The Miracle of Mercy, The Sacrament of Reconciliation

                   Our Lord’s Words to Faustina regarding confession

Our Lord Speaks:
    

When you go to Confession, to this fountain of mercy, the blood and water which came forth from My heart always flows down upon your soul (Diary 1602)... In the tribunal of mercy [The Sacrament of Reconciliation]... the greatest miracles take place and are incessantly repeated (Diary 1448)... Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy (Diary 1602)... Come with faith to the feet of My representative (Diary 1448)... I, Myself, am waiting there for you.  I am only hidden by the priest... I, Myself, act in your soul (Diary 1602)... Make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light” (Diary 1725).

Our Lord Speaks:
    “Were a soul like a decaying corpse, so that from a human standpoint, there would be no hope of restoration and everything would already be lost. It is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full... From this fountain of mercy, souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity” (Diary 1448).

By showing the importance of confession Our Lord made it necessary for obtaining His promise of complete forgiveness of sins and punishment for observing the Feast of Mercy.

When we sin, we start pulling away from grace. First with venial sins, we slowly move away from our Baptismal promise, and then mortal sins put a total separation, a wall between us and our Redeemer. We start to tell the Lord, “It’s my will now, not yours.” But, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we renew our Baptismal vows. We once again proclaim Christ, Lord of our Life and not Satan. We open up the door we closed on Him and tell Him we would like a personal relationship with Him.
 
    “Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20: 22-23) 

Our Lord Speaks:


    “I am love and mercy itself” ( Diary 1074)... “Let no soul fear to draw near to me, even though its sins be as scarlet” (Diary 699)... “My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world”(Diary 1485)... “Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would My mercy not embrace a trusting soul” (Diary 1777)... “The greater the sinner, the greater the right he has to my mercy.” (Diary 723).

               The Confessor is a physician of the Soul
   

How can a doctor prescribe a suitable remedy if he does not know the nature of the sickness? Never will he be able to do so. If you do not reveal to the confessor the misery of your soul (your sins), how can a doctor help you? Jesus gives us free will and if we want to keep our sins, He respects our wishes.


                 Open yourself fully in the Confessional
   

This comes through patience and kindness of the priest.  A doctor cannot heal you if you won’t tell him where it hurts. Hold nothing back in the Confessional. How can a doctor prescribe a suitable remedy if he does not know the nature of the sickness?

         Humility is the key to an Outstanding Confession
   

A soul does not benefit as it should from the Sacrament of healing if it is not humble.  Pride will
keep you in darkness. The soul puts up a wall and avoids the remedy for recovery. Pride and shame are what will prevent your soul from a closer union with God.


        Obedience is also the key to Advancement in a Holy Life
   

When the soul enters the sacrament of healing, it should be deeply humble, holding nothing back then, advancement in holiness begins.
In the Confessional, God pours knowledge into the Soul
    

If I wanted to know you, I mean really know you, and wanted to become you, how would I do it? I would have to live with you, walk with you, be with you, and ask you question after question about yourself.  I would have to get under your skin. Well, this should happen in the confessional. Christ is truly present, hidden by the priest. Talk to Him as a friend. Live in the confessional and let Him pour all the knowledge and graces you need to become Christ. He wants you to take on His divinity. How did our Saints become great Saints? By frequent confession.

            Where do the greatest miracles take place?
Our Lord Speaks:
    

In the tribunal of mercy [the Sacrament of Reconciliation]... the greatest miracles take place and are incessantly repeated” (Diary 1448).

 I would have never thought it would be in the confessional, but that’s what Our Lord told Saint Faustina.  I would have thought it would be some healing service, or I would have to go to Lourdes, or Fatima, or to one of these apparition sites.  But, no, Our Lord says in the Confessional.

 Our Lord Speaks:


    “To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one’s misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be demonstrated” (Diary 1448).