The Spiritual and Psychological
Value of Frequent Confession
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
Judging by the drastic drop in confessions in countries like
the United States, the false opinion is gaining ground that
Confession is not to be received, or made, frequently.
No doubt, one reason for this sad state of affairs is the
prevalence of some wild theories about mortal sin. For
example, the Fundamental Option theory claims that no
mortal sin is committed unless a person totally rejects God.
Who but the devil hates God? One adultery or one abortion is
not a mortal sin. On these grounds, there are parishes in
which almost no one goes to Confession.
Our focus in this conference, however, is more specific. We
wish to emphasize the value of frequent Confession, where no
conscious mortal sins are being confessed. We are speaking of
the frequent, and therefore early confessions of children, as
soon as they reach the age of reason, and let's make sure
before they receive their First Holy Communion. We are
speaking of the frequent confessions of youth, of married
people, of those in declining years. We are with emphasis
speaking of the frequent confessions of priests and religious,
whose progress in sanctity is so closely bound up with their
often receiving the sacrament of Penance.
Before going on, let me assure you that I am quite familiar
with the present state of affairs in more than one diocese.
People tell me it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a
priest to hear your confession. You may have to make an
appointment by telephone at the priest's convenience. You
may have to meet a priest in person in the parlor and identify
yourself before you go to Confession. You may have to listen
to an unwelcome homily on not abusing the sacrament by
having nothing except venial sins to confess, or be told to
come back some other time, when you have something
worthwhile to say.
Before going any further, I must tell you: choose your
confessors carefully and wisely, and pray for those priests
who seem unwilling to exercise this precious sacramental
ministry as the Savior who ordained them wants it to be
exercised, with prudence and kindness and the practice of
Christlike mercy.
The Church's Teaching
There is no doubt that the practice of frequent Confession in
the absence of mortal sin is a relatively recent development in
the Catholic Church. Such development under divine
guidance is part of the genius of Catholic Christianity.
Consequently, those who frown on frequent Confession and go
back to dusty volumes about the practice of Penance in the
early Church are behind the times. They fail to realize that
the Church is not a static organization, but the living and
therefore developing Mystical Body of Christ. So what is
wrong with the Church growing up?
The nine pontiffs of the present century have defended
frequent Confession against, you guessed it, critics among the
clergy.
Let me quote the words of Pope Pius XII. The quotation is
long, but I do not hesitate saying it deserves to be memorized.
It is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways that
are to be highly commended, but to ensure more rapid
progress day by day in the practice of virtue we want the
pious practice of frequent Confession which was introduced
into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to be
earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is
increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are
corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the
conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary
self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the
sacrament itself. Let those, therefore, among the younger
clergy who make light of or lessen esteem for frequent
Confession know what they are doing. What they are doing is
alien to the spirit of Christ and disastrous for the Mystical
Body of Christ.
Then came the Second Vatican Council with widespread
liturgical changes that are common knowledge. What may not
be common knowledge, however, is that since the Council,
Pope Paul VI authorized one of the most eloquent pleas in
papal history for frequent reception of the sacrament of
Penance. While recognizing that the immediate purpose of the
sacrament is to remit grave sins, the new ritual emphasizes its
salutary function also when mortal sins against God have not
been committed. Once again, I quote in full.
Frequent and reverent recourse to this sacrament, even when
only venial sin is in question, is of great value. Frequent
confession is not mere ritual repetition, nor is it merely a
psychological exercise. Rather is it a constant effort to bring
to perfection the grace of our Baptism so that as we carry
about in our bodies the death of Jesus Christ who died, the
life that Jesus Christ lives may be more and more manifested
in us. In such confessions penitents, while indeed confessing
venial sins, should be mainly concerned with becoming more
deeply conformed to Christ, and more submissive to the voice
of the Spirit.
Pope John Paul II, in one document and speech after another,
repeats the same message. He dares to say that those who
discourage going to Confession because it produces a
repressive mentality "are lying." He tells the faithful to
receive this sacrament as often as possible. Why? Because "by
this sacrament, we are renewed in fervor, strengthened in our
resolutions, and supported by divine encouragement." How
we need to hear these words in an age when discouragement,
leading to despair, is almost the hallmark of the modern
world.
