• It Helps Me Stay Humble & Draw Closer To Christ

From weekly confession, I have experienced how our Lord has opened my eyes to many delusions, formed my conscience and done a great deal of work on purifying my heart.  Weekly Confession has become for me a school for growing in humility, and a school for growing in love for Christ.  

• It Helps Me Be More Merciful To Myself and Others  

The Catechism says it well, “By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful.” (CCC 1458) From personal experience, I have found this to be true.  

• It Has Deepened My Self-Knowledge 

I find the grace of the sacrament has helped me see my faults and my obstacles to drawing closer to Christ more clearly.  It has also helped me have a greater reliance on God’s grace in overcoming my faults and attachments.

• It Renews My strength to persevere and not grow weary 

I find the grace of the sacrament strengthens my will and deepens my resolve in combating and overcoming my faults and attachments.  It renews my faith that if I persevere in the daily battle, and seek to more fully cooperate with God’s grace, little by little and day by day, Christ will transform my mind and heart to be in union with His. 

• It has helped me develop the Mindset OF the Saints 

The saints knew that frequent confession is one of the primary means for overcoming our faults and making rapid progress in our transformation in Christ.  From experiencing weekly confession, I have come to the same realization of the saints.

• It Is A Demanding Time Commitment  

This is not a bad thing.  It is just a reality. It has required me to say “no” to many attractive things that pop up.  My commitment to weekly confession is regularly challenged by less important things that feel more attractive in the moment.  I regularly have to remind myself, “Things that matter most should never be replaced by things that matter less.”  

• It Takes Heroic Courage, Patience & Perseverance  

Progress can feel painfully slow.  Some weeks I feel like I’m spinning my wheels.  Some of my faults have felt overwhelming to battle.  With other faults, it has been humbling to admit the half-hearted effort I am giving to fight them.    

Weekly confession gives me a healthy dissatisfaction with myself.  What I call, “a fruitful frustration” that gives rise to a renewed resolve for the week ahead.  A resolve to give a greater effort, and to be more faithful to the promptings of God’s grace. 

The comforting reality is that all of the above challenges are normal and common for anyone striving to be world-class at anything.  Uprooting our faults and growing in perfect love of God is no exception.

This brings to mind the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “…you were not made for comfort.  You were made for Greatness.” 

• St. Bridget of Sweden (Wife to the Governor of Norcia and mother of 8)
• St. Philip Neri (Founder of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity...)
• St. Francis de Sales (Author of Introduction to the Devout Life)
• St. Alphonsus Leguri (Author of Uniformity with God’s Will)
• St. John Bosco (Founder of the Salesians)
• St. Pope Pius X 
• St. Padre Pio (Franciscan Capuchin friar, with visible stigmata) 
• St. Pope John Paul II (Author of Love and Responsibility)
• St. Mother Teresa (Founder of The Missionaries of Charity) 
• Venerable Luis de Granada (Author of The Sinner’s Guide) 
• Venerable Bruno Lanteri (Founder of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary) 
• Garcia Moreno (Catholic President of Ecuador) 
• Jean-Baptiste Chautard (Author of The Soul of the Apostolate) 
• J.R.R Tolkien (Author of The Lord of the Rings)
• Dr. Scott Hahn  (Founder of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology)
• Christopher Carter (Author of Uncommon Habits of Great Catholic Fathers and Grandfathers)  

Weekly Confession has been practiced and encouraged for centuries by the Church and its great saints as a powerful means for acquiring self-knowledge, overcoming our faults and more rapidly growing in imitation of Christ.