Holy Confession

Our Savior gave the sacrament of penance and confession to his Church so that we may be cleansed from all our iniquities no matter how often and how greatly we have been defiled by them. Never let your soul remain long infected by sin, Philothea, since you have remedy so near at hand and so easy to apply. A lioness that has been with a leopard hastens to wash herself and get rid of the stench the meeting has left with her lest her mate be offended and angered. So too a soul that has consented to sin must have horror for itself and be washed clean as soon as possible out of the respect it must have for the eyes of God's Divine Majesty who sees it. Why should we die a spritual death when we have this sovereign remedy at hand? - Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis De Sales

A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of leading an awesome group of young and not so young people in retreat at a Benedictine Monastery in Valyermo, California. We (Fatima and I) were able to share some of what we learned in our studies from Christendom. The highlight, according to one of the retreatants, was going to confession on Saturday night. This retreatant,a dad whose three teenage children were also retreatants, related to one of our team members that the last time he went to confession was way back in 1986. The buzz in the quiet hills of the high desert that Saturday night began with several anxious deep breaths, pacing, nervous bantoring of previous confession experiences near and not so near. If only you were able to see and hear the rejoicing that echoed through out the monastery that night. Retreatants (50+ in number) each were washed clean that night. God is so very good! The night ended with Benediction and Glory and Praise music. The retreatants were comprised of choirs from two different parishes. God is so so good!