Sacrament of Reconciliation offers God's love

Friday, Feb. 05, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy Pope Francis declared for 2016 is a journey that starts with a spiritual conversion; at its center is the mercy of God. 

“I am convinced that the whole Church will be able to find in this Jubilee the joy of rediscovering and making fruitful the mercy of God, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time,” Pope Francis said when he announced the Jubilee during a penitential liturgy in 2015. 

“In the Sacrament of Reconciliation it is God who confesses His love for each person,” said the Very Rev. Father Martin Diaz, pastor of the Cathedral of the Madeleine. “There is nothing anyone can do that can stop God from loving them.  For the priest the Sacrament of Reconciliation offers the opportunity to share the deepest parts of a person’s life. The priest is permitted to be present as God opens the heart of a person who is accepting the love God is for that person. When I hear confessions I am reminded of my own sins and am all the more grateful for God’s love.” 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has available on its website, www.usccb.org, a “How to Go to Confession” guide that explains the preparation before confession, how to confess sins, receiving an act of penance, the Act of Contrition prayer, how the priest gives absolution for sins, and dismissal. 

The guide states, “If it has been a while since a last confession, do not fear (Is 41:10), the priest will help guide the penitents.”

For many Catholics, confession is a fearful thing to contemplate, especially if they have been away from the Church for any length of time.

Lauren Enda stopped attending Mass after she got divorced, became a single mother and found it easy to stay away and harder to go to confession, she said. Then last year she joined the Landings program at St. John the Baptist Parish in Draper and became less fearful when Dominican Father Denis Riley, associate pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish, invited members of the Landings group to make an appointment with him for confession. 

Fr. Riley converses with the individuals to learn their stories, put them at ease, and then “I walk them through the confession,” he said. “I tell them they won’t be able to remember everything, but if there are themes in their life, it is important to bring them forward and we talk about them. If they forget something – well, they forgot. God knows their sins. I give them an appropriate penance and absolution; this facilitates their full return to the Catholic Church.”

“The open-door, personal invitation was powerful, it was cathartic. I and other people in the Landings group were nervous about going to confession because it had been so long,” said Enda. “Some felt like they weren’t worthy to go to communion. You don’t often get to talk one-on-one with a priest and ask him questions.” 

Similarly, Leighton Holliman fell away from the faith in the early 1990s; he had received his First Communion as a member of the Byzantine Rite. When he went to confession for the first time as an 8- year-old, his father walked him, screaming and crying, into the confessional.

“I thought I was going to hell,” he said. “I didn’t understand the spirituality of the sacrament.” 

Holliman returned in 2013 to the Roman Catholic Church and in 2015 he went through RCIA at St. Olaf Parish and received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

“Getting back into the faith has been life changing,” he said. “Returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation was like the favorite meal I hadn’t had in 10 years; I could smell the incense. It brought back a rush of memories, good and bad. I was hesitant at first; I didn’t know how to act. Now I find it very uplifting and fulfilling; it allows me to rejuvenate in a way.”

Similarly, Letty Coy joined the Catholic Church through RCIA at St. Thomas More Parish. Coy was raised in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

“The first time I went to confession was during a penance service,” she said. “Even though I was face-to-face with a priest, it was easier than I anticipated. After the fact, I felt very humbled and good about what my weaknesses and sins were. I feel like confession is a cleansing process and if things are bothering me, it is a way to let go and move forward.”