The Joy of Confession

I had a great experience of Confession last week, with a Jesuit no less. Which for people that know me, the Jesuits are a little too liberal for my liking, but the beauty of all the sacraments are that they don't depend on the ideology or the worthiness or unworthiness of the person ministering the sacrament, God is ultimately the author. If God is the author of the Sacraments, then its important to listen, even if you have differing views on the world than that particular priest. This time there was two extremely important lessons, #1. From St. Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits, if you really look closely at all sin, at the heart of the sin is usually ingratitude. Take gossip for example, if we were more gratitude for our lives and the beauty all around, we wouldn't waste time with the futility of gossip. Dishonesty, if we were grateful for our lives, we wouldn't seek to manipulate the world in anyway. Unchastity, jealousy, fear, etc, etc. So many times it points back to ingratitude.

So my advice in Confession was, "focus on gratitude for everything," and #2, this priest related a story of a bishop at a confirmation, who for the question period, asked the kids to list their fears, and 1 by 1, the kids listed their fears, (afraid of the dark, afraid of heights, afraid of suffering, etc, etc.) The list grew and grew, to the point where the parents were twitching in their seats. But finally the Bishop stopped everyone, and said, "there's a lot to be afraid of in the world, and that is why God has given us the Holy Spirit, so ask the Holy Spirit to come into the home of your heart, and watch your fears get evicted,"

Two great pieces of advice for the summer- Gratitude for everything, and allowing the Holy Spirit to remove all our fears,"