The Discipline: Confession and Forgiveness

The Discipline: Confession and Forgiveness
 
We all need the discipline of confession and forgiveness.  Church leaders and all Christian people should be willing to confess and ask forgiveness and be forgiven and forgive.  We need to confess our brokenness and we need to heal. In the Anglican Church going to confession is a practice done by a few people, this is tragic. Confession of sins is important as this leads to having good a relationship with God and with others. We can understand that we are all broken, we all mess up badly.   The tragedy of collective confession done during the Eucharist just becomes mere words and seldom do we encounter God who brings healing and reconciliation. There is too much generalization in the collective confession. Collective confession has its place. We need to also practice individual confession. This takes away the speed often associated with the collective confession, gives time to listening, speaking and understanding, being absolved from our sins and this really becomes sacramental. So, let us practice the discipline of confession and forgiveness.  This implies that we need to create a safe place for people to feel that they can come to confession. As a rule, confession done is confidentiality and the priest is not meant to remember that some-one came for confession. This is the safe space that has been violated many times. This must be adhered to by the priest listening to confession. There is no substitute for confidentiality. What is said in the confessional remains in the confessional.
 
Fr. Barnabas Nqindi