Spiritual Value of Confession
Suppose we examine, and even number, the spiritual benefits
of frequent Confession as identified by the modern popes.
Self-Knowledge is Increased. How blind we are to our own
failings and weaknesses. We are hawk-eyed in seeing the
faults of others, but stone blind when it comes to our own.
There is nothing in the world that we more need to grow in
humility than to recognize how stupid and helpless we are in
the face of temptation. How desperately we need God's grace
to see ourselves as we really are.
Bad Habits are Corrected. Another word for bad habits is
"vices." These bad habits are acquired by the repetition of
bad actions. We may have the habit of unkind words, or of
selfish behavior, which may have taken years to acquire. On
the natural level, it would take years to change these bad
habits into the opposite virtues. But with the grace of the
sacrament of Confession, we can overcome these vices in
record time, beyond all human expectation.
Conscience is Purified. We do not commonly speak of
purifying the conscience. But we should. What is a pure
conscience? A pure conscience is one that sees clearly, we
may say instinctively, what should be done in a given situation
and how to do it. The opposite of a pure conscience is a dull
or insensitive conscience. People will do all kinds of evil,
commit every kind of sin, without even realizing that they are
doing wrong. The sacrament of Penance purifies our mind to
recognize God's will in every circumstance of our lives,
instantly and almost without reflection. How? By the action of
the Holy Spirit, whose gift of counsel enlightens the mind to
know exactly what the Lord wants us to do and how to do it
the moment we are faced with a moral decision.
The Will is Strengthened. We could spend not just a whole
conference on this subject, but a semester course on the value
of what I call "the sacrament of courage." Certainly, we all
have a free will. But our natural inclination is to do our own
will, to choose what we want and reject what we do not want.
The very expression "pro-choice" has become a synonym for
the culture of death in our society. Christ told us to love
others as He has loved us, even to dying out of love for
another person. The world is now telling us in the laws of
most nations to murder innocent unborn children out of
self-love.
Do we ever need to have our wills strengthened to resist our
love of self and submit these wills to the will of God! I do not
hesitate to say it is the single most desperate need as we come
to the close of the twentieth century. The self has been
literally deified. In one Western university after another, the
philosophy of Immanuel Kant is the staple diet of the
academic curriculum. At the root of Kantian morality is the
principle of the autonomy of the will. My will is the basic and
final norm of my conduct.
Did we ask whether we need the sacramental grace of
Confession to strengthen our wills to submit to the will of
God? In our age of self-idolatry, this grace is indispensable,
dare I say, for the survival of Christianity.
Salutary Self-Control is Attained. A standard English
dictionary contains, by actual count, three hundred eighty
terms beginning with the word "self." Among these are such
terms as self-absorption, self-admiration, self-advancement,
self-applause, self-approbation, self-assertion, self-assurance,
to mention only the words with an "a" after the prefix "self."
To its credit, the dictionary defines self-control as "restraint
exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires."
But everything depends on what we mean by "restraint." All
that we have so far said about the spontaneous tendency we
have to satisfy our own desires brings out the importance of
the Christian meaning of self-control.
Our faith tells us that we have a fallen human nature. Part of
that nature is the loss of the gift of integrity that our first
parents possessed before they had sinned. From the moment
of our conception in our mother's womb, we already have the
spontaneous tendency to desire what is pleasant and to run
away from what is painful.
On these premises, self-control means the mastery of our
impulses to conform to the mind and will of the Creator. Not
everything we want is pleasing to Him, and not everything we
dislike is contrary to His will. Self-control means mastering
our thoughts and desires to correspond to the infinite mind
and will of God.
That is why the Church, founded by the Incarnate God, is
telling us to have frequent access to what Christ has instituted
in the sacrament of Confession. We need the light which this
sacrament assures us and the strength we so desperately need
to surrender our "Selves" to the almighty Self from whom we
came and for whom we were made.
