Confession

It is a great tragedy of the contemporary Church that so many continue to neglect this critically important avenue of grace.  God has given us this sacrament so that we might know more fully His great love for us as well as bring us the healing necessary so that all that grace He is pouring down on us every day might at last find its way into our hearts and souls.  Over the years I have collected a few books on Confession.  I’d like to recommend some of these for your consideration, healing, and spiritual growth.

The first is a book by Dr. Scott Hahn called Lord, Have Mercy: the healing power of Confession.  As always, Dr. Hahn gives a wonderful explanation of the sacrament and why we should want to participate, not once a year as the Church’s precepts direct, but frequently!  Dr. Hahn writes in a very popular style which is often amusing (even when talking about Confession) and always accessible.

My next recommendation is 7 Secrets of Confession by Vinny Flynn.  Flynn, who got his start at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy, is a singer/songwriter, speaker, and author who also writes in a very accessible style.  What sets his book apart is how he answers so many of the objections and mis-understandings regarding Confession.  He does a wonderful job of bringing us back to Confession as a sacrament of healing so that we might fully know the love of God.

Once you have gotten over any misunderstandings or hang-ups concerning Confession, you might want to dig into Benedict Baur’s book, Frequent Confession: its place in the Spiritual Life.  Baur discusses why one would want to go frequently (like every other week, even weekly, but at least monthly).  He also dives into the problems we have with making a good Confession.  This book isn’t written in as popular a style as the previous two, but it is still quite accessible.

Finally, if you really want to get into the spirituality of Confession, I highly recommend Confession by Adrienne von Speyr.  Von Speyr was a native of Switzerland (1902-1967), a Catholic convert, and one of the great mystics of the 20^th century.  This book is not written in a popular style.  It is readable with, maybe, a little bit of help.  I’d like to say it’s a serious book for serious people, but I don’t want to take away from how valuable and solid the previous three are in this list.  But, it is a serious book.

My prayer would be that everyone would read at least one of these books.  The graces God has waiting for us in the sacrament of Reconciliation / Confession unlock the graces of all the other sacraments – kicking down the door of sin and woundedness which keeps us from making full use of the grace given in any other sacraments already received, as well as the grace that comes to us through our daily works of charity / mercy.

“May Christ our Lord help us all with His bountiful grace, so that we may know His holy will and perfectly fulfill it.” (St. Ignatius of Loyola)