WHAT IS CONFESSION?

by Metropolitan Innocent

    Confession is the oral avowal of the sins which lie heavy laden upon one’s conscience. Confession, however, only empties the soul from sins, but repentance cleanses it and makes it ready to receive the Holy Spirit.

    Let us present an example and a comparison to Confession. Suppose you had only one utensil of some kind which you, through negligence or laziness, let reach a stage where little by little it accumulated all sorts of dirt so that your utensil became unusable and even unbearable to look at without repugnance. But what if a king wanted to give you as a gift some sort of fragrant and costly balsam, one drop of which could heal all infirmities and protect your health – what then? Would you refuse such a costly gift only because you had no other clean vessel in which to put it? No! It would be very natural for you to accept such a gift and you would try to clean your utensil. How would you start? Naturally, before anything, you would rid it of all uncleanness by washing it with water and, perhaps, would burn it so that it no longer retained any of its former odors.

    Let the utensil represent the soul given to you by God, which you have brought to such a state that it has been filled with all kinds of transgressions and untruths; and let the sweet-smelling balsam signify the Holy Spirit, Who heals all infirmities and calamities and which the King of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, freely bestows upon us. To examine your utensil or vessel signifies feeling your guilt before God and recalling all sins which have stolen into your heart. To clean out the vessel typifies the confession of your sins before your Confessor; the washing with water and burning with fire signifies a contrite and even tearful repentance and a good-willed resolution to endure all disagreeableness, wants, insults, misfortunes, and even calamities which happen to us.

    Is confession worthwhile – is it of any use? Certainly it is worthwhile and even absolutely essential; because, just as it is impossible to cleanse a vessel without ridding it of all uncleanness, so it is impossible to purge your soul of sins without Confession. But is Confession alone enough for the reception of the Holy Spirit? Certainly not, because to receive the sweet-smelling and priceless balsam into the defiled vessel it is not enough to just empty it, but it is necessary to wash it with water and to burn it with fire. To receive the Holy Spirit it is not enough just to confess or recite your sins before your Father Confessor, but it is also necessary together with this to purge your soul with repentance or contrition and humiliation of the soul and to burn it with the free-willed suffering of insults. Thus we have the meaning of confession and repentance.

    Of what does a true and rightful Confession consist?  When we want to cleanse our conscience from sins in the Sacrament of Penance it is necessary to:

    1.  Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and strongly hope that He is ready to forgive all sins no matter of what magnitude if only the sinner will repent open-heartedly.  It is necessary to believe and hope that the God of all things wants and seeks our return.  Of this he has assured us through the prophet thus, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11).

    2.  Have a contrite heart.  Who is God and who are we?  God is the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth; He is sthe great and righteous judge.  And we? – we are weak and insignificant mortals.  All people, even the greatest people,

before God are less than the earth.  Yet we weak and insignificant mortals dare to insult Him – the All-Good One – by besieging Him with transgressions.  We are such debtors before God, such transgressors, that not only should we not dare to call ourselves His children, but are not even worthy of being His lowliest servants.

     Picturing all this, you see what contriteness, what lamentation is necessary when we want to purge ourselves of sins.  And such a feeling must be had not only before Confession and during Confession, but also after Confession.  And even more important, do you want to bring a sacrifice to God such as will be acceptable to Him?  Naturally all gladly want this and in the measure within our power do bring it.  But what can we bring Him really acceptable?  A contrite heart!  “A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit:  a contrite and humbled heart” (Psalm 50:19).  Here is an offering to God more priceless than all offerings and oblations.

    3.  Forgive all of our enemies all that which they did wrong and insultingly to us.  What does this mean to forgive?  To forgive means never to recall wrongs but rather to forget them and above all, to love your enemy as a friend, as a brother, to protect his honor and to treat him honestly in all things.  It is a hard matter to forgive wrongs, but he who can forgive wrongs is for this reason, great.  Though it is hard to forgive our enemies, it is truly great both before God and before man, very necessary to forgive, otherwise God Himself will not forgive.  Jesus Christ said:  “If you will forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you your offenses” (Matthew 6:14,15).  Opposite to this, however, even if you frequently pray to God, even if you have such faith that you can move mountains, even if you give away all of your belongings to the needy, and give up your body at the stake – if you do not practice forgiveness and refuse to forgive your enemy, then all is in vain.  For in such circumstances prayer will not save us, neither faith, nor charity, or, in a word, nothing will help you.

    But if it is needful to forgive our enemies, so it is indispensable to ask also for forgiveness of those people we have offended.  Thus, have you insulted anyone by word – entreat forgiveness of him.  Come and bow down before his feet and say, “Forgive me.”  Have you offended anyone by deed?  Endeavor to expiate your guilt and offenses and compensate his damage.  Then be certain that all of your sins, no matter how heavy they be, will be forgiven you.

    4.  Openly reveal all of your sins without any concealment.  But some say, “For what reason should I reveal my sins to Him, Who knows all of our secrets?”  It is true that God knows all of our sins, but the Church, which has the power from God to forgive and absolve sins, cannot know them, and for this reason cannot without Confession, pronounce her absolution.

    Finally, it is necessary to set forth a firm intention to live prudently in the future.  If you want to be in the Kingdom of Heaven, if you want God to forgive your sins – then stop sinning!  Only on this condition does the Church absolve the penitent.  He who does not think whatever about bettering himself confesses in vain, for even if the priest says, “Forgive and absolve the servant of God,” the Holy Spirit does not forgive and absolve him!

Thoughts to Ponder

    Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life!  (“But the fruit of the spirit is…kindness,” Galatians 5:22)

    We make a living by what we get – we make a life by what we give!  (“I have showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive,” Acts 20:35)