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mercygate
Guest
They say that the ABILITY to make that hard confession is a sign that you are being healed of it!
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Kenneth_Jones
Guest
Now then Working Mom of Three, you have experienced first hand what some cannot bring themselves to believe ā that a loving God can, will, and wants to forgive us our sins. Itās enough to make a grown man cry. I know whereof I speak.
But, Mom of Three, would you not warmly, lovingly, embrace any of those three of yours who came to you asking forgiveness? Iād venture to say that you would. How much greater is Godās love for us! Almost too good to believeā¦almost.
Believe it ā you know itās true. You knew it all along.
It does take some working up to sometimes, to admit errors and contritely ask for forgiveness. And the pure joy of heart I feel after absolution is unequalled anywhere in my experience. Itās like standing under a waterfall or maybe soaring up to the clouds on high. You know the feeling.
Which is why I have this big stupid grin on my face right now, and why I have a little trouble seeing the keyboard through my tears.
God bless and keep you. :getholy:
Ken
ā¦but only say the Word and my soul will be healed
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FrDavid96
Guest
I hope you also give some thought to just how much joy and peace your experience has brought to others as well, since youāve decided to share your experience on this forum. The Graces of the Sacraments multiply in so many ways that we donāt even think about.
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mercygate
Guest
It certainly is a privilege to have shared in this experience with āmomā. Looking back, I am sure she will see that confession as a landmark experience in her life and as one of the best days of her life.People often look at me like Iām crazy when I tell them that Confession is the second-best thing about being Catholic!
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workingmomof3
Guest
mercygate and FrDavid
I truly had not thought about my experience helping anyone else. If it did, then it is truly the Holy Spirit working!!!
As far as it being a landmark moment, I do believe that it was. It has taken me many years to fully come to appreciate the true value and meaning of confession. I have been very fortunate to have had wonderful, compasionate priests as confessors. I have never had a ābadā experience - some not as good as others - but none ābadāā¦
When I went this time, I completely froze and couldnāt speak and I busted into tears. . Part of me wanted to just leave. Father calmed me down, and his gentle, unhurried, and loving manner did the trick. He explained that God was right there to comfort me and he was calling me by name. (Now Iām crying all over again
)
He said that there was nothing I couldnāt say, and just like a loving parent, He was ready to forgive. Exactly what I needed to hear.
Sometimes in life, there are unexpected pivotal moments. At age 46, I try to embrace these, learn from them, and realize that God has ALWAYS been a force in my life, even when I didnāt want Him there.
Thank you all for listening. My husband and most of my friends are Protestant and just donāt get the whole āconfession thingāā¦I personally think they are missing out!!!
I truly had not thought about my experience helping anyone else. If it did, then it is truly the Holy Spirit working!!!
As far as it being a landmark moment, I do believe that it was. It has taken me many years to fully come to appreciate the true value and meaning of confession. I have been very fortunate to have had wonderful, compasionate priests as confessors. I have never had a ābadā experience - some not as good as others - but none ābadāā¦
When I went this time, I completely froze and couldnāt speak and I busted into tears. . Part of me wanted to just leave. Father calmed me down, and his gentle, unhurried, and loving manner did the trick. He explained that God was right there to comfort me and he was calling me by name. (Now Iām crying all over again
)He said that there was nothing I couldnāt say, and just like a loving parent, He was ready to forgive. Exactly what I needed to hear.
Sometimes in life, there are unexpected pivotal moments. At age 46, I try to embrace these, learn from them, and realize that God has ALWAYS been a force in my life, even when I didnāt want Him there.
Thank you all for listening. My husband and most of my friends are Protestant and just donāt get the whole āconfession thingāā¦I personally think they are missing out!!!
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mercygate
Guest
Actually, when people meet someone like you, the witness can be very powerful.mercygate and FrDavid
I truly had not thought about my experience helping anyone else. If it did, then it is truly the Holy Spirit working!!!
