To Tell the Truth

Fr. Stephen at Glory to God for All Things has a very enlightening post on lying. 

Bascially he says that we as Christians should not look at lying and similar things from a "moral" perspective.  We should not think of the admonition not to lie as merely "one of those rules" that the Church "tells" us we have to do. 

Instead, lying is really about not telling the Truth.  And, Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Our goal as Christians is to be Truth-tellers. 

Lying, of course, comes from the Evil One and does not really exist.  Think about it.  Lying is telling an untruth--something which, by definition, does not exist.  Satan has been called "the father of lies".  He tries to be the creator of his own world that does not exist. 

Truth, on the other hand, is the ultimate reality.  No matter how things may look to us, Truth exists on an existential level.  That is why we should not lie.  It is not about "God told me and He's going to punish me if I lie."  It is about living in Truth--having God's Kingdom within.  If we persist in living lies while on earth, we will live forever in lies for eternity. The Kingdom of God is now. We must begin to live in the Truth now, while we still have the gift of this life that has been given to us.

Fr. Stephen begins his article with a teaching from Abba Poelman:  Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart. 

As fallible human beings, what is in our hearts is often the lies we tell ourselves and others. What then?  Should we still "say what is in our hearts"?  Yes--in confession! The job, so to speak, of Christians, is to become healed by the Truth.  To do this, we must open our wounds to the Light.  "Speak what is in your heart" to God's representative on earth in the Sacrament of Confession, and your soul will be filled with  Light and gain the strength to carry on in Truth.

Rest

Make frequent use of confession to avail yourself of God's grace available in the sacrament.  These are trying times and the evil one is all too ready to take full advantage of our weaknesses.

God's grace is there for the asking, ready to be poured out on us like a balm for our tired souls.

Come to Me, all ye who are tired and overburdened and I will give you rest. 

A Line for Confession!!

Just got back from confession at my parish.  Father has been generous enough to schedule confession every Wednesday night (with nothing else going on in the church) during Advent.  This means he has to get in his car and drive to the church since the rectory is located in another county.

Tonight, confession was scheduled from 7-8.  I got there at about 7:10 and there was a line from the back of the church all the way up to the front!  People must have been lined up in the parking lot before Father came and opened the church!  This was without anything else going on in the church to "draw" people--no penance service, no pot luck--nothing.  Just people driving in the cold and dark to prepare their souls for the coming of Christ, led by their pastor.

If you took notice of our transgressions, Lord--
Lord, who would be left?
But with you is forgiveness
and for this, we revere you.
~Psalm 129

(from tonight's evening prayer.)

The Importance of Confession

Not going to confession is a huge mistake. It allows sin to ferment and allows the sinner to become comfortable with the sin. It is like the old story of the frog who was put in a pot of water and never noticed that the temperature of the water was slowly rising. The frog could have climbed out at any time and chose not to because he never realized the danger.

Sin is the same way. There are times when sin pervades the very air we breathe in this culture, and we can easily let this become true with our own lives. We get so used to it that it becomes a habit and we justify it to ourselves. Jesus, though, is Truth itself and Jesus will not allow wrongdoing to be justified. You cannot lie to Truth.

Those of us who live in areas of the world where we have access to regular confession should get on our knees and thank God for it. The Sacrament of Reconciliation imparts many graces to us to help us deal with situations where we are tempted to sin against others and against the Lord.

Here are Fr. Z’s 20 Tips For Making A Good Confession:

1) ...examine our consciences regularly and thoroughly;
2) ...wait our turn in line patiently;
3) ...come at the time confessions are scheduled, not a few minutes before they are to end;
4) ...speak distinctly but never so loudly that we might be overheard;
5) ...state our sins clearly and briefly without rambling;
6) ...confess all mortal sins in number and kind;
7) ...listen carefully to the advice the priest gives;
8) ...confess our own sins and not someone else’s;
9) ...carefully listen to and remember the penance and be sure to understand it;
10) ...use a regular formula for confession so that it is familiar and comfortable;
11) ...never be afraid to say something "embarrassing"... just say it;
12) ...never worry that the priest thinks we are jerks…. he is usually impressed by our courage;
13) ...never fear that the priest will not keep our confession secret… he is bound by the Seal;
14) ...never confess "tendencies" or "struggles"... just sins;
15) ...never leave the confessional before the priest has finished giving absolution;
16) ...memorize an Act of Contrition;
17) ...answer the priest’s questions briefly if he asks for a clarification;
18) ...ask questions if we can’t understand what he means when he tells us something;
19) ...keep in mind that sometimes priests can have bad days just like we do;
20) ...remember that priests must go to confession too … they know what we are going through.

Regarding number 14, I think the good Father was not saying we shouldn't confess sins that we struggle with, but that we should make sure to confess a specific instance of sin and not just the fact that we struggle generally with a particular type of sinfulness. The more specific we are in confession, the easier it is going to be letting go of a particular sin.

On a related note: I think many of us "modern" Catholics forget or don't realize that we are supposed to confess specific sins on a regular basis. If we have an angry outburst, for example, we shouldn't wait until we've had an angry week or month. We should get ourselves to the Sacrament as soon as possible, both for the accountability involved as well as for the grace to overcome the sin.