We Become More Sinless. By the frequent and reverent
reception of the sacrament of Penance, we make more perfect
the justification we first received in Baptism. What does this
mean? It means we become more and more sinless. Christ
thereby exercises His saving redemption on our souls by
cleansing us more and more and thus preparing us better and
better for that kingdom of glory where nothing undefiled can
enter and where only the sinless have a claim to enjoy the
vision of the All-holy God. And who in his right mind would
claim he or she is already sinless?
We Become More Conformed to Jesus Christ. We become
more like Jesus Christ in the power to practice the virtues
that characterized His visible life on earth. What virtues are
they? We become more humble and better able to conquer
our foolish and stubborn pride. And the very humiliation of
telling our sins to another sinner is God's way of telling us, "If
you confess, I will make you more humble." We become more
patient in bearing with pain and enduring the people that
God puts into our lives. Sometimes I think pain should have a
masculine and feminine gender. Most of our suffering, most of
the difficulties and problems and tribulations, that we have to
endure on earth, if your lives are like mine, come from other
people. And of course, we pay them the favor of being
corresponding graces of tribulation in their lives. Through
this sacrament we become more conformed to Jesus by
becoming more prayerful in greater awareness of God's
majesty and, therefore, our need to pay attention to God, and
in greater awareness of our weakness and constant need for
assistance from the Lord. This is one place where Jesus did
not have to pray to overcome His sinful tendencies. Above all
we become more loving in giving and giving and giving
ourselves according to the divine will even as Jesus kept
giving Himself to the will of His Father even to the last drop
of His blood.
We Become More Submissive to the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit, dwelling in the depths of our hearts, is always speaking
to us, but we are not always listening to Him. We are so busy
with so many things, so preoccupied with ourselves, our
interests and concerns, that He is often not only the unseen
but, I am afraid, the unappreciated Guest in our souls. As
John the Baptist said of the Savior to his contemporaries,
"There is one in our midst whom we know not." And if we are
going to be submissive to this Spirit of God, the first condition
is that we are aware that there is a Spirit, that He has a voice
and that He is talking. You do not listen to silence. And this is
divine speech.
The Spirit of God wants nothing more than for us to pay
attention to Him. Pay Him the courtesy, if you will, of
recognizing that He is within us. The Spirit of God wants us to
thank Him for all the good things He has given us. He wants
us to keep asking Him. That is why He keeps creating
problems. Those are divine signals. Did you know that? They
are divine shouts, "Listen to me. Thanks. Thanks for at least
looking at me. And except for the pain or sorrow or trial or
temptation, knowing you," He tells us, "you would not even
bother thinking of me. Thanks! Now that you are awake,
listen!" So we rub our eyes and say, "Yes, Lord."
But mainly the Holy Spirit wants us to be submissive to His
will whether this be obedience to His commands when He
tells us, "Do this," or "Do not do that," or when He gently
invites us to do something more than we have to under
penalty of sin, when He just whispers, "Would you mind
doing this?" or "Would you mind avoiding that? Not because
you have to, but because I would like you to show that you
love me." All of this, and far more than human speech can
describe, is available to us, so the Church of God tells us, by
our frequent and reverent reception of the sacrament of
Christ's peace.
Psychological Value of Confession
Frequent Confession has not only deep spiritual value as we
have just seen. It is also immensely beneficial psychologically.
In other words, the frequent reception of the sacrament of
Penance contributes to the well-being of our mind. In one
declarative sentence, it is a divinely instituted means of giving
us peace of soul.
Remember what happened on Easter Sunday night. As
described by St. Luke, "The doors were closed in the room
where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and
stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,' and
showed them His hands and His side. The disciples were filled
with joy when they saw the Lord, and He said to them again,
'Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending
you.' After saying this, He breathed on them and said,
'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are
retained" (Jn 20:19-23).
As the Catholic Church teaches, by these words of the risen
Savior, He instituted the sacrament of Confession. For twenty
centuries, it has been called the sacrament of peace.
The principal source of conflict in the human spirit is the
sense of guilt. Psychologists tell us, it is the mysterious feeling
of guilt which lies at the root of most people's disquiet of mind
and disturbance of will. On both levels, the sacrament of
Confession is the Lord's great gift to His followers.
