The Power of Confession
This week I’m writing
about the Sacrament of Confession.
Earlier in the week I tried to show a Scriptural basis for the Sacrament
and speculate at some of the Wisdom that would cause God to give us such a
great gift. However, I didn’t even get
into the power that hearing the words, “I absolve you from your sins,” from
someone who has just heard the worst side of us, has, or the action of Grace in
the Sacrament.
I would like to approach
these through a story. A priest friend
of mind told me this story that happened when he was a seminarian working in a
parish during his “intern” year. He had
been put in charge of teaching second-year Confirmation.
Like all Confirmation
classes, his included some students who were there because of a desire to grow
closer to God, and some who were there because their parents had forced them to
be. There was one student (“Oscar”),
however, who constantly gave him trouble.
He was a gang member from a broken home and made it clear that he didn’t
much care about what the teacher was saying, and was there only to please his
mother. My friend was usually happy if
Oscar was just quiet in the back of the room because at least that way he
wasn’t disturbing class.
Shortly before
Confirmation came the time when all the kids would be coming to Confession. My friend sat in the church that Saturday and
prayed for the kids as they were receiving the Sacrament. He noticed something strange happening in the
line, however. Oscar was in line with
the other students but whenever he got to the front, he stepped out of line and
got in the back.
This happened about three
times until there were only two people left in line. When the student in front of Oscar went in,
there was nowhere else for him to go; he had to be next. Suddenly he turned around and started walking
briskly to the back door of the church.
My friend, from the pew, got up and stood in the aisle, blocking Oscar’s
way. He put a hand on his shoulder and
said, “You are going to Confession. It
will be okay.”
Well, Oscar did go, and my
friend prayed the entire time. After
forty minutes, Oscar finally came out, with tears streaming down his face. He sat next to my friend and said, “It’s
true. It’s really true,” and cried.
Oscar was confirmed, left
the gang lifestyle, and eventually became a Bible study leader and a youth
minister. All because God had loosed his
chains in the Sacrament of Confession.
There are a million such stories of people enslaved by sin who finally,
by some Grace, bring those sins to Christ in the Sacrament of Confession, and
are set free.
Please listen to the audio
clip below as a holy priest gives his perspective on the Sacrament of
Confession and the role he plays as a conduit of God’s unfathomable mercy. And if there are any sins in your life for
which you believe you can not be forgiven, bring them to Jesus. Come to Confession, no matter how long it’s
been, and see that no sins are too big for Jesus. He is waiting for you and as Scripture says,
behold, He makes all things new.
