CONFESSION WITH JESUS

    Occasionally we hear variations on this theme:
“I had a run-in (got mad, had a disagreement, didn't like the response, etc.) with a priest in Confession in 1982, and I haven’t seen the inside of a church since then.”
    
    We might wonder:
1) Maybe the priest didn’t have his morning coffee and was grouchy.
2) Maybe the priest had the flu and couldn’t concentrate.
3) Maybe the priest’s mother died, and he was preoccupied.
4) Maybe the priest is just an insufferable jerk.

    Then we come to our senses...

    “Okay, well...look at the bright side. You received absolution, right? Oh you didn't? So tell me, what sin did you commit, and why did you try to argue/justify it?”

    Confessions, after all, should be sincere.

What About Jesus?

    In a similar situation, what could a penitent expect from Jesus and, allowing for human failure, from His priestly instrument and mouthpiece in the confessional - the Priest - when the penitent sincerely seeks forgiveness?

    One image we can contemplate is the penitent Prodigal Son (cf. Lk.15:11-32).
    In that story, the Wayward Son comes to his senses and returns to the father, humbly acknowledging — imperfectly — that he has sinned against heaven and his father.
    The rest of the story is familiar.... The father welcomes him with open arms, and the celebration begins.

    But Jesus taught the parable of the Prodigal Son before His Passion. His suffering and death on the Cross reveal the horror of our sins - that was the reason for it.
    Our sins not only ruin our lives — as we see in the parable — but, mysteriously, they wound the body of Jesus and His Mystical Body, the Church.
    For this reason, the brother of the Prodigal Son was agitated. You see, the sins of the Prodigal Son had affected him, too.

How Christ Handles It

    Every act of our disproportionate impatience, unjust anger, lust, envy, and selfishness — however minor — torments and crucifies Jesus, and soils His Church.
    And when I say, "disproportionate," think of the one time that Christ really let loose and got pissed...in the Temple when His Fathers house was being defiled. He was angered by that - and rightly so!
    The rest of the time, did He exhibit harsh impatience, unjust anger, lust, envy, and selfishness, etc.? No.
    But we get worked up, often go off half-cocked, and to often, give in to sin. 
    So, when we gaze upon that Cross, this great mystery becomes evident and should fill us with dread for our sins.

    The Resurrection of Jesus reveals His victory over sin and its consequences, however. Before He returns to His Father, He returned for a brief time to complete the seminary formation of His disciples. All are sinners who played a part in His crucifixion.

    Now, we get to enter the scene.
    When we endure great evil and suffering, we can predict how we’re going to respond... just look to movies to show how we handle it.
- Michael Corleone settles all scores with guns, cement boots, garrote wire.
- The enemies of Clint Eastwood "make his day"... POW!
- The adversaries of Bruce Willis fall horribly into the abyss.         And we feel a surge of delight with the painful demise of evil characters.

    But we hope and pray that we do not receive the same punishment we wish unto others when we are guilty.

    Unlike we who harbor unholy inclinations toward retaliation, when Jesus returns after His glorious Resurrection, He has no desire for vengeance, despite His brutal death and humiliation on the Cross. He doesn't go hunting the heads of the Jewish leaders, or His Roman executioners.
    Rather, His encounter with Mary Magdalen at the tomb reveals His Resurrection with one word, “Mary” (Jn. 20:16) — a beautiful reminder that He knows us by name.

    Jesus appears to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and conducts a post-resurrection Liturgy of the Word reminiscent of the lengthy Easter Vigil readings. He patiently explains how Moses, the Psalms, and the Prophets promised how a suffering servant was necessary to fulfill the Scriptures (cf. Lk. 24:13-35).
    “So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.” (Lk. 24-29-31)
He got the point across, so he skedaddled.

    Jesus appears to the frightened Apostles in the Upper Room, too, conferring His peace and revealing His wounds in His glorified body (cf. Lk. 24:35-48).
    There are no acts of vengeance, no returned humiliation - no retaliation.
    But there is no time for complacency, either.
And the work He requires of His Apostles is urgent.

Christ is Forbearing Love

    So, Our Lord commissions the Apostles to hear Confessions. We know this through reason: they cannot forgive sins if they don't hear them, after all.
Here's how we are apprised of this...
    He breathes into them the gift of the Holy Spirit and beckons them to forgive sins in His name:
    “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (Jn. 20:22-23)
    The forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Penance destroys the instruments of the crucifixion of Jesus in those modest confessionals in every Catholic church.
    But forgiveness is not cheap. Accountability for sins forgiven is needed, and a residual of reparation is required.
    So what kind of reparation does Jesus show us?

    After the Resurrection, awaiting Jesus in Galilee, Peter goes fishing with the other guys, to no avail. Then Jesus appears on the shore and directs them to cast out their nets (cf. Jn. 21:1-14).
    The ensuing superabundant catch repeats the miracle He performed when He called His disciples at the beginning of His ministry. Peter does not recoil at the miraculous demonstration of Jesus as he did during his first encounter when he begged, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.”
    This time, Peter— who sinned at his threefold denial—jubilantly thrashes into the water, clamoring to meet his risen Lord. Picture and hold that idea in your mind, for the moment.

    But Jesus doesn't let up... he continues Peter’s priestly formation. After breakfast, Jesus prompts Peter to atone for his cowardice.
    But Peter’s reparation would not be served with God’s wrath; it would be in response to God’s forbearing love.
    “Do you love me more than these?” Jesus asks Peter. If so, “Feed my sheep.” (Jn. 21:15-19)
    The message is clear to Peter as it is to all of us... Love as Christ loved. 
    After confessing our sins, a holy resolve to increase our Christ-ly love for one another does not humiliate us.
    It uplifts and purifies.

Making a Good Confession

    This is where the image of Peter running to embrace his Lord, Jesus comes back as a tool to help you.
    Jesus wants repentant sinners to confess, and then to hear His words of forgiveness. But, it is important to precisely articulate your sins, to avoid our human tendency towards psychological rationalization. 

    So, He directs His priests to receive us in Confession with kindness and compassion, just as he would. 
    He guides them to delight in our repentance like a good father, delighting in the return of a wayward son. 
Or like Christ at the beachfront breakfast with Peter.

    Christs love repairs the damage caused by sins.

Make The Most of Confession

Here are a few practical suggestions to get the most from one's confession:

- Except for a good reason, keep your Confession short.
Just say what you did, or failed to do. If there are multiple things, announce them. If yo need help, ask the Priest.  

- Be precise (feelings aren’t sins, unless abused), honest, and sincere.
Use simple words that make clear sense, be honest with the Priest and yourself, and be sorry for having offended God.

- Accept the resolution and penance given.
The Priest is trained to hear and understand, He knows what to say and do - both for himself, and for you. So don't argue about it.

    Which leads to our last point...

- Don't fear the confession.
The priest isn't going to yell at you, kick you, or mock you.
He will understand you, as Christs agent, if you make it possible for him to do so. And in return, this is your chance to be filled with Christ-ly love, and to spread it out to the world.