I Confess

"For by an evil loving of myself I lost myself, and by seeking Thee alone and purely loving Thee I found both myself and Thee..." à Kempis, My Imitation of Christ

There's an element of malice involved in hanging on to one's sins and failings. Maybe we're too embarassed to confess them and give them up. Maybe we detest ourselves for what we've done and won't relinquish what has poisoned our souls in self-retribution. Maybe we're too attached to our vices and simply enjoy them still.

If in Communion we meet our Maker under the appearance of bread and wine and so consume the medicine our soul needs to be strengthened, refreshed, and healed, then in Confession we meet our maker in the guise of a surgeon who cuts away the toxic gangrene of sin that putrefies. Though the means by which each Sacrament works is different, both Communion and Confession give an increase of sanctifying grace, the great gift that turns all of us from wayward children into prodigal sons who are welcomed home and made whole again.

"The source of interior unease is always the same: self-love that flees from the cross...The more a soul prays, the more peace and happiness it has."
- St. Maximilian Kolbe