Jesus and keep going to him for the forgiveness and strength that he is always waiting to give us, then we shall win through.

SUMMARY

1. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the most important weapons against the Devil.  When we make a good Confession, all our sins are forgiven and we are given strength to resist temptation in the future.

2.  Getting rid of sins from the soul is like getting rid of weeds from a garden.  We must be patient, persevering, and regular in dealing with them.