A witness for confession

What can I say about confession that hasn't already been said? Protestant arguments against it are well known; so are the Catholic apologetics in its defense. Anyone who's interested can drown themselves in rhetoric and argument.

I'm not interested right now in continuing that debate. But I can witness for how confession has brought me closer to Jesus our Lord, in the hope that others will follow my path.

10 or 11 years ago when I first came back to the Church, I confessed maybe a few times a year. The sacramental grace that always accompanies confession did, in fact, pour out onto my soul; but it didn't find much root there. Twice or three times a year is not often enough to make a good confession; you just can't keep track of the multitude of sins.

I began to go more often. The more often I went, the more often I wanted to go. Confession became a focus point; it focused my mind on my serious habitual sins. I had become so enmeshed, so habituated in sin that for the longest time I didn't even realize I was sinning; after that, for the longest time I didn't think the sin meant very much. The more often I confessed, the more I became aware of how serious my situation was, how much God wanted to heal me, and how much I depended on Him as the doctor of my soul.

Now, I confess (almost) every week; certainly every other week. My most serious sin is by and large behind me; God's grace has lifted me from the darkness into His light. Frequent confession attunes me to ever-smaller promptings of sin. Once I was out from under the weight of habitual mortal sin, I become that much more aware of the smaller and subtler promptings of pride, sloth, and anger.

Along the way two analogies have helped me.

First is the classic comparison of confession to the doctor's office. If the Eucharist is spiritual food (feeding our soul in just the same way physical food feeds our bodies), confession is spiritual medicine. No matter how deep, how painful, how deep-rooted my sins, confession is powerful enough to uproot them and heal my suffering soul.

Second is the comparison of the sacraments to a blacksmith's forge. The Eucharist is the hammer; confession is the anvil; my soul is the iron to be shaped. The Holy Spirit is the fire, and God is the smith. The sacraments change the recipient's soul; they orient the soul towards God; lifting the soul from self-absorption into union with Him.

All you Catholics out there, faithful and lapsed: take advantage of this tremendous opportunity for an outpouring of God's grace. All you non-Catholics: the Church is open to you, as it always has been and ever will be.