DEAR FATHER | Christ designed confession to be through a priest

We understand through Catholic teaching that each person struggles with concupiscence, an inclination to sin, because of the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve. So, it makes sense that it is a struggle to act counter to that. Living a virtuous life is challenging. Humility is also a struggle for everyone, and the sacrament of reconciliation definitely requires a lot of it.

There are many reasons we don’t enjoy confessing our sins, and I encourage each of us to share them with God in prayer. Maybe we need healing in our hearts from a previous unpleasant experience when we tried to confess our sins, or maybe we struggle with shame, which holds us back. Whatever the obstacle is, Jesus desires to help us overcome it.

It’s helpful to remember that the sacrament of confession is not a human invention but a gift directly from the risen Christ. Jesus told His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:22-23).

Jesus did not just tell His apostles to announce forgiveness in a general way. He gave them a real, operative authority. This is the way that Christ intended it. He also didn’t desire this gift to be limited to just one generation of people, but instead, He intended the generations of the Church to be transformed by this healing grace!

Confession requires humility, and we deepen this important virtue by confessing our sins to a priest. If we relied just on private prayer with the Lord, we would miss out on deepening this virtue. We also receive sacramental graces that help us on our lifelong journey to holiness, and we are assured that our sins are, in fact, forgiven after receiving the sacrament, rather than relying on a subjective feeling in our own personal prayer.

I have found the practice of preparing for confession, recollecting my mind and heart with the Lord’s help, and organizing what it is that I desire to bring to Him to seek forgiveness from, is a huge part of the healing journey.

Forgiveness and healing are integral parts of the sacrament, and when we confess our sins to Jesus through one of His priests, we receive both! When the priest celebrates the sacrament, he is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him home, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner.

Confessing our sins to a priest isn’t instead of going to God; it is going to God — the way Jesus designed. Jesus didn’t leave forgiveness to guesswork. He offers us a sacrament that delivers His mercy with certainty, humility and grace.

Father Dan Kavanagh is pastor of St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Brentwood and director of Catholic Deaf Ministry for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.