Why Go to Confession?

In confession we bring everything we wish we had never done, and Christ's merciful love wipes these things from our soul as if we had never done them: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our sins from us" (Psalm 103:12).

We all know that there are things we have done that we are ashamed of, whether it is easy to admit to ourselves or not. It may be that these are the very things which keep us from going to confession, because it seems impossible to say them out loud to another person. Yet this shame that we feel is the very reason Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as Confession or Penance). He knew that no matter how "spiritual" of a person we are, we are still human, and it makes all the difference in the world to us to hear another human voice say to us, "Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace." If I say these things out loud, and the priest does not reject me, I know in a concrete way that God does not reject me, that I truly am forgiven. This is why the early Christians encouraged, "Confess your sins to one another, so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).

Yet when we say our sins to the priest in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are not merely saying them to another human being. In the Gospel, Jesus gives his apostles the power to forgive sins in his name (Matthew 9:6, John 20:21-23). This power is passed on to priests through the grace of their ordination; it is as though the apostles were ministering to us today, offering us forgiveness promised by Jesus! When you say your sins to the priest, he stands in the place of Christ. This is why he says, "I absolve you from all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." It is Christ absolving sins through the priest as his instrument. Jesus uses the priest's voice to speak his forgiveness because he wants you to be absolutely confident that your sins are wiped away by his merciful love.

What if I haven't been to confession in years?

Nothing you do could make God happier than to come to him in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, especially if you have been away from the sacrament for a long time. God is like the father in the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). The son has rejected his father's love and wasted his life. Deciding to return home, he hopes his father will accept him as a servant. But the father is overcome with joy at his beloved son's return: "While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him" (15:20). If you have been away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God is not looking on you with judgment or criticism. Rather, he is waiting and watching for your return so that he can embrace you with his merciful love.

If you haven't been to confession in a long time, it is good to tell the priest this as you begin your confession. It is also important to do a good Examination of Conscience before you enter the confessional, so that you can be sure to name all the serious sins that are weighing on your soul. If you need courage, pray to Mary, Mother of Mercy, and ask her to walk you through this experience.