We’ve all beeen embarrassed to confess sins–especially that one.
What makes it worse is when you hear a priest give a homily complaining about people confessing the same sin over and over.
Addiction is a hard thing to overcome. But if it weren’t for the shame we put ourselves–and each other–in over common sins like this, we could talk more openly about them and help each other overcome them. It’s like we’re a bunch of Arthur Dimmesdales.
I’ve had a similar experience to the one above.
We were travelling on Aug. 2, and I’d “fallen off the wagon.” I wanted to go to confession so I could try to get the Portiuncula Indulgence.
It was a Traditional Latin Mass at a parish we’d never visited before. When the priest greeted me outside church, I begged him to hear my confession. He took me into his office, and heard my confession, face to face, standing up, with me rushing so he could continue to get ready for mass.
“This was a good confession,” he said (always a reassuring statement, esp. under those circumstances)!
So, don’t be afraid!
What’s really embarrassing is when you go to a deaf priest, and he yells, “YOU DID WHAT???” when he can’t hear you!
I was just glad I had confessed in the end, and the priest wasn’t shocked or any such thing, and in fact simply offered advice on how to avoid the sin, which if I may add was to try to keep myself occupied with other things so as not to give myself the chance to dwell on impure thoughts and quite likely give in to them.
