“Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” // 2 Corinthians 12:10
The benefits of frequent sacramental Confession are myriad: reconciliation with God and therefore the forgiveness of sins; reconciliation with the Church; recovery, if it has been lost, of the state of grace; remission of the eternal punishment merited by mortal sins, and remission, at least in part, of the temporal punishment which is the consequence of sin; peace, serenity of conscience and spiritual consolation; and an increase of spiritual strength for the struggle of Christian living (see Catechism of the Catholic Church § 1468-1470, 1496).
The downside, for me at least, is that disheartening feeling of bringing the same sins to Confession over and over again. As a friend likes to joke, “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. Please insert tape two and hit play.”
A couple of consolations come to mind.
The first is, hey, at least it is the same sins over and over again. As hard as it can be to continue to struggle with my signature sins, I do make progress. There are small victories. Imagine how dreadful it would be to be failing in brand new ways every week, and having to start from scratch each time, learning how to avoid and conquer all-new sins.
The second is that I’m in good company. Saint Paul, in today’s Second Reading, talks about his “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). No one knows for sure what it was. But we do know that Paul suffered because of it and begged God to take it away, but God would not. God’s reply to him was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Whether Paul’s thorn was physical suffering, or persecution, or temptation, or habitual sin, we know that he came to appreciate that God was using that thorn to bring Paul closer to Him.
As I continue to struggle against sin and to strive for perfection, I can recognize—along with Saint Paul—that awareness of my weaknesses brings me closer to God, and for that I can be grateful.
In what weaknesses is God calling out to you, to love Him more and rely on Him more deeply?
Kendra Tierney Norton is grateful to be a wife, mother, and stepmother. She lives in the wilds of unincorporated Los Angeles County in a big old fixer-upper house with her husband and a varying number of their combined fourteen children, plus one fish, two cats, and twenty chickens. She likes to say that her goal is keeping Catholicism weird. To that end, she is the author of books including the Catholic All Year Compendium: Liturgical Living for Real Life with Ignatius Press and O Come, Emmanuel: Advent Reflections on the Jesse Tree for Families with Emmaus Road Publishing, the creator of the TV series Catholic All Year At Home on FORMED, and the CEO of Catholic All Year, an apostolate dedicated to helping parents live out their Catholic faith and pass it along to their children.
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