Peace of mind is the experience of knowing the truth. We all
know that we are sinners. We also know that, as sinners, we
have offended God and become estranged from His love in the
measure of our sins. How we need the assurance, based on
faith, that this offended God is still pleased with us. When
Christ tells us that there is greater joy in heaven over one
sinner doing penance than over ninety-nine who are just, He
is speaking of us who have deserved His rejection. The more
often we receive His sacrament of mercy, the more deeply we
are at peace.
Peace of heart is the experience of doing the will of God. There
is no peace in doing what we want. I know whereof I speak
when I say that, doing one's own will is hell on earth. God
wants us to enjoy peace of heart. That is why He instituted the
sacrament of Confession. The more frequently we confess our
failings, no matter how minor they may seem to be, the more
deeply peaceful we shall be. Why? Because if there is one
thing that God wants us to admit, and keep admitting, it is
that we are sinners who trust in His loving mercy.
There is some value in explaining what the Catholic Church
understands by guilt. Guilt is the loss of God's grace. The
more deeply we have sinned, the more guilt we incur. That is
what mortal sin means. It is the supernatural death of the soul
by the loss of sanctifying grace.
But all sin incurs guilt. Every sin we commit deprives us of
more or less of the grace of God. The subjective experience
that is called guilt is only the tip of an iceberg. Beneath the
feeling of guilt is the objective fact that we have been
deprived, however minimally, of God's friendship.
I like the statement of St. Thomas Aquinas who says, "The act
of sin may pass, and yet the guilt remains."
The more frequently we receive the sacrament of Christ's
mercy, the more grace is restored to our soul. We can
experience the effect by growing in that peace of soul for
which there is no substitute this side of heaven, realizing and
not only knowing that, in spite of our sins, God loves us with
that special love He deserves for repentant sinners.
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
From: " Brother, save yourself "
by very Rev. James Alberione, S.S.P, S.T.D.
[1] I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods
before me.
Do I give God time every day in prayer?
Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I
been involved with the occult?
Do I seek to surrender myself to God's Word as taught by the
Church?
Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?
Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I
withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?
[2] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in
vain.
Have I used God's name in vain: lightly or carelessly?
Have I been angry with God?
Have I wished evil upon another person?
Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?
[3] Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.
Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of
Obligation?
Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of
rest?
Do I do needless work on Sunday?
[4] Honour your Father and your Mother.
Do I honour and obey my parents?
Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
Have I given my family good religious example?
Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?
[5] You shall not kill.
Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an
abortion?
Have I physically harmed anyone?
have I abused alcohol or drugs?
Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
Have I been angry or resentful?
Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?
[6] You shall not commit adultery.
Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and
action?
Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth
control in my marriage?
Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the
transmission of new life?
Have I been guilty of masturbation?
Have I sought to control my thoughts?
Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I
thought of other people as objects?
Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?
Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words and actions?
Am I careful to dress modestly?
[7] You shall not steal.
Have I stolen what is not mine?
Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
Do I waste time at work, school or at home?
Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their
needs?
Do I pay my debts promptly?
Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?
[8] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Have I lied?
Have I gossiped?
Have I spoken behind someone else's back?
Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of
others?
Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?
[9] You shall not desire your neighbor's wife.
Have I consented to impure thoughts?
Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations
or curiosity?
Do I seek to control my imagination?
Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?
[10] You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.
Am I jealous of what other people have?
Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
Am I greedy or selfish?
Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
Do I trust that God will care for all of my material and
spiritual needs?
Imprimatur: + Francis Cardinal Spellman
Archbishop of New York
Nihil Obstat: John M.A. Fearns, S.T.D.
Censor Librorum
Value of Frequent Confession
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
Judging by the drastic drop in confessions in countries like
the United States, the false opinion is gaining ground that
Confession is not to be received, or made, frequently.
No doubt, one reason for this sad state of affairs is the
prevalence of some wild theories about mortal sin. For
example, the Fundamental Option theory claims that no
mortal sin is committed unless a person totally rejects God.
