Can I Really Find Joy in Confession this Lent?!

Whether you call this sacrament Confession, Penance, or Reconciliation, I imagine that the first thing you feel when you think about it is usually not “Joy” – am I right? Of course, it’s natural to not look forward to reflecting on our sins, just like we don’t look forward to surgery, a difficult conversation we need to have with someone, physical therapy, or a variety of other things that we know are helpful in the long run but unpleasant in the moment. Yet the more we experience the joy that results from that challenging experience (what runners sometimes call a “runner’s high”), the more we can bring a positive attitude to the whole experience.

Before we can fully appreciate the joy that comes from confession, however, we need to truly appreciate the nature of our sin in order to realize just how much God does for us in this sacrament. Sin in general is a turning away from God. When serious sin is committed with full knowledge and freedom, it is like disowning God – cutting ourselves off from the creator of life, which amounts to a kind of death. Jesus is not gentle when he talks about sin – he uses very strong words (e.g., sin drowns us like a millstone around our neck). This is why it is so important that the Father of Mercies has sent his only son – to die in our place, and thus conquer sin and death. We may turn away from God, but thankfully, God never turns away from us – always inviting us to be reconciled with him! Remember the prodigal father scanning the horizon, hoping that the son who disowned him will come home again.

Today, the Father of Mercies continues to send his Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins. This sacrament sets us free from our guilt, blessing us with healing and reconciliation. We can always turn to God in prayer to ask him to forgive us, but we often struggle to be truly sorry for our sins and truly open to his mercy. Only in this sacrament does the priest – representing Jesus himself – hear our sins, yet assure us that we are forgiven. The grace of this sacrament makes perfect our imperfect contrition and definitively absolves us from guilt – what Christ has forgiven is forgiven!  I tend to prefer the name Reconciliation for this sacrament because the word is rooted in the cilia of the eye (eyelashes). Guilt and shame make it hard to look someone in the eye, but Christ reconciles us – lifting our chin until we look him in the eye again… what a joyful way to experience God’s mercy!

Having this kind of weight taken off our shoulders and experience this kind of joy should make things like nervousness about confessing or forgetting our prayers seem trivial. So take the time to prepare, but don’t let relatively small obstacles get in the way of your receiving this sacrament of healing this Lent. Reflect on your relationship with God, with others, and with yourself as you discern which sins are most serious and in need of confession, but always keep the relief and joy before your eyes as you look forward to the goal – God’s goal – for your confession: being reconciled to God, washed clean and ready for a fresh start! May that joy then lead us to plan the next time we will go to experience this sacrament to renew the Joy of walking in peace with Christ.