Don't get nervous (or perhaps be dissapointed), I am not here to share what naughtiness I have just confessed having made my weekly pilgrimage to St. Francis of Assissi church in Manhattan. But I would like to share my thoughts on why I go to confession and think confession is so important.
Confession is a liberating experience for me. I suppose this is because of my understanding of this most understood (and much maligned) of Catholic sacraments. I have no illusion or perception of a man, collar or no sitting in the confessional booth. For me, while I am aware of his presence, in my mind I am speaking to God. Not by any virtue on the priest's part, but because upon entering the confessional I am partaking in a sacrament whereby the Lord himself hears me confess what I know to be sinful in His eyes and express my sorrow.
It is an act of contrition. It is an act of faith. It is an act of obedience.
And it is important to note that when the priest prays the prayer of absolution he does so 'In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit'. He is not forgiving my sins. God is forgiving my sins. The priest is there perforning the duties handed down from Christ himself to the Apostles, and then to their successors, and then theirs all the way down to the priest that heard my confession a few moments ago.
And I believe that not only does the priest have that authority as well as responsibility but also that Christ intended it to be this way. And I believe it to be so because it is in scripture.
Christ forgave sins. He did not have to prefface it with 'In the name of..'.because as God he had ultimate authority. But knowing as he did that he was destined to die, rise, and ascend, he told Peter that he was his rock upon which we would build his church and in the same breath informed Peter that the sins he loosed on earth would be loosed in heaven and the sins bound on earth would be bound in heaven.
This was not just a piece of interesting information for Peter's benefit. It was a call to action that Jesus put to the Apostles and that then the Apostles put to their successors. Look in Acts of the Apostles. The sacraments were celebrate today were performed by the Apostles in His holy name.
Besides, are we to believe that Jesus would forgive sins on earth and tell his Apostles to the do the same only to let the rest of us over the next two thousand years to fend for ourselves?
Confession is not always easy, but look at the alternative. Christ called his Apostles to forgive us our sins in His name and loving mercy and the Apostles tasked their succesors (hence the term Apostolic Succession) to do the same. But forgivness is a two way steeet. Before it can be given it must be requested.
And if Christ died for my sins and called priests to sit and listen to my failings...then the least I can do is show up. A small price to pay considering how much He payed.
And that is why I go to Confesion.