Who but the devil hates God? One adultery or one abortion is
not a mortal sin. On these grounds, there are parishes in
which almost no one goes to Confession.
Our focus in this conference, however, is more specific. We
wish to emphasize the value of frequent Confession, where no
conscious mortal sins are being confessed. We are speaking of
the frequent, and therefore early confessions of children, as
soon as they reach the age of reason, and let's make sure
before they receive their First Holy Communion. We are
speaking of the frequent confessions of youth, of married
people, of those in declining years. We are with emphasis
speaking of the frequent confessions of priests and religious,
whose progress in sanctity is so closely bound up with their
often receiving the sacrament of Penance.
Before going on, let me assure you that I am quite familiar
with the present state of affairs in more than one diocese.
People tell me it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a
priest to hear your confession. You may have to make an
appointment by telephone at the priest's convenience. You
may have to meet a priest in person in the parlor and identify
yourself before you go to Confession. You may have to listen
to an unwelcome homily on not abusing the sacrament by
having nothing except venial sins to confess, or be told to
come back some other time, when you have something
worthwhile to say.
Before going any further, I must tell you: choose your
confessors carefully and wisely, and pray for those priests
who seem unwilling to exercise this precious sacramental
ministry as the Savior who ordained them wants it to be
exercised, with prudence and kindness and the practice of
Christlike mercy.
The Church's Teaching
There is no doubt that the practice of frequent Confession in
the absence of mortal sin is a relatively recent development in
the Catholic Church. Such development under divine
guidance is part of the genius of Catholic Christianity.
Consequently, those who frown on frequent Confession and go
back to dusty volumes about the practice of Penance in the
early Church are behind the times. They fail to realize that
the Church is not a static organization, but the living and
therefore developing Mystical Body of Christ. So what is
wrong with the Church growing up?
The nine pontiffs of the present century have defended
frequent Confession against, you guessed it, critics among the
clergy.
Let me quote the words of Pope Pius XII. The quotation is
long, but I do not hesitate saying it deserves to be memorized.
It is true that venial sins may be expiated in many ways that
are to be highly commended, but to ensure more rapid
progress day by day in the practice of virtue we want the
pious practice of frequent Confession which was introduced
into the Church by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to be
earnestly advocated. By it genuine self-knowledge is
increased, Christian humility grows, bad habits are
corrected, spiritual neglect and tepidity are resisted, the
conscience is purified, the will strengthened, a salutary
self-control is attained, and grace is increased in virtue of the
sacrament itself. Let those, therefore, among the younger
clergy who make light of or lessen esteem for frequent
Confession know what they are doing. What they are doing is
alien to the spirit of Christ and disastrous for the Mystical
Body of Christ.
Then came the Second Vatican Council with widespread
liturgical changes that are common knowledge. What may not
be common knowledge, however, is that since the Council,
Pope Paul VI authorized one of the most eloquent pleas in
papal history for frequent reception of the sacrament of
Penance. While recognizing that the immediate purpose of the
sacrament is to remit grave sins, the new ritual emphasizes its
salutary function also when mortal sins against God have not
been committed. Once again, I quote in full.
Frequent and reverent recourse to this sacrament, even when
only venial sin is in question, is of great value. Frequent
confession is not mere ritual repetition, nor is it merely a
psychological exercise. Rather is it a constant effort to bring
to perfection the grace of our Baptism so that as we carry
about in our bodies the death of Jesus Christ who died, the
life that Jesus Christ lives may be more and more manifested
in us. In such confessions penitents, while indeed confessing
venial sins, should be mainly concerned with becoming more
deeply conformed to Christ, and more submissive to the voice
of the Spirit.
Pope John Paul II, in one document and speech after another,
repeats the same message. He dares to say that those who
discourage going to Confession because it produces a
repressive mentality "are lying." He tells the faithful to
receive this sacrament as often as possible. Why? Because "by
this sacrament, we are renewed in fervor, strengthened in our
resolutions, and supported by divine encouragement." How
we need to hear these words in an age when discouragement,
leading to despair, is almost the hallmark of the modern
world.
