Rediscover Confession, Urges Benedict XVI

Rediscover Confession, Urges Benedict XVI
Calls It Sacrament of Forgiveness

(News condensed from CBCP Monitor, Vol.13 No.4, February 16 – March1, 2009; Zenit)
by Armando A. Suñe

VATICAN CITY, February 15, 2009 – Sin is what puts distance between the believer and God, and it’s the sacrament of confession that brings the two back together, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today in a Gospel reflection on Mark’s account of the healed leper (Mark 2: 1-12), which he delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“It is not…physical malady that distances us from God, as the ancient norms supposed, but sin, the spiritual and moral evil.”

Benedict XVI reflected: “The sins we commit distance us from God, and, if they are not humbly confessed, trusting in the divine mercy, they will finally bring about the death of the soul. This miracle ( of the healed leper) thus has powerful symbolic value.

“In the Sacrament of Penance Christ crucified and risen, through his ministers, purified us with his infinite mercy, restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and our brothers, and makes a gift of his love, joy, and peace to us.”

“Dear brothers and sisters,” he concluded, “let us invoke the Virgin Mary, whom God preserved from every stain of sin, that she help us to avoid sin and to have frequent recourse to the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of forgiveness, whose value and importance for our Christian life needs to be rediscovered today.”

Our reflection on Pope Benedict XVI’s message makes us conclude that, beyond the physical healing that may take place because of confession, confession itself heals our relationship with God and makes us children of God again. Sin separates us from God and takes us away from the “State of Grace” necessary to enter into friendship with HIM. Confession restores that “State of Grace” in us and makes us friends with God again. Going to confession requires HUMILITY, which means one has to die from the refusal of admitting to God his sins, all because of his stubbornness and pride.

Why do a lot of Catholics these days refuse to go to confession? It is because of this pride and stubbornness, the same Sin that Adam and Eve committed. Worst, a lot of Catholics these days have adopted the wrong attitude of non-Catholics who were wrongly taught to believe they should confess only directly to God. As Catholics, we need to remember what Jesus Christ said to Peter and the Apostles during the resurrection, “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” Priests ordained in the Roman Catholic Church are the present-day successors of Peter and the Apostles. Christ forgives us of our sins during confession through these ordained Roman Catholic priests. Let us not be afraid then to go to our priests for Confession, especially this Lenten season.

Confession does give us the bonus of a liberating feeling of well-being, of light-heartedness, of an unexplainable feeling of goodness and freedom of spirit in God’s name, and of knowing that we are back in God’s care and protection. This results in a general feeling of good health and a possible return to physical healing of our infirmities itself. Only those who have gone to a good Confession with a priest receive this blessing – this feeling of relief, goodness and well-being. No drug-abuse habit can come up to this unexplainable “HIGH” that only comes from God. Just ask your friend who has gone to a good Confession, dear reader. Now, I am asking you: Wanna try going to Confession? I dare you, dear reader. Try it. You won’t regret it.