As far as it being a landmark moment, I do believe that it was. It has taken me many years to fully come to appreciate the true value and meaning of confession. I have been very fortunate to have had wonderful, compasionate priests as confessors. I have never had a ābadā experience - some not as good as others - but none ābadāā¦
When I went this time, I completely froze and couldnāt speak and I busted into tears. . Part of me wanted to just leave. Father calmed me down, and his gentle, unhurried, and loving manner did the trick. He explained that God was right there to comfort me and he was calling me by name. (Now Iām crying all over again
He said that there was nothing I couldnāt say, and just like a loving parent, He was ready to forgive. Exactly what I needed to hear.
Sometimes in life, there are unexpected pivotal moments. At age 46, I try to embrace these, learn from them, and realize that God has ALWAYS been a force in my life, even when I didnāt want Him there.
Thank you all for listening. My husband and most of my friends are Protestant and just donāt get the whole āconfession thingāā¦I personally think they are missing out!!!!
I know a Baptist who is now in RCIA because he could hardly wait to get his carcass into a confessional. In fact, the was so hungry for the sacrament, he tried it on for size: told the priest he wasnāt Catholic but needed to confess. The priest heard his confession, gave him a blessing and assured him that he would be there when he came back āfor realā!
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EasterJoy
Guest
Is there a feeling of acceptance that is greater than being accepted by someone who has just heard the worst things youāve ever done, the things that bring on guilt and shame, and being assured by that person that God forgives you and wants a relationship with you, in spite of all of it?
That is something that the āIāll confess to directly to Godā crowd misses out on. Also, when you have to say it out loud, there is no more denying that it was wrong and that you knew it was when you did it. When confession is a regular habit, the discomfort caused by knowing you are going to have to confess sins in the near future does make falling into sin again much less attractive.
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workingmomof3
Guest
i agree - I have been tempted to fall into sin again since last weekend but my resistance is much stronger and I havenāt yet yieldedā¦
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CentralFLJames
Guest
We have all been there and it can be a daily struggle. The best way to get through the trials is to pray daily 30-45 minutes. God will give you the graces to overcome temptation but you may also need to change your routine to avoid the temptations. The important thing is to just assume you will be tempted and challenged again and may fail again. This is actually to be expected and is scriptural - God proves our justification.
If you do cave in again to temptation just pick yourself up and get right back up. Recollect your mistakes and learn by them, then get back to confession again. Learn your weaknesses by your mistakes. If its a habitual sort of thing or a lifestyle related sin you are repenting from it takes time to break addictions or appetites so to speak for certain kinds of sins.
Eventually through grace and love of God your will becomes stronger and stronger and it becomes easier to resist things. You may find at first that you need to go to confession frequently - every 2 weeks or even every week. But as you get spiritually stronger you can usually taper off to about once per month. At some point having to face the inner disappointment of having to go to confession for repeating the same sins will be a strong motivator for changing. True repentance and transformation is achieved when you are consciously choosing not to sin out of love for God rather than fear of hell.
A mental discipline that you can use to help overcome caving into temptation is to try and get in the conscious habit of seeing the negative aspects of sin in a graphic way anytime you are tempted. Develop a mental reflex where if you are starting to feel a strong temptation you instead try to imagine Jesus on his way up Calvary and imagine if you sin you will trip Him and cause him to fall under the weight of the cross and suffer more pain. Sometimes too it can help to think of a lost loved one who was very innocent (a child) or admired as Christlike. Imagine how a sin harms them or adds to suffering they may have had to endure in life. That personalizes the pain and suffering of sin in a way that turns Satanās temptations to sin against itself to help us even rediscover Christ in each person and regain or recollect our human dignity.
God Bless,
James
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EasterJoy
Guest
A habit of penance helps, too, whether of the āgiving upā or the ādoingā kind. It leads us to rely more on God, rather than on mindlessly following habits, reflexive indulgence of our wants, and immediate satisfaction of physical needs. In the end, after all, God is all there is. Love is all there is. The rest is non-essential. It helps to treat it as such, once in awhile. Real goods only remain good when they are not allowed to take the place of ultimate good.
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psr13
Guest
Actually, yes. I never thought I would have said this, but I always feel much better after confession. I felt horribly before than even though I had privately asked for forgiveness, but it did really help to get it out.
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workingmomof3
Guest
I agree - the whole process can be very comfortingā¦
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