(written in 2007)
Confession is a very delicate matter. I used to go twice a week, but now I attend once a month. As time goes by, I have the ever-growing need for a turning point, because I am not changing the way I want to.
Catholics have to go to confession regularly; lay people are required to do it at least twice a year.
Catholics believe that confession is a way one can be healed and freed from wrongdoings and sins. Daily self-examination is a way to prepare for confession, which leads to a fruitful spiritual life. Without thoughtful self-examination, confession can become habitual and formal.
Scott Hahn in his book entitled "Lord, Have Mercy: The Healing Power of Confession" shares with us such things as the act of contrition, the full flowering of the sacrament, confession as a covenant and deliverance, the secrets of winning penance and habits of highly effective penitents.
He first shares his experiences of his early teen days, when he used to steal record albums, even denying the act when he was caught by store owners. He was afraid of telling his parents the truth and became defensive when his father talked to him honestly.
Many years later he remembered the unpaid bills of his delinquent teen years. The record albums he stole were worth hundreds of dollars. While he was studying theology, witnessing the Gospel, and preparing for ministry, he felt like a hypocrite.
He confessed to God and apologized to his parents. However, he strongly felt that something more had to be done.
After much prayer and consulting with his newlywed wife, he decided to pay back four times what he had stolen from the record stores. And he did. He paid the stores that were willing to accept his sign of reconciliation. As a result of this choice, he had to live without much money for some time.
This gesture of making a jubilee in our lives may seem extreme but it can be a new starting point.
Reflecting on the writer's confessions of his past sins, I recalled my own stealing experience during middle school. I didn't need it but I stole money from my father's closet. I still remember my dark and gloomy face at that time.
We long to be at peace but something dark within us tries to turn our backs on God. In fact, the lives of the people in the Old and New Testaments tell us about various stories of sin.
It is not just about righteousness but about changing into a new person, realizing and accepting our limits and defects as they are, and, knowing that we can be healed and renewed.
Among the seven sacraments Catholics believe in, confession has the healing power to help lead a new life. In the face of the original sin that Adam and Eve committed, they had to confront the naked truth. "Where are you?" "Where am I?" This existential question makes us examine the present situation.
To Cain, God asks where his brother Abel was. David also had to confront his grave sin and be clothed in sackcloth as a sign of repentance. Sackcloth and ash, weeping, and falling prostrate upon the ground were signs of mourning in the ancient world.
It's interesting to see that non-Catholics like Martin Luther and C.S. Lewis accepted the healing power of confession. Surely, confession is the open doorway to a deeper spiritual life.
Without facing the present situation, whether sinful or weak, we can't further grow spiritually.
As Scott Hahn says, Jesus is "infinite mercy." He never asks us the reason why we committed sin. He simply forgives.
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2007/10/137_11973.html
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