What, if anything, have the souls in purgatory said to you about the sacrament of reconciliation or confession?
-Oh, yes, they mention it often enough! They are very sad that it has become so infrequent, that it has been put aside. It is such a great gift that God gives us that Satan could only want to destroy it!
could only want to destroy it! And I think he is succeeding.
We should go to confession - as it should be called - with joy and not frightened or fearful, as Satan wishes. There is nothing to worry about, there is nothing that a priest has not already heard. A good priest knows very well that he himself, with all that he has learned and experienced, is far more sinful than the rest. For Jesus and for all those in Heaven it is a great cause for joy when we bring our weaknesses and failures before Jesus.
The souls in purgatory have told me that 60 percent of all the depressions suffered in the world would not exist if this enormous gift were taken advantage of. Many specialists, pharmaceutical companies and counselors would be out of work if everyone went to confession regularly.
Our Lord can save and heal everyone and everything, as He wills, just by asking Him!
Our Mother has said, and I believe it was in Medjugorje, that monthly confession would heal the West.
Confession is not properly understood. For most of us it is not difficult to differentiate between right and wrong, but it is much more difficult to differentiate between good and better. Confession is not just for confessing to having robbed a bank, for, in fact, very few of us rob banks. For most of us, it is to seek how to be better and better in the eyes of God. What could I have done during this past month to have been more holy? That is what
we should ask ourselves; and let someone say that during the last month he did everything in his power to perfectly fulfill God's will.
Humility brings us the greatest of all graces. Jesus gives his greatest treasures to the smallest of hearts. Confession repeatedly reminds us of the littleness that Jesus wants from us so that He can give us his
us so that he can give us his enormous graces.
-How would you respond to all those who say, and do so sincerely, that they don't need a priest to go to confession, that they don't need to tell someone else about their problems, but can go directly to God?
-If what you say were true, psychologists and psychiatrists would not have so much work. Both the most intelligent and the simplest people can go to the same priest, and both would be astonished by the fruits and graces that would come from that brief and free encounter with Jesus.
All human beings have the same need to confess their faults. All those support groups and those long and endless therapies, so costly, would not be necessary if we would come closer to Jesus!
And, above all, the greatest graces do not come to us from there, from experts and specialists, but only from Jesus! We are too easily deceived.
Don't you think that He, who gave us life to begin with, is also capable of giving us infinitely more than the "how to cope" solutions of most psychologists? God bless them! Many of them don't even acknowledge the reality of sin, and how then are they going to be able to deal with the reality of forgiveness? They live on a business that perpetuates itself and by us not making use of the sacrament of confession they are assured of a bigger car. They thrive on our sins, while Jesus died for us to conquer and erase our sins forever!
-And what could you say to me in the face of those who deviously say that Jesus never told us that we had to go to a confessional to confess?
-It is true; I suggest that you go to confession to a priest in a public place, telling him your sins clearly.
The important thing is that the sins are clearly stated. Jesus told us to repent and when we do, He erases our sins and only then Satan stops knowing about them; he can no longer attract that person through that sin or attack him because of the weak or non-existent relationship with God.
But the one in the confessional is Jesus, not a priest.
-Are you sure?
-I will tell you a case that will surprise you. An Italian grandmother wanted to take her eight-year-old grandson to Padre Pio for his first confession. Not without reason, she was very excited when he arrived at the parish.
she was very excited when she arrived at the parish. The child went in for confession and came out beaming with joy. Grandmother knew what Padre Pio looked like. He was short, chubby, almost bald, with very dark eyes, and about sixty-five years old.
five years old; still, she asked her grandson, "Tell me, what did he look like?" The boy answered very calmly and in detail, "Oh! He was tall and stocky, with brown eyes, and long brown hair; he was about thirty years old."
-You're kidding!
-No, things of this kind happen frequently in sacred and prayerful places.
-Let me put a hypothetical case to you and then I will ask you some questions about it. There are two families. Both live reasonably well and in good health. One of the families goes to confession regularly while the other does not. Will there be any differences between their descendants? And if so, what
And if so, what might they be?
-The first family will have a solid foundation to grow closer and closer to Jesus over the generations, while the second family will be burdened with many difficulties, which they would not have had if they had gone to confession regularly. For example, illnesses and weaknesses that could have been avoided. The correct and penitent attitude of the first family will be reflected in the strength and happiness of their descendants, while those of the other family will be more prone to the attacks of Satan.
to Satan's attacks.
-So, you mean that those who are aware of their state of sin end up being healthier than those who are not?
-Yes! With the humility that comes from confession and prayer, and with the love for God that comes from it, it grows a strength and balance that manifests itself in healthier people. And this means that they will be healthier emotionally, mentally and physically, and that will also extend throughout their lives.
will also extend down through the generations.
So, can we guarantee healthier lives for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with our love, with our prayers and with our confessions?
-Yes, exactly. Much of medicine today is limited to repairing damage. If today's doctors, in all fields, would devote as much time and energy to prevention, prevention in the sense of the Ten Commandments, the world would have only a small fraction of the diseases it suffers from today. Preventive medicine costs us nothing and, above all, we realize more clearly the immensity of God's love for us. This is not
a game for Him; He is filled with joy when we are filled with peace and the happiness it produces.
God only wants to see us happy, free and healthy!
-Then can you explain the function of contrition and repentance at the moment of death?
-We are freed from all our faults with a good confession, if it is totally honest and if we repent from the heart; but we must also make reparation for the damage done. We are not yet completely freed from those sins. To obtain total absolution, the soul must be free from all bondage.
In the case of a mother with many small children who is about to die, she must surrender herself to such an extent that she can sincerely say: "God, I surrender everything to you, may your will be done". This can be very, very difficult.
Freedom, by paying "to the last penny," as Jesus says in the Gospel, is between us and God, between us and others, with extra reparation and freeing us totally from all bondage over matters other than God's.
So, to be totally free from all sin would be a three-pillar process?
-Yes. First, atonement between us and God. Then, atonement between us and the person we hurt, which also always involves ourselves; and finally reparation through prayer and good works. Not only must the sin be erased, but it must also be repaired.
-Do non-Catholics and non-Christians also have to go to confession*?
-Oh, yes! No priest who wishes to fulfill the teachings of Jesus can refuse a penitent. However, if this happens, I suggest to that person to pray for that priest who has rejected him and to look forward. No matter who the sinner is, what education he has had or where he comes from, all he needs is deep repentance for all the evil he has done.
Soon that sinner will find a priest by the will of Jesus. I can assure you. Even though non-Catholics cannot receive the sacrament of confession, making an informal confession would do their souls so much good!
confession would do their souls so much good! I can assure you; when a non-Catholic seeks this, God will grant them very, very great graces.