Often we are reluctant to go to confession because we think that all we are doing is telling our sins to the priest. This thought can make us fearful of confession, not wanting to reveal our sins to another human person.
However, in reality confession is about going to Jesus, who is truly present in the confessional.
St. Faustina had a private revelation in the 1930s in which Jesus spoke to her about what really goes on in the confessional.
“Today the Lord said to me, ‘Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrent of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls.”
This image of Jesus waiting for us in the confessional is the image we need to burn in our minds. When we approach the priest, we are in reality approaching Jesus, begging him to have mercy on our soul.
The good news is that Jesus is more than willing to lavish his mercy upon us and is ready to forgive our sins.
If you have trouble approaching the confessional, remember that it is not the priest you are going to, but Jesus Christ himself.
