As we engage the penitential season of Lent, we are called by the Church to renew an exercise that is often difficult for human nature. That is to identify clearly our sins and to admit our guilt and responsibility for them. 

 

A personal admission of sinfulness is a fundamental step to the conversion of our hearts. It is also a prerequisite for a fruitful reception of the sacrament of confession and for the forgiveness of sins. Think about it: How can we ask Jesus to forgive us, if we do not first really acknowledge our wrongs and our responsibility for those wrongs? 

 

Recently, Father Paul Scalia wrote about the spiritual challenges that flow from our wounded human nature (Communio, Fall 2018). These inclinations tempt us to evade the spiritual clarity of acknowledging our sinfulness. 

 

Father Scalia first cites the tendency to examine our sinfulness from an overly legalistic mindset. By that he explains for many of us, our catechetical instruction told us to identify our sins by reference to the Ten Commandments and by how often we can identify our failures to live up to them. This is a tried and true means of judging our actions and thoughts. But if we are not careful, he says, we can focus completely on these numbers and acts and fail to join them to our mind and heart where contrition must take place.

 

This leads to a second danger which is to generalize our sins. That is, there is a temptation to conceive of or confess our sins only by category (a lack of charity or a failure of chastity for example). But behind those categories are moments and attitudes of our existence where the sin really takes place. If we are really to understand the horror of sin before God and to ourselves, we must accuse ourselves of particular separations from God’s will.

 

A third danger to avoid is confessing on what Father Scalia terms a “natural level.” That is, confessing to alleviate the unease of guilt or of the psychological discomfort that sin can leave. Those advantages will often flow from hearing those blessed words, “I absolve you from your sins.” But our goal must always be placing our sins before Jesus and His loving will. Our regret must be that we have offended God, not simply that we are rightly feeling discomfort from our actions.

 

What is the best way, then, to prepare our conscience for confession this Lent, especially if we have not confessed recently or frequently? I would suggest that we begin by praying for the grace of love for God and honesty about ourselves. If we do so, God will give us the grace that we need.

 

Then, when we engage the priest in our confession, don’t hesitate to ask questions, or to describe doubts or uncertainties about your sins. The priest is there to forgive sins but also to serve as a doctor of souls. Just like dealing with our medical physician, an open and trusting conversation leads to good results.

 

Don’t forget, our diocesan Be Reconciled Day is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10. Throughout the Diocese of Rockford confessions will be heard from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. in our parish churches. Check your local parish for specific details. I invite all to come to confession, especially any who have long been away from the sacrament.