Why bother?

Sometimes people ask me why they should reveal themselves to another human being by going to confession.  It would seem that some take offense to the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as "Confession, or the "Sacrament of Penance").  But isn't that reaction odd, especially in an age of self-revelation through, among other things, blogs!  Yet the benefit that flows from going to confession to a priest is one of the most extraordinary hidden weapons for people who want to go into spiritual warfare and conquer the vices in their lives.  You see, it's not just a human interaction; it's packed with God's grace.  St. Ignatius of Loyola, one of the great teachers of what goes on in the spiritual life, tells us that the tactic of the enemy of our human nature (an evil spirit) desires that our most base and dehumanizing impluses wish to remain secret.  In that cloak of secrecy the vices flourish and gain power by being kept secret from anyone who could say that some deception is going on.  That's why they call Satan "the Father of Lies."  When we get caught in a vice, it's always because we have begun to believe a lie.  Yet, the tactic of the movement of God in our hearts (a good spirit) is to bring those secret matters to light, with the most appropriate person, someone of spiritual depth and solid grounding in the ways of God.  Add on top of that, there's the grace of the sacrament, and you've got something absolutely extraordinary going on!  And that most extraordinary thing is absolution, surety of forgiveness from God, a new start, and a knowledge of not having to carry around whatever it was that debased us.  One last thing: whatever most shames us, fills us with self-loathing, and leaves us feeling alientated from God and from others is something to break free from by the use of this wonderful sacrament.  You might ask: how does one actually go to confession?  Just go to the local Catholic Church and find out when confessions are, and then go and tell the priest, "Help me go to confession."  We priests do that all the time!  And by the way, after we've been a priest for a few years, there's nothing we're going to hear from you that haven't already heard!  God bless you!