Confession: It puts you straight with everyone

By MARY CROSBY

Reconciliation, aka confession, is the sacrament of the forgiveness of sin, which has many benefits. Here are ten…

  1. Confidentiality guaranteed. There’s nothing like confessing your sins to someone guaranteed not to tell anyone else. Sometimes you need to talk in absolute confidence. A priest can’t tell anyone what’s said to him in confession. He can’t even hint at it.
  1. Housekeeping for the soul. It feels good to be able to start a clean life all over again. It’s good when clutter is removed – even if it’s your own.
  1. A balm for the desire for revenge. When you have been forgiven, you can forgive others. If the perfect Jesus forgives me, who am I to want to avenge the slights in my life.
  1. Low-cost therapy. It’s free, which makes it cheaper than a psychiatrist for dealing with guilt.
  1. Forced time to think. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. To examine our lives and acknowledge failings marks the first step of making things right with God, others and ourselves. Life can be more worth living when you ponder the meaning of your own life.
  1. Contribution toward world peace. Gaudium et Spes, the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, said that the imbalances in the world that lead to war and tensions “are linked with that more basic imbalance which is rooted in the heart of humanity”. Peace of soul leads to peace of heart leads to peace beyond oneself.
  1. A better neighbourhood. Confession leaves you feeling good about yourself, thereby cutting back the inclination to behave badly towards others
  1. Realistic self-perception. Confession helps overcome arrogance when you have to admit you’re as much of a sinner as anyone else. It helps build tolerance for others’ perceived shortcomings.
  1. One more benefit of being Catholic. There are lots of benefits, including a sense of community, liturgical rites to help us encounter God in prayer, and the wonderful sense of humanity exemplified in the saints, from Mary, the loving Mother of God, to Augustine, the exasperating son of Monica. The sacrament that leads us to inner peace is among the greatest benefit.
  1. Closeness to God. Confession helps you realise that you have a close connection to God and you receive God’s grace through the sacraments. What can be better than knowing God is on your side, and that you are on God’s side?