Which is more difficult?

[ccmcmg]

As I was going to Confession, a thought occurred to me.

I’m not a horrible person, but sometimes, all the things I do wrong and sins I commit make me think that I am (I’m harder on myself than I should be, known fault of mine). I’m a sinner.

I was thinking, why can’t I tell the Priest all the good things I did instead?

Is it harder to share your sinful ways and ask forgiveness, or harder to do good works, good things and not get the ‘pat on the back’?

I know, the pat on the back (so to speak) will come in Heaven and will be infinitely greater than any kudos we would receive here. I know if most of us are honest, we enjoy that pat on the back, especially if it was hard for us, or uncharacteristic of our most usual or recent actions. However, when someone compliments me on something that I’ve done or said that came directly from Him through the Spirit, it’s easy to give the Glory directly to God.

Pride. That’s it. A sin. (Sorry, just thinking out loud.) I try not to act prideful, but it’s hard!

Dear God, please grant me Humility. All Good comes from You and all Glory is to you, our Father.

Christina

 

[AlanFromWichita]

I think I understand you. So do you mean it would be more difficult for you to say good things about yourself?

I’d say if you’re looking for congratulations than those of a “confessor” would be pretty shallow because they would necessarily be based completely on what you say about yourself.

It’s a great idea to establish regular communications with a priest and it’s perfectly OK to tell them of the good things you’ve done. They like to hear positive things just like the rest of us. They can encourage you to be the best you can be. But if it’s in the confessional, the priest really doesn’t have the time to probe into it and give you meaningful feedback on preferably both the good you’ve done and if they see any ways you can do even better – so basically they would be “judging a book by its cover” in anything they said, either good or bad.

Alan