Catholic Confession

Linn, expressing a Catholic viewpoint, says that confession for many Catholics is a ritual with little benefits. “How often do we rattle off the same old list of sins, hardly hear what the hurried priest mumbles, and find ourselves living no different afterwards.” (p. 69) He recalls that confession was meant to meet Christ and have a change of heart, not to repeat a memorized list of sins. Confession lines are shrinking because the view that we are sinners in this modern society is fading. People are taking less responsibility for society’s problems such as racism, pollution, wars, and political corruption (p. 70). They are not viewing these as sins. Confession acknowledges that we sin and are taking responsibility for our actions with the
The old phrase “Keeping up with the Jones's,” comes to mind. We transfer this same mentality towards God, who keeps records so we have to try harder to please him. Confession releases us from this stronghold and allows us the freedom to draw close to a loving and forgiving God. On pages 72 and 73, Linn printed a model prayer of confession to “put a father in touch with the Lord’s healing forgiveness.” (p. 72) There are three parts to it, which Linn will discuss. He states that healing of memories and confession share these same steps as written about in previous chapters. (1) Thanking God – this is seen throughout the Bible. We see growth after each time we confess as God continually heals us. (2) Confessing what Christ wants healed. Unless it is a mortal sin, pick one from the list and focus on it for repentance. The author makes an important point, “Superficial healing follows contrition superficially focused on how our sin hurt us but ignoring how it hurt Christ in others.” (p. 75) Self focused is the same as self-centeredness, which is the same as pride, because we have no regard for the damaged or hurt emotions we have inflicted on
79) Linn, being Catholic, expresses this better than I. “In the new order for individual confession the Church is returning to this ancient emphasis upon confession as a healing reconciliation rather than a hurried, impersonal experience of judgement. The confessor is to greet the penitent face to face with words of friendship and kindness. He hopes the positive emphasis on trust and rapport will lead to a deeper confession like the healing of memories, exposing more than a list of sins and numbers. Finally, the confessor lays hands upon the penitent in the traditional gesture of healing with the Spirit. All these changes indicate the church’s desire to make confession less of a hurried, impersonal routine and more of a deeper encounter with the Christ who forgives and heals memories.” (p. 79) If confession is only in words of forgiveness without the deep work of healing, then we have not met