Spiritual Value of Confession
Suppose we examine, and even number, the spiritual benefits
of frequent Confession as identified by the modern popes.
Self-Knowledge is Increased. How blind we are to our own
failings and weaknesses. We are hawk-eyed in seeing the
faults of others, but stone blind when it comes to our own.
There is nothing in the world that we more need to grow in
humility than to recognize how stupid and helpless we are in
the face of temptation. How desperately we need God's grace
to see ourselves as we really are.
Bad Habits are Corrected. Another word for bad habits is
"vices." These bad habits are acquired by the repetition of
bad actions. We may have the habit of unkind words, or of
selfish behavior, which may have taken years to acquire. On
the natural level, it would take years to change these bad
habits into the opposite virtues. But with the grace of the
sacrament of Confession, we can overcome these vices in
record time, beyond all human expectation.
Conscience is Purified. We do not commonly speak of
purifying the conscience. But we should. What is a pure
conscience? A pure conscience is one that sees clearly, we
may say instinctively, what should be done in a given situation
and how to do it. The opposite of a pure conscience is a dull
or insensitive conscience. People will do all kinds of evil,
commit every kind of sin, without even realizing that they are
doing wrong. The sacrament of Penance purifies our mind to
recognize God's will in every circumstance of our lives,
instantly and almost without reflection. How? By the action of
the Holy Spirit, whose gift of counsel enlightens the mind to
know exactly what the Lord wants us to do and how to do it
the moment we are faced with a moral decision.
The Will is Strengthened. We could spend not just a whole
conference on this subject, but a semester course on the value
of what I call "the sacrament of courage." Certainly, we all
have a free will. But our natural inclination is to do our own
will, to choose what we want and reject what we do not want.
The very expression "pro-choice" has become a synonym for
the culture of death in our society. Christ told us to love
others as He has loved us, even to dying out of love for
another person. The world is now telling us in the laws of
most nations to murder innocent unborn children out of
self-love.
Do we ever need to have our wills strengthened to resist our
love of self and submit these wills to the will of God! I do not
hesitate to say it is the single most desperate need as we come
to the close of the twentieth century. The self has been
literally deified. In one Western university after another, the
philosophy of Immanuel Kant is the staple diet of the
academic curriculum. At the root of Kantian morality is the
principle of the autonomy of the will. My will is the basic and
final norm of my conduct.
Did we ask whether we need the sacramental grace of
Confession to strengthen our wills to submit to the will of
God? In our age of self-idolatry, this grace is indispensable,
dare I say, for the survival of Christianity.
Salutary Self-Control is Attained. A standard English
dictionary contains, by actual count, three hundred eighty
terms beginning with the word "self." Among these are such
terms as self-absorption, self-admiration, self-advancement,
self-applause, self-approbation, self-assertion, self-assurance,
to mention only the words with an "a" after the prefix "self."
To its credit, the dictionary defines self-control as "restraint
exercised over one's own impulses, emotions, or desires."
But everything depends on what we mean by "restraint." All
that we have so far said about the spontaneous tendency we
have to satisfy our own desires brings out the importance of
the Christian meaning of self-control.
Our faith tells us that we have a fallen human nature. Part of
that nature is the loss of the gift of integrity that our first
parents possessed before they had sinned. From the moment
of our conception in our mother's womb, we already have the
spontaneous tendency to desire what is pleasant and to run
away from what is painful.
On these premises, self-control means the mastery of our
impulses to conform to the mind and will of the Creator. Not
everything we want is pleasing to Him, and not everything we
dislike is contrary to His will. Self-control means mastering
our thoughts and desires to correspond to the infinite mind
and will of God.
That is why the Church, founded by the Incarnate God, is
telling us to have frequent access to what Christ has instituted
in the sacrament of Confession. We need the light which this
sacrament assures us and the strength we so desperately need
to surrender our "Selves" to the almighty Self from whom we
came and for whom we were made.
