Confession Grows Humility

Confession is probably one of the best graces of the catholic church. There is nothing like being in a room with your sin and feeling the weight of your sin while simultaneously feeling the fullness of God's grace hit you. No matter how much sin you drag in you can leave it all at the feet of Jesus. It's incredible.

A commonly misunderstood practice in the Catholic church, confession is a sacrament of grace. God's grace is all around us but it is specially poured out in the sacraments and it's something indescribable.

During advent many Catholics go to confession in preparation for Christmas. It's a beautiful time as we reflect on the WHY Jesus came, before we celebrate the WHAT, that we would be called to not only identify our need for a savior but take part in the gift that allows us to have an outpouring of His grace.


Many believe that catholics "confess to the priest" and if I could count the number of times people have tome me that they confess directly to Jesus I would run out of fingers and toes. The amazing things is, what many don't realize is I believe the same thing. I confess my sins to Jesus directly. He tore the veil in the holy of holiness in two and he paid for the gift of prayer. Of course, I would have been one of those people sure that catholics didn't know about the veil tearing and certain that I had a more personal relationship with my savior, but friends I stand corrected. I won't tell you what the church teaches but I'll let the catechism tell you.


VI. THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION

1440 Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.38

Only God forgives sin

1441 Only God forgives sins.39 Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven."40 Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.41

1442 Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation."42 The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God."43

Reconciliation with the Church

1443 During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God's forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God.44

1444 In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."45 "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head."46

The confession of sins

1455 The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.

In summary: yes I confess directly to Christ. Yes I drag my sins to the feet of Jesus to have Him wash me white as snow and yes I know that when I sin I offend NOT ONLY GOD (who is most supreme) but also the beautiful body of Christ in my brothers and sisters. As a member of that body, I want to ask for forgiveness not only from God, but from the body,

The priest is also there to encourage confession. While I confess at the time of sinning to God I also hear the audible words of the priest. Yesterday He said to me as I began to share my shortcomings, He patiently said "God is just to forgive you and wants to forgive you." Our God lends to clemency, he lends to mercy. It's amazing.

Some articles that might help you:

http://www.catholic.com/blog/tim-staples/is-confession-in-scripture-0

http://www.catholic.com/tracts/confession




I'm sure that there are hundred of more resources and much more to say but if I leave you with anything its the knowledge that confession is beautiful. It's an indescribable grace that grows your heart to want to love and serve the Lord. It can be challenging to humble yourself to your sin and open your heart to it but He is just to forgive and opens His arms wide not only in our hearts and minds by helping to absolve the guilt of sin, but also through the kindness of the priest who serves as a tangible reminder of what God is doing to join is not only to God but to the church.


Friends please if you have never been to confession know that its a grace that is beautiful and to be experienced. Don't just throw rocks at it, having never done it. It's something that has been practiced by the church since the days of Christ and is an amazing gift of the Church.


Go to your confessor; open your heart to him; display to him all the recesses of your soul; take the advice that he will give you with the utmost humility and simplicity. For God, Who has an infinite love for obedience, frequently renders profitable the counsels we take from others, but especially from those who are the guides of our souls.
--St. Francis de Sales

Confession is an act of honesty and courage - an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.
--Pope John Paul 2

Friends even if you aren't catholic as God to forgive you for the things you are afraid to share with Him and for the things you've done this year that weren't honoring to Him. Ask for His grace and forgiveness as your first gift this Christmas. 

<3

Wanting The Shepherd This Christmas Season

In the hectic parking lots and the long lines, in the displays that have been disorganized by customers, and the empty shelves I found myself humming to myself Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want." I sang it to myself a few times as I walked around Hobby Lobby looking for Christmas cards and the words began to weigh on my heart. All around me were people collecting items for the wants of others. Even I had so many things in the store that I envisioned would add character to my new home.

Again.
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. 

It hit me that a season that is all about the spotless lamb who has come to shepherd the world we celebrate Jesus in the season but forget rest of the line, yet if I asked most Christians to finish "The Lord is my Shepherd" most would know the words following but how often to we gloss over them to recite how He leads us near still waters and to righteousness." How often to we let our hearts sit on those words "I shall not want."

