Removing the Weight of Guilt

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Reflection and Confession – simple but powerful

Wednesday night I sat by the fire with no distractions. I didn’t look at my phone, it was the first night of Hockey and I didn’t watch, didn’t read a book, didn’t do anything. I just sat there in silence. With no distraction and in silence I began to reflect on my life, my actions and my patterns. I paid attention - and my conscience began to reveal sins and sinful habits. So, thank God I turned on Hockey to escape this dreaded call of my conscience. No, I grabbed a legal pad and wrote down the sinful patterns that my conscience revealed. The longer I thought about it the heavier the guilt became. It became a weight that I just wanted to get rid of. I prayed to Jesus – “Let me go to confession first thing in the morning.” Next day I went to morning Mass and asked the priest for confession right after. And when I finished, I experienced, and I mean I really experienced a liberation, a removal of the dark cloud and heavy weight of sin and guilt after Confession. I actually felt lighter and better and I was so much happier and at peace the whole day. Two simple things can save our life – Reflection on our life so our conscience can work; and allowing Jesus to heal us in Confession.

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We can Beat our old patterns by becoming aware of our default modes – our vices or bad habits of sin.

But almost no one takes the time regularly if ever daily to reflect on their lives - therefore we cannot become aware of vice and begin to grow in virtue.

What are the Steps to an examination of conscience:

Set aside time with no distraction.

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your sinful habits to you.

Begin with gratitude by listing at least 10 things you are thankful to God for.

Reflect on your life, what you have thought, said, done or failed to do.

Become aware of your sinful patterns of pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony or lust. These are your default modes or vices.

Actions pass but habits remain. We want to become aware of our bad patterns or habits so we can defeat them by the Confession, prayer and practicing the opposite virtues.

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Distraction prevents us from reflecting on our life. Be aware of your distraction and form a strategy. 

We are addicted to our screens. We have our phone with us always; and if we are not looking at our phone it’s the computer; and now our T.V has just become a large I-Phone – so really we have three sizes of phone, small, medium and large. The result – we are either working or distracted but never aware.

Jesus said: “If your right hand causes you to sin cut it off; its better to enter heaven maimed, then with two hands go into hell.” If your screen prevents you from reflecting on your life, overcoming vice and growing in virtue, then cut off your screen time. Shut them off for 2 hours every day – an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. Then use that time for good: reflection on Jesus and on your life; time in relationship with spouse, family, friends; time to read a book; go outside in nature – anything good but a screen.

If you can’t, then you are an addict. If you won’t, then that just proves you are an addict.

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Jesus came to set us free from the gravest slavery, sin.

Jesus called Matthew – a sinner.

Mark Chapter…Jesus went out again to the shore of the lake…and he saw Matthew, sitting by the customs house, and he said to him, 'Follow me'. And he got up and followed him.

When Jesus was at dinner in his house, a number of tax collectors and sinners were also sitting at the table with Jesus and his disciples; for there were many of them among his followers.

When the scribes of the Pharisee party saw him eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, 'Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?'

When Jesus heard this he said to them, 'It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.

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Jesus is the only one who can heal us from sin and remove the weight of guilt – he does so in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He is only hidden by the priest, but it is Jesus who forgives sin, removes the weight of guilt and heals the soul.

Determine now when you will go to Confession next. If the set times for your parish don’t work – then make an appointment with a priest or go to daily Mass and ask him with enough time before or right after Mass. Fundamentally there are only two things priest has been commissioned by Christ to do – Feed the flock with the Eucharist and Heal their souls in Confession. Jesus doesn’t need the priest to sit in meetings – He sent them to reconcile us to the Father. In John chapter 20, on the day of the Resurrection Jesus came to the Apostles in the Upper Room. 'Peace be with you. ' He said. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.' After saying this he breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'

So don’t be afraid to ask for Confession.