Confession: The Hidden Treasure of the Church

Modern man, speaking of freedom, frequently means deficiency of boundaries and full freedom in making decisions. actual freedom, however, is not about doing what you like, but about being able to do good. The most complete act of regaining this freedom is the sacrament of penance and reconciliation. In the confessional, man breaks out of bondage to sin and returns to life in grace.

And yet – how many Catholics present avoid confession? How many have not been kneeling at the confessional for a long time, telling themselves that “God understands me anyway” or that “it is adequate to pray in spirit and the substance is settled”? specified reasoning is nothing but moving from the truth. Why are we afraid of confession? There are a fewer reasons.

First, pride. The 21st century man doesn't like to plead guilty. In a culture where everyone has their truth, the very fact of naming sin by name sounds like an assassination of individual freedom.

Second, shame. “What do you think of me?” this conviction was heard and repeated by thousands of Catholics. However, we forget that the priest is not a justice in human knowing but a tool of God’s mercy. He looks at us not with the eyes of the world, but with the eyes of Christ.

Third, ignorance. There is little and little talk of confession today, and catechesis is blurred. But priests should constantly remind believers that without the sacrament of penance there is no life in grace.

Confession is not psychotherapy.

Many people treat confessional as a psychologist's office: “I will throw out bad things, I will feel relieved.” But confession is not just a form of therapy. This encounter with the surviving Jesus, who truly takes distant sins and restores the soul to life. This is not about well-being, but about nonsubjective fact and entering a state of sanctifying grace.

Without confession there is no renewal of the Church

The Church's crisis is not just empty seminars, falling attendance at Mass or losing authority of the clergy. This is primarily a crisis of the sacramental life of the faithful. Where confession fades – there besides fades Eucharist. How many priests present have the courage to remind us that we are coming to Holy Communion only in a state of grace?

Even disturbing are the ideas to "take confession from children" on the pretext that it is besides hard or traumatic for them. This shows how deep the crisis is: the youngest want to deprive themselves of the purest form of encountering the merciful Christ. This is not a concern for souls, but a spiritual theft.

Back to Confession

I believe that the renewal of the Catholic Church will not begin with subsequent synods about synodity, commissions and reports, but from the return of the faithful to confessionals. It is there that man learns humility – so much needed in today's world, takes work for his actions and opens his heart to the action of God's grace.

Confession is not an archaic ritual. It's the gateway to heaven. If we want to save the Church, our families and our homeland, we must return to this gate and go through it regularly. due to the fact that only a reconciled man can truly act.

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