How Is Your Soul?

Has anyone ever asked you that question before?

No one has ever asked me, but I will be bold and ask you:


How is your soul?


Lent is a beautiful time of year to let go of all the sins you've been holding on to.

How long has it been since you met Jesus in the confessional?

A short time?

A long time?

A LONG time?

Be good to yourself.  Go get cleaned up.

It will change you in ways you didn't know you needed to be changed.

The sun will shine brighter (so will your halo), the world will feel like a new place.

Afraid??

Don't be.  Jesus is all merciful.  He can forgive any sin (except those for which you do not repent and confess.)

Do you think the priest will be shocked?

He won't.  If he's been ordained more than a year, he's probably heard it all.

What he will be is JOYFUL!

He may even say, "Welcome back!" I hope he does.

Not sure how to start?

First pray to the Holy Spirit to show you your sins. He is very gentle, but persistent!

Do you need an examination of conscience?

Go to USCCB.org  Use the search bar and type in examination of conscience. They have different options depending on your state in life. They are very helpful.

Decide if you want to talk to the priest face to face or anonymously. Choose your confessional based on your preference.

Then begin:

"In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bless me, Father for I have sinned. It's been _________(weeks, months, years) since my last confession."

Then pour out your heart.  Remember Jesus is there hearing your confession. The priest is there to say the words Jesus wants you to hear.

You may also want to look for and print out an Act of Contrition.  Some parishes have them printed out for you, some don't.

Most parishes have extra confession times during Lent. Check out their websites or go in and grab a church bulletin. (You may find some other interesting activities you'd like to try.)

Make this your best Easter ever.

I'll be praying for you.


My other blog

A Thin Layer of Dust

This is summer number two of bigs trucks, large holes, huge sand piles, cement pipes, and many a detour trying to avoid the road work that is going to improve driving in our neighborhood a lot!

We, personally, have more vehicles than you typically find parked at any one house in the area (or State), and on any given day, because of all the work going on, they are covered in dust.

A vehicle just back from the car wash will, within an hour or so, be covered with a thin layer of dust.

One that hasn't been washed in a week or so will have a lot more.

And one that has actually been driven in the work zone, will likely be mud splattered as well.

This is kind of what our lives looks like when we get further and further from Sanctifying Grace.

Step out of the confessional on a given Saturday afternoon and your soul is shiny clean and spotless (if you've made a good confession.)

However, being human, it doesn't take us long to slip into little sins, that coat us with a "thin layer of dust".

A week or two out, we my find that we've slipped more often than we'd like and that dust layer feels likes its getting a little thicker.

A few months (or years for some) we are not only "mud covered", we may be mired in quicksand and sinking fast.

Sin has a way of catching up with us.  We are, after all, concupiscent beings.   We won't be perfect until heaven.

Thankfully, in His great mercy, Jesus left us with a solution to the sin problem;  the Sacrament of Confession.

I tend to write about this often because I am so graced by good priests who listen well, give amazing counseling and advice and then do what Jesus gave them permission to do: "loose on earth" so that my sins will be "loosed in heaven" ( Matthew 18:18).

How thick is your layer of dust? Or, how deep is your quicksand?

Run, don't walk, to your nearest Catholic Church (go to masstimes.org to find a schedule of confession times) and get cleaned up.  You'll be so glad you did!

(If it has been a while since you frequented the Sacrament and you need a refresher, check out my earlier posts on this blog that go step-by-step through the process--and don't forget the ice cream!)

www.thatslife12.blogspot.com

On Confession Part 4

Seeking out a priest to administer the Sacrament.

When choosing a priest for your Confession, especially if it has been a while, the very best advice I can give is to pray.

I was at a Lenten Symposium this weekend and I took advantage of the opportunity to go to Confession.  As I sat in front of the Blessed Sacrament examining my conscience (with the Divine aid of the Holy Spirit...remember I said ask Him and He'll tell you?  I needed a paper and pen), I also prayed for the best priest for me at that moment.  There were four priests available to hear confessions and quite a crowd waiting.   Since I didn't recognize any of the names,  I knew God would have to choose for me.

Earlier in the Symposium, a very holy, young priest was talking about that fact that "on occasion" God gives him the ability to read a person's soul and thus help them to make a much more honest confession.  I thought that would be awesome in that I would know for sure that my confession was complete.

Well, the priest God lead me to appeared able to do that.  I made my confession without mention of my husband or children.   During his advice portion he said to me, "with your husband and your children you have a very full plate.  Make sure to take alone time and pray everyday so that you can be a good wife and mother because you are so busy."  WOW!!

God uses the priest to get His message to us. Do not be afraid.

So, pray.  It may be a priest you already know that you really like.  It may be that you're driving down the road and passing a church and the Holy Spirit says, "turn in here and go to Confession." Or,  you  may be at a conference and be blessed as I was today.

Just do it!

Next up: After Confession

To be continued.

On Confession. Part 2

One of the talks I heard was given by  Fr. John Riccardo and I've heard him explain this more than once.  He always says this:  We confess our sins to any number of people everyday.  We tell a friend, a sibling, a co-worker, a spouse; "you won't believe what I did!"

We have a natural tendency to want to get it off our chest; to put it out there and see what someone has to say about it. We're confounded as to why we would do such a thing or how we could continue to be so weak in a particular area.  For example, yelling at the kids, being grumpy with your spouse,  telling a lie to save face, taking something that does not belong to us. The list could go on and on.

We are sinners.  A fallen people striving to do better.

So Jesus gave us the gift of Confession.  Some will say, "Why do I have to go to a priest?  Can't I just tell God my sins and be forgiven?"  The answer is "yes".  But there is so much more to it than just telling God.  He already knows.

Confession gives us some great gifts. Two of them are humility and grace.

How easy it is to say to God, in your head,  I did _________________.  (Fill in the blank).

How HARD it is to confess out loud,  "I did ___________________. " Though we may say it to a trusted friend, we tend to justify our behavior with an added "but" or "because".  How HUMBLING it is to walk into a confessional and lay all the blame on ourselves without excuses and admit that we have messed up.

But with that humility the floodgates of grace open and pour out on us.

With this grace we can move forward and try harder to sin no more.  This grace gives us peace.  It increases our hope.  It make us stronger.  What a gift!

To be continued . . .