Meditations while standing in the line to go to confession.

There are two sacraments of healing in the Catholic Church.  The sacrament of penance and reconciliation (commonly known as confession) and the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.  I was going to confess my sins to the priest and receive absolution for them.  I had been doing an examination of conscience for a few days prior to going to confession but the Lord brought another area to confess to mind while I was in line so I jotted it down on my phone's notepad with the other items on there.

Standing in line with me were my fellow penitents, men and women ranging in age from their teens to their 80s at least.  Some were kneeling and praying in the pews while they were either preparing for confession or after confessing their sins.  I think they may need to extend the confession time which is one hour on Saturdays from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm but the priests usually hear confessions until 4:50 pm, ten minutes before Saturday evening Mass starts.  The line seems to be getting longer.

The priest is there "in persona Christi", in the person of Christ, listening, responding and absolving on behalf of Jesus in accordance with Matthew 9:1-8 and John 20:19-23.  And the priest's ability and authority to do so isn't based on their worthiness and they go to confession also.  The bishops and the pope do too.

As I stood there I felt a solidarity with my fellow penitents and I felt a quiet delight to be in their company, I was in a community of fellow sinners in need of forgiveness of and healing from the sin in our lives.  And I reflected that people outside Christianity and many on the inside don't understand this facet of being a Christian.  We are sinners in recovery which is a life-long process.  And the Church is a hospital for sinners that Jesus established and it is staffed by sinners in various stages of recovery.

Many people believe that if we profess to be Christians, we are professing to be holy.  Any holiness we have comes from Jesus and He obtained it for us on our behalf.  He is in the process of healing us and making us one with Him.  So we are not hypocrites, if we confess to be sinners in need of healing and go to the source of mercy, Jesus.  We are walking in the light allowing God to reveal our sin so we can confess it and be cleansed and healed.

I am finding confession keeps my heart soft and helps me withstand temptations to sin.  It helps me combat the pride and judgmental attitudes in my heart and mind.  It helps make God's mercy and forgiveness "real" to me.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, the sinner.  The Jesus Prayer

1 Timothy 1:15  "This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost." The Apostle Paul.  NABRE