It's something to pray about that we would be fully satisfied in Him.

What are the things you want? Are you putting them before the Shepherd? Would you love Him even if He didn't give you what you want? Perhaps sometimes that's how He leads us to still water and righteousness. 

I have so many things to be thankful for. 

My wonderful husband.

A great new church.

Our beautiful home. 

Our sweetie Gracie Lou who is more human than any dog I've ever met. 

Wonderful friends.

Work in a pro-life office.

and many more things...

Yet I find my heart attached to my wants at times and sometimes I feel my heart so attached to wants that I mistakenly view them as needs or rights. God has shown me every good and perfect gift is from Him and He gives me desires in my heart but only when I delight myself in Him. He has given me so much grace and blessed me in so many ways. It's amazing truly what He has done just in 2014 alone and I'll be sure to make a post capturing all of that very soon. 

Friends this season let's worship Him. Let's step away from the wants and let Him be our shepherd. Let's put down our expectations if the perfect thing is behind the wrapping paper and in the card. Let's not worry if the gathering goes perfectly or the house is Pinterest perfect. Let's simply love Him, take a deep breath and enjoy what we have. 

let's grow in contentment this Christmas season.

God bless you and keep you and let His face shine upon you. 

Let's delight in Him. <3 

Home Sweet New Home

There are many things that have happened in in 2014 to my little family.
For the majority of 2014 I worked at a family practice office ( my first job ) and while it was challenging it was also rewarding. I was challenged to "separate my beliefs from my medical practice" and God gave me the strength to stand up and say no, knowing it could cost me my job and yet He protected me. He grew me to love my patients more than I thought I could ever love "strangers" and allowed me to love and care for and share with many. My last day was November 15th and on that day God gave me the grace of having many patients who I had seen previously who God allowed me to see. I didn't tell them it was my last day and yet the day was filled with people thanking me for taking good care of them, for telling me how valuable I am as a provider to them and letting me see some that I worried about that they were improving. It was great and both perfect and sad at the same time. Even if you are ready for the next adventure God will have you on, goodbyes are never fun.

In 2014 I was confirmed in the catholic church. You can read my conversion story here.
I made new friends, got decent at quilting, and being started being actively pro-life. While I always thought babies were adorable, I never prayed so much for the unborn as I did this year. I'm sure many more things happened but these were some of the more notable. 2014 isn't over and I'm sure there is more fun to come as God can do a lot in a short amount of time.

Now for another adventure to add to the 2014 list of notables and firsts.

Right now our home that we have been renting is in boxes and shambles. Seriously. Don't come over if you want to see a tidy home, but your welcome if you want to help pack. I am currently surrounded by boxes.

October 25th Paul and I went to go look for a place to live. We drove around and met with someone who had offered to help, but he wanted us to build a house. Building was not in our time frame and I didn't want to buy a house so looked and found that we had no good options for our price range with a dog in a safe neighborhood so we went home. I was frustrated but knew God would provide.

A little internet research and we found a place that my husband went to look at. I couldn't go because I had to work, but I trusted him. He liked the house and the neighborhood,  we applied, got approved and sent in the deposit. All was settled and I felt better. Then we get an email saying they needed our lease to start November 15 rather than December 1, even though we had been clear on wanting to start on December 1st from the beginning. 15 days difference but we said no thanks and we got our deposit back. Friends note this e-mail came after we were already in our minds moving into this house. If you know me the fact I agreed to live somewhere I had no seen was amazing but nonetheless this e-mail changed everything. Later we learned it wasn't the best area for us to live in. God saved us from a poorly built house in a not so great area despite it looking pretty.

November 5th Paul and I went to find a home to live in. We were determined.  We had some places written down, some appointments made and our friend Kevin agreed to help us out as he knew the area. We got in the car and he showed us around town, talked about some rentals and said he wanted to show us a house to buy. Again, I did not want to buy a house and was frustrated as no one was listening to me.

