I just returned to the church after a 30 year absence (I was baptized/confirmed Catholic). The first thing I did was go to confession so I could receive communion. I did an absolutely awful job of confessing my sins. I really didn’t examine my conscience and deliberately held back some sins because I was too embarrassed to confess them. I thought if I omitted them they would be forgiven anyway. Then I really started to do research on confessions since I had been away from the Church for so long. I was so ashamed I went back to confession. I had to write down all my sins because there were so many that I didn’t mention the first time.
Before I started, I told my priest that my last confession before this one was 30 years ago but I did a really poor job of examining my conscience and that I deliberately held back some sins because I was embarrassed. Before I got the word “poor” out of my mouth I just started sobbing. I could barely speak because I was so ashamed of what I had done in my previous confession. After I finished my list, I let out a big sigh. I was thinking to myself, “Man, I am so happy I got all of that junk off my chest.” Then my priest said basically the same thing to me. He said, (paraphrasing) “Doesn’t it feel good to clean out all of that junk?” After making the Act of Contrition and the priest absolving me of all my sins he said something to me that I don’t think I will ever forget…He said I made a “great confession!”. I’m telling you, it changed my life. I am a different person because I finally realized the enormous love that God has for all of us, he forgives all of us. Confession is the best way to re-connect with God. I felt like I was actually speaking with Him in confession and letting him know that I was truly sorry and I will try as hard as I can to sin no more. It was a wonderful experience I will never forget.