We Become More Sinless. By the frequent and reverent
reception of the sacrament of Penance, we make more perfect
the justification we first received in Baptism. What does this
mean? It means we become more and more sinless. Christ
thereby exercises His saving redemption on our souls by
cleansing us more and more and thus preparing us better and
better for that kingdom of glory where nothing undefiled can
enter and where only the sinless have a claim to enjoy the
vision of the All-holy God. And who in his right mind would
claim he or she is already sinless?
We Become More Conformed to Jesus Christ. We become
more like Jesus Christ in the power to practice the virtues
that characterized His visible life on earth. What virtues are
they? We become more humble and better able to conquer
our foolish and stubborn pride. And the very humiliation of
telling our sins to another sinner is God's way of telling us, "If
you confess, I will make you more humble." We become more
patient in bearing with pain and enduring the people that
God puts into our lives. Sometimes I think pain should have a
masculine and feminine gender. Most of our suffering, most of
the difficulties and problems and tribulations, that we have to
endure on earth, if your lives are like mine, come from other
people. And of course, we pay them the favor of being
corresponding graces of tribulation in their lives. Through
this sacrament we become more conformed to Jesus by
becoming more prayerful in greater awareness of God's
majesty and, therefore, our need to pay attention to God, and
in greater awareness of our weakness and constant need for
assistance from the Lord. This is one place where Jesus did
not have to pray to overcome His sinful tendencies. Above all
we become more loving in giving and giving and giving
ourselves according to the divine will even as Jesus kept
giving Himself to the will of His Father even to the last drop
of His blood.
We Become More Submissive to the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit, dwelling in the depths of our hearts, is always speaking
to us, but we are not always listening to Him. We are so busy
with so many things, so preoccupied with ourselves, our
interests and concerns, that He is often not only the unseen
but, I am afraid, the unappreciated Guest in our souls. As
John the Baptist said of the Savior to his contemporaries,
"There is one in our midst whom we know not." And if we are
going to be submissive to this Spirit of God, the first condition
is that we are aware that there is a Spirit, that He has a voice
and that He is talking. You do not listen to silence. And this is
divine speech.
The Spirit of God wants nothing more than for us to pay
attention to Him. Pay Him the courtesy, if you will, of
recognizing that He is within us. The Spirit of God wants us to
thank Him for all the good things He has given us. He wants
us to keep asking Him. That is why He keeps creating
problems. Those are divine signals. Did you know that? They
are divine shouts, "Listen to me. Thanks. Thanks for at least
looking at me. And except for the pain or sorrow or trial or
temptation, knowing you," He tells us, "you would not even
bother thinking of me. Thanks! Now that you are awake,
listen!" So we rub our eyes and say, "Yes, Lord."
But mainly the Holy Spirit wants us to be submissive to His
will whether this be obedience to His commands when He
tells us, "Do this," or "Do not do that," or when He gently
invites us to do something more than we have to under
penalty of sin, when He just whispers, "Would you mind
doing this?" or "Would you mind avoiding that? Not because
you have to, but because I would like you to show that you
love me." All of this, and far more than human speech can
describe, is available to us, so the Church of God tells us, by
our frequent and reverent reception of the sacrament of
Christ's peace.
Psychological Value of Confession
Frequent Confession has not only deep spiritual value as we
have just seen. It is also immensely beneficial psychologically.
In other words, the frequent reception of the sacrament of
Penance contributes to the well-being of our mind. In one
declarative sentence, it is a divinely instituted means of giving
us peace of soul.
Remember what happened on Easter Sunday night. As
described by St. Luke, "The doors were closed in the room
where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and
stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with you,' and
showed them His hands and His side. The disciples were filled
with joy when they saw the Lord, and He said to them again,
'Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so am I sending
you.' After saying this, He breathed on them and said,
'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are
retained" (Jn 20:19-23).
As the Catholic Church teaches, by these words of the risen
Savior, He instituted the sacrament of Confession. For twenty
centuries, it has been called the sacrament of peace.
The principal source of conflict in the human spirit is the
sense of guilt. Psychologists tell us, it is the mysterious feeling
of guilt which lies at the root of most people's disquiet of mind
and disturbance of will. On both levels, the sacrament of
Confession is the Lord's great gift to His followers.