We pulled in the neighborhood and it was beautiful. The houses were nice and it wasn't super crowded as it is a newer development. We got to walk down to the house for sale, and learned it was a brand new home built for the parade of homes and now it was on the market. It had a lot of upgrades in it due to the nature of how it was built. We walked through but I wasn't buying a home.

As I looked around I noticed so many beautiful touches and details. It was as though the home was made with me in mind. The layout, the details, the kitchen, the space. It was beautiful and the price was reasonable. We talked about the benefits of buying a home and a lot of other details and Paul and I decided to walk down and look at the home one more time. I called a friend who knew a lot about real-estate from her husband and she gave us lots of good tips and things to ask. We asked and the answers were good but we were still unsure. On the ride home Paul and I talked and we decided to put in an offer. The application was filled out, the offer was accepted and a whirlwind began  on November 8th. We wanted to close on the house November 25th if possible. It was never promised but we hoped. For those who do not know... that's a REALLY short time table, especially if you aren't buying the home in cash but we knew God could do it.

The bank approved our loan and the paperwork was moving and we still were unsure if we were closing on the 25th. Friday the 21st we got a call in the afternoon saying we couldn't close due to the appraiser needing to use another house for comparison and that house wasn't closed yet and so there was no way. I said okay and signed the "at or before December 1st" paper. It was sad but I trusted God had a reason and I was going to trust no matter what that He would lead us.

Personally, I was stressed about the move and for Paul and I the number 25 has been a true testament that God is involved. It's not a lucky number and we don't try and make it happen but it and butterflies seem to show up and each time they do it is always for comfort for us. God used them while we were on the path to marriage, and throughout parts of our lives. It's hard to explain but we appreciate the personal way God comforts us.

I particularly needed comfort in the whirlwind of that weekend and so I prayed. I drew circles around the 25th in prayer and asked Gods will to be done but if He could use that as a comfort for me it would be greatly appreciated. On the 24th I called and was told, we don't think it will happen we need  5 different things to happen...(insert bank and real-estate verbiage that I don't understand). Okay was all I could say and the woman on the phone told me God had a plan and it would all work out accordingly. THANK GOD that He putting Christians in all sorts of businesses. I needed to hear that from a stranger.

So we went to bed on the 24th, woke up on the 25th and I went to mass. I had thankfully been able to go to daily mass since I quit my job and it has been so amazing for my soul. We sang that morning about how God had a plan and it was comforting to me. It hit me that the date was 11-25-14. meaning the month and year together 11-14 together made 25.  I counted mass as my comfort on the 25th and set up my home owners insurance and met with a friend. Got a little Christmas shopping done and then went home to clean. I called at noon and was told that they weren't sure if we could close on the 25th.

In my bathroom scrubbing the sink I just surrendered the whole thing to God saying I wouldn't call again or worry but I would just trust Him. My phone rang: "Anita get in your car and come close your new home." AHHHH!!!!!

Picked up my husband from work, drove and closed our brand new home. Sitting at the table we are told it was the builders 25th year in business. We finished the paperwork at 5:25 pm and we had no idea it was that time until I picked up my phone. We went out to dinner with Kevin and can I just say Bang Bang shrimp is probably one of my favorite things. We had never been to Bonefish Grille and this was amazing. Kevin shared it was day 25 of no alcohol and that I had encouraged him to give it up. Without even knowing it he was fasting and we were thankful.

After dinner we went to our new home, which by the way is a new build and doesn't show up on GPS. What did we do before GPS? That made for a fun adventure but a few houses on the street do show up so that makes it easy.

We had some fun in the rain outside and then taking pictures and setting up our Christmas tree...because everyone moves the Christmas tree in before anything else right? We are still figuring out how we want to celebrate the season of Advent and Christmas with our family but for now we only have lights and it might stay that way until Christmas.

We won't be moving in for another few days but I can't wait to be home.

So here's to adding another thing to 2014. We are homeowners of our very first home. Can't wait to introduce Gracie Lou, the sweetest labradoodle to her new home. She's excited to move.

<3
Anita