Marlo Slayback, the National Director of Student Programs for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, told Father Schneider she confessed what she thought was a “mundane sin” because it haunted her.
“I couldn’t explain why (I was uncharitable to someone when I was a child),” she wrote. “It was my most severe penance. My son is named after the person I was uncharitable to, [and] I knew like never before, God had read my heart.”
Twitter user Grace said she “broke an intense cycle” of “dark depression” after feeling inspired to go to confession.
“[I was going through] a dark depression (not clinical; situational), and I had the flashing inspiration to go confess all the lies I’ve ever believed about God,” she said. “I haven’t been the same since.”
Twitter user Nate told Father Schneider that he believes his confessor “read his soul.”
“I had a priest appear to read my soul,” he tweeted. “I confessed a common sin, but one with circumstances that are extremely irregular. When he began giving me advice for the sin, he began speaking hypothetically about circumstances, and he perfectly outlined the real situation I was in.
“The circumstances were abnormal,” Nate continued. “…there’s no way that the priest could have known through natural knowledge, so I can only assume that he was particularly open to the Holy Ghost’s prompting during that confession.”
Twitter user Jen for all lives also shared her story. She realized “the truth of what happens in the sacrament” of reconciliation.
“I once went to confession at a church in a different city to a priest that didn’t know me at all,” she began. “After confessing my sins, he gave some advice that wasn’t about what I’d confessed at all–but it was exactly what I needed to hear about an issue that had been bothering me for some time.
“It really brought home the truth of what happens in the sacrament–an encounter with Christ. The priest couldn’t know what I needed, but Jesus did.”
Twitter user Katherine Joan expressed the joy she felt following confession. She often fears approaching the sacrament.
“I really struggle with confession. I’m in tears almost every time–fearing a lack of gentleness and care,” she explained. “One time I felt moved to go just before Christmas Day Mass. Father was so gentle and insightful. He saw how hard I was on myself. I finished during homily with almost unparalleled joy!”
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