Peace of mind is the experience of knowing the truth. We all
know that we are sinners. We also know that, as sinners, we
have offended God and become estranged from His love in the
measure of our sins. How we need the assurance, based on
faith, that this offended God is still pleased with us. When
Christ tells us that there is greater joy in heaven over one
sinner doing penance than over ninety-nine who are just, He
is speaking of us who have deserved His rejection. The more
often we receive His sacrament of mercy, the more deeply we
are at peace.
Peace of heart is the experience of doing the will of God. There
is no peace in doing what we want. I know whereof I speak
when I say that, doing one's own will is hell on earth. God
wants us to enjoy peace of heart. That is why He instituted the
sacrament of Confession. The more frequently we confess our
failings, no matter how minor they may seem to be, the more
deeply peaceful we shall be. Why? Because if there is one
thing that God wants us to admit, and keep admitting, it is
that we are sinners who trust in His loving mercy.
There is some value in explaining what the Catholic Church
understands by guilt. Guilt is the loss of God's grace. The
more deeply we have sinned, the more guilt we incur. That is
what mortal sin means. It is the supernatural death of the soul
by the loss of sanctifying grace.
But all sin incurs guilt. Every sin we commit deprives us of
more or less of the grace of God. The subjective experience
that is called guilt is only the tip of an iceberg. Beneath the
feeling of guilt is the objective fact that we have been
deprived, however minimally, of God's friendship.
I like the statement of St. Thomas Aquinas who says, "The act
of sin may pass, and yet the guilt remains."
The more frequently we receive the sacrament of Christ's
mercy, the more grace is restored to our soul. We can
experience the effect by growing in that peace of soul for
which there is no substitute this side of heaven, realizing and
not only knowing that, in spite of our sins, God loves us with
that special love He deserves for repentant sinners.
EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
From: " Brother, save yourself "
by very Rev. James Alberione, S.S.P, S.T.D.
[1] I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods
before me.
Do I give God time every day in prayer?
Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I
been involved with the occult?
Do I seek to surrender myself to God's Word as taught by the
Church?
Have I ever received Communion in a state of mortal sin?
Have I ever deliberately told a lie in confession or have I
withheld a mortal sin from the priest in confession?
[2] You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in
vain.
Have I used God's name in vain: lightly or carelessly?
Have I been angry with God?
Have I wished evil upon another person?
Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?
[3] Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day.
Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of
Obligation?
Have I tried to observe Sunday as a family day and a day of
rest?
Do I do needless work on Sunday?
[4] Honour your Father and your Mother.
Do I honour and obey my parents?
Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
Have I given my family good religious example?
Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?
[5] You shall not kill.
Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an
abortion?
Have I physically harmed anyone?
have I abused alcohol or drugs?
Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
Have I been angry or resentful?
Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
Have I mutilated myself through any form of sterilization?
Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?
[6] You shall not commit adultery.
Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and
action?
Have I engaged in any sexual activity outside of marriage?
Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth
control in my marriage?
Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the
transmission of new life?
Have I been guilty of masturbation?
Have I sought to control my thoughts?
Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I
thought of other people as objects?
Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?
Do I seek to be chaste in my thoughts, words and actions?
Am I careful to dress modestly?
[7] You shall not steal.
Have I stolen what is not mine?
Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
Do I waste time at work, school or at home?
Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their
needs?
Do I pay my debts promptly?
Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?
[8] You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Have I lied?
Have I gossiped?
Have I spoken behind someone else's back?
Am I sincere in my dealings with others?
Am I critical, negative or uncharitable in my thoughts of
others?
Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?
[9] You shall not desire your neighbor's wife.
Have I consented to impure thoughts?
Have I caused them by impure reading, movies, conversations
or curiosity?
Do I seek to control my imagination?
Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?
[10] You shall not desire your neighbor's goods.
Am I jealous of what other people have?
Do I envy the families or possessions of others?
Am I greedy or selfish?
Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
Do I trust that God will care for all of my material and
spiritual needs?
Imprimatur: + Francis Cardinal Spellman
Archbishop of New York
Nihil Obstat: John M.A. Fearns, S.T.D.
Censor Librorum
