I am a Catholic of only 5 years and I hear people say how good the Sacrament of Confession is, but I have to admit, I don’t feel better after confessing. it is awkward and unpleasant for me. after it is over, I am waiting for the moment that I will see that it helps, but I don’t. do I just need to give it more time? I am someone that it is easier for me to put into words what I mean to say rather than voicing it out loud so that is one reason it feels so awkward. the priest said I had given a good confession, but it didn’t feel good to me.
I was actually just thinking about this. When other people are telling you how you ‘should feel’, or how they feel, it doesn’t mean that you will ‘feel’ the same way. Then, if we don’t feel the way others tell you to feel, you might think you’re doing something wrong, or don’t deserve or get God’s Grace and Forgiveness. God may work in you or me differently. I do usually feel ‘relief’ though, but my feelings are not always the same after confession.
Don’t worry about how you are supposed to feel; just ‘be’. If you are making a good confession, and have been absolved, then keep doing what you’re doing.
After I made my Confirmation, I expected to feel the Holy Spirit, something ‘magical’ or uplifting, or something. I felt no different than I had the moment before being confirmed. I can say that many years later, I DID feel the Holy Spirit in the way that I had expected 15+ years previous, and I don’t know that I would have been able to handle that feeling then.
Accept God’s Graces however He gives them to you. It might be relief, or euphoria, or lightness, or even something different. My experience doesn’t have to be yours, nor vice versa. I have to work not to put others’ expectations of an event on
me. It’s my (or yours) experience, and no one else can experience like I can, because we are each unique and loved by our Master.
