The Healing Power of Confession

Fr. Al Durrance

     The other day the Lord called me to make a Confession of some of my Sins so He could begin to work on setting me free.  I made it using the next priest I saw as the Confessor and witness to my Confession to God, and also the one who declared God's forgiveness and blessing.
     It reminded me of two things. The first was something I heard while attending a mixed clergy seminar at the University of Florida.  The speaker said, "If the Church would restore the sacrament of Confession to its proper place, it would reduce the psychiatric case load in half tomorrow."  What amazed me was the statement came from a Presbyterian Psychiatrist
     The other thing was the fact that there is a great deal of sickness today that stems from the stress that abounds in our modern culture, and a great deal of the stress comes from our reaction to others and our failure to forgive and to seek forgiveness.
     I have learned that the actions I take in my life are what I would call sins. The emotional thrust behind the actions I would call Sins, with a capital S.  When I confess my sins to God, He begins to work on cleansing me of my Sins, so they no longer run my life.
     As I take my unforgiveness to God and let Him process it His way, I am set free to receive the peace of God that the world cannot give and the world can't take it away.  
     I also note that it is one of the things that Jesus first authorized and the Commissioned us to go do the same when He said in John 20:21 "Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, even so I send you."  And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
     When we practice obedience to His commission to go and remit sin, we begin to practice setting one another free.  I can still recall the first confession I made in a formal setting.  When I had made my list and confessed it to God in the presence of a priest, he pronounced God's forgiveness and it felt as if I had put down a sack of rocks that I had been carrying all my life.  My heart has been lighter to this day, and I have been healthier.
     Lest we fail to see the practical healing power, I like to point out to people that the twelve steps include making a moral inventory, confessing my sins to God, myself and to one other human being, making up my mind that I am willing to be changed and asking God to remove me character defects, setting me free from bondage to people and to other things in my life.
     The only way I found out the value of Confession and forgiveness to me was to try it and see.  We can argue for ever, but until we have tried it we won't really know the joy of the freedom God brings us through Confession and the intentional forgiveness of others we are bound to in our unforgiveness.  One of the ways to implement that action is to say, "Lord, I can't forgive ____ but I am willing.  I know that you forgive them, and so I ask that you forgive them through me so I can get in on yours."