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Confession, I struggle. 13 Jan 2024
Confession is a sacrament in the Catholic Church. A sacrament is briefly 'an effective sign of grace, instituted by Jesus in the church.' Therefor I consider the sacrament of confession as holy, respectable and valuable.
I desire to learn how to benefit most of God's grace in this sacrament. Interestingly, in the NT Bible I hardly or not see a person confessing his or her sin to Jesus. That is not a prove that it never happened. It may show that Jesus and the young church treated repentant sinners respectful and with grace. Or that sin vanished with persons living close to Jesus. Or Jesus knew the sins without a confession.
Here I am.
For sure I struggle over many years with various kinds of sin. And I make little progress. It appears that both I and the priests to whom I confess are pretty indifferent about my condition. As if it is normal to sin.
Many saints however believe that a life without deadly sins is possible. And more than that, such a state may be required to connect effectively to the love, peace and joy of Christ (consolation as described by saint Ignatius)
Most of those saints lived before the time of TV, cell phones and Internet.
I desire the abundant peace, joy and love of Christ in my life. What should I do?

My Emotions and Negative thoughts after confession.
I feel:
1. Unhappy. I am not good enough.
2. Nervous. What did I forget to confess?
3. Ashamed. How could I be so stupid?
4. Defective. There are still sins that I forgot to confess.
5. Alone. I am the only one doing those sins. No-one else in my parish struggles.
6. Embarrassed. I did it again (and again.)
7. Discouraged. I will never learn it.
8. Stuck. I make no progress or improvements.
9. Irritated. The priest should have shown empathy. The church should have better instruction and coaching.
Prayer
Jesus, please teach and instruct me about the sacrament of confession.

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