Wonderful Confession Experience

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nicolep

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A lot of times here, the negative confession experiences get the most attention. It’s certainly understandable, but I wanted to offer the opposite view.

I went to confession before Mass today. There was a long line of people to get through in 20 minutes. It was 5:24 and I was the next to go into the confessional. Daily Mass starts at 5:30. I was okay with missing Mass if necessary…mortal sin…had to be resolved. I went in and had this urgency about me. It was like confession on speed!

I slowed down a little and Father began to say something along the lines of, “I see you’re really struggling with this.” I broke down into friggin’ tears. Apparently my adrenaline high wore off at that very moment! Father went on to say some very positive things about me. It’s like the Holy Spirit came into the confessional and whispered exactly what I needed to hear into his ear.

I’m not into the touchy, feely “we’re all okay” approach to confession. It wasn’t like that…he took the severity of the sin and said that God would help me get through it if I’d let Him. He obviously saw that I need some encouragement because I was really down on myself that I was confession the same thing again.

He asked me what I thought my penance should be and I said, “Something really hard. Lay the ol’ penance smack-down on me.” He started laughing and it all ended as well as something like that could. I feel refreshed and ready to face the world again. All while realizing that I have the wonderful Sacrament of Reconciliation when I need it again.

Thanks be to God!
 
Glad to hear that you had a good experience at confession. It’s good to see you get the word out too. Confession gets a bad rap, but when approached seriously and with a humble heart, it’s exactly what we need. Good for you in receiving that blessing, and sharing it.
 
One thing that we can do while waiting in the Confession line is to pray for the confessor. This makes such a difference, especially when we join with others in line. As you said, the Holy Spirit spoke through the priest. We can always pray for that anointing. The priest can become fatiqued, a reason that sometimes the experience may be less than expected. Prayer strengthens him.
 
als - Thanks! I try to spread the word about the good stuff. A lot of us are much more likely to share the bad experiences.

Deb - Very true! Thank you for the reminder.
 
I posted on a different post how I never know what will happen during confession. I may go in with a specific sin in mind and once I begin, the confession will go in an entirely different direction, thanks to the Holy Spirit at work in the confessor. It is the insight I would not have had otherwise.
 
nicolep said:
A lot of times here, the negative confession experiences get the most attention. It’s certainly understandable, but I wanted to offer the opposite view.

I went to confession before Mass today. There was a long line of people to get through in 20 minutes. It was 5:24 and I was the next to go into the confessional. Daily Mass starts at 5:30. I was okay with missing Mass if necessary…mortal sin…had to be resolved. I went in and had this urgency about me. It was like confession on speed!

I slowed down a little and Father began to say something along the lines of, “I see you’re really struggling with this.” I broke down into friggin’ tears. Apparently my adrenaline high wore off at that very moment! Father went on to say some very positive things about me. It’s like the Holy Spirit came into the confessional and whispered exactly what I needed to hear into his ear.

I’m not into the touchy, feely “we’re all okay” approach to confession. It wasn’t like that…he took the severity of the sin and said that God would help me get through it if I’d let Him. He obviously saw that I need some encouragement because I was really down on myself that I was confession the same thing again.

He asked me what I thought my penance should be and I said, “Something really hard. Lay the ol’ penance smack-down on me.” He started laughing and it all ended as well as something like that could. I feel refreshed and ready to face the world again. All while realizing that I have the wonderful Sacrament of Reconciliation when I need it again.

Thanks be to God!
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Thanks for sharing this story
 
Can I share one?

I think confession gets so much “bad press” that I love hearing the good experiences.

Several weeks ago, some things/sins from long ago found their way to my consciousness. I know that technically they had been forgiven, but I still felt like I owed Jesus the courtesy of confessing them since they had popped into my mind. Nothing particularly embarassing or earth-shattering and no real sense of urgency. I go every 3 months or so, and figured it could probably wait.

One afternoon, a few weeks later, a friend and I were going to visit a former pastor of ours - evening Mass and then taking him to dinner. He hears confession before every Mass. The night before we were going, I thought "If we make it in time tomorrow (he’s about 25 miles away) AND there’s no line, I’ll go to confession then. That didn’t work out.

So what did I do? I prayed for the opportunity to go. And what did God do? He delivered. Two days later, after daily Mass, the visiting priest announced that since he’d been running late before Mass and hadn’t been hearing confessions, he’d hear them after Mass. And what did I do? I debated with myself and then I left. No thanks, God. That really wasn’t the opportunity I wanted.:doh2:

I felt so sad/guilty for turning my back. Catch ya later, God.

So the next morning I was up bright and early. Confession is before the 6:30 am Mass and it was still dark. Not sure when “15 minutes before daily Mass” begins, so I was there 30 minutes before. Father was setting up the altar and then went and sat in the back pew and read :confused: (morning prayer?) for a while. Eventually he went into the confessional, and I followed.

I have confessed to him before, and it is always very much “by the script”. I say my part, he says his part, and we’re done in about 2 minutes. Never any extra advice or questions. This time, though, I said what I had to say and then he actually had something to say. He was very kind and very encouraging about me being open to the ways God is working in my life. Penance was a piece of cake - offering Mass in Thanksgiving. 🙂

I left thinking what a treasure we have in this sacrament (and that maybe the break of dawn is a better time to go than the middle of a Saturday afternoon).

Thanks for sharing your story, Nicole!
 
Acadian - Thank you for sharing as well. I do love hearing the good experiences within the Church. Especially confession since it’s such a harrowing experience anyway.
 
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