Frequent confession draws more favors

THE story of the paralytic who was brought to Christ by

his friends in a very dramatic way, and whose sins were forgiven first

before he was cured of his illness (cfr Lk 5,17-26), clearly shows how

Christ is interested first in forgiving sins before giving other

favors, like some miraculous cures.

  

            Or said in another way, from our point of view, if we

would just show some repentance over our sins, there is no doubt that

God’s mercy will always be given us. More, such show of repentance can

draw more favors from God.

  

            This is a point worth taking serious note of. God is

always merciful and compassionate. The more open we are to his mercy,

especially by going to frequent confession, the greater the chances

also are of receiving more favors from him.

  

            Of course, we can go to him anytime to ask for mercy. But

if we do that through the sacrament of confession, the forgiveness of

our sins becomes more assured, because it will be Christ through the

confessor who will assume our sins and die to them in order to

resurrect. That’s how our sins are forgiven.

  

            When we go through the process of going to confession,

Christ will be more impressed with our faith, just like he was

impressed with the faith of the paralytic and his friends who went

through a complicated way to get to Christ.

  

            “When Christ saw their faith,” the gospel related, “he

said, ‘As for you, your sins are forgiven.’” (Lk 5,20) Christ, of

course, is willing to forgive even if we only show some signs of

repentance without directly asking forgiveness from him.

   

            He is that merciful and compassionate, as shown, for

example, in the case of the widow whose only son died. (cfr. Lk

7,11-17) Without being asked, he volunteered to raise the dead son.

  

            The same when he saw a crowd and felt that they were like

sheep without a shepherd. (cfr 9,36) Again it was the same case when

the crucified thief beside him simply asked him to be with him in

paradise. But he would be more moved to be merciful and compassionate

if we importune him.

  

            When we go to confession, we would be actually begging him

for forgiveness. And we do it by going through some complex process of

duly preparing ourselves for it, arousing a deep sense of contrition

and atonement for our sins, looking for a confessor that sometimes can

be difficult to achieve, considering the scarcity of priests and their

heavy schedule, fulfilling the penance given to us, etc.

  

            These would practically reprise the hard way the paralytic

and his friends managed to get near Christ. In the face of all this,

for sure the heart of Christ would melt in compassion and would be

moved to do more than what we ask or expect. We should not lose sight

of this aspect of the merciful and compassionate heart of Christ.

  

            That is why it is all worthwhile to develop the habit of

frequent confession. Aside from forgiveness of our sins, through

frequent confession we can get more favors from God. It would also

truly make us a better person, since a lot of virtues would just be

developed even without our noticing them.

  

            Frequent confession would make us more simple and humble

and at the same time stronger and more able to handle our weaknesses,

to resist temptations and to make up for our sins.

  

            The only requirement here is that we be sincere in our

motives, because playing games with God can only lead to far graver

consequences for us.