Confession is a Place of Victory

a number of years ago I was riding in an airport shuttle with a number of elderly gentlemen and elderly ladies and they could tell I was a priest because of what I was wearing and they started asking me all of these questions one of the questions they asked was well do you do all the priests things and like we I think so and they said like even the curing confessions and I said absolutely all the time yes one woman just kind of gasped a little bit she said oh that would just be the worst she said I would it would make me so sad to hear about people's sins all day and I told her that it was exactly the opposite of that that my experience of being the priest in confession has revealed to me that confession is one of the most joyful humbling and inspiring places in the world because if you could see what I see in confession you would realise this first what I get to see in every confession so I get to see the costly mercy of God in action there are so many people who go through their entire lives and they've never encountered the reality of God's love that he gave to us through the cross but in confession I see people who are discouraged who are lifted up I see people who are wounded who are healed I see people who are lost who are found and I get to see that every single day the second thing I get to see in confession is I get to see people who are trying you know whenever someone walks through that confessional door I don't care for that if this was their third confession this week I see someone who has not given up and it it it is so encouraging it is so inspiring it's not a place of discouragement it's not a place of failure you know sin is the place of failure now going into confession is saying I'm not going to give up on the God who won't give up on me that's a place of victory and again I get to see that every day I know there's things that people are afraid of though you know I've heard the questions father do you remember what people say in confession and the short answer is basically no why well I think for most people we think the sins are fascinating we think that sins are the things that you that you might dream about or just do kind of fantasize about but the truth is you as a human being you are fascinating you as a human being you are part of God's masterpiece sins are not part of God's masterpieces sins are boring right they're all the same sins are basically garbage and if sins are garbage then priests are basically God's garbage men now when was the last time you ever saw a garbage man going through the garbage and pulling out garbage as if it was fascinating to him it's not fascinating because he realizes number this is just garbage when someone comes to confession I don't remember the garbage I remember the power of God I remember the God who loves them I remember the person who didn't give up that's what I see truthfully the third thing I see is my own my own soul my own heart I can't tell you how often I am absolutely humbled when I hear someone come to confession and they recognize something in their life that I have never recognized in mine but it's there and it's just really amazing in as I said humbling examination of conscience because it reveals my heart reveal it reveals the heart of a priest when I first got ordained the next day my family kind of threw a little party for me at my parents place my dad got up in the midst of all family and friends and he had been a surgeon for his whole life and he gave a little speech he said as a doctor with these hands I have saved lives and I have healed bodies and then he said but my son father Michael with his hands [Music] he will save lives with his hands you want Hill bodies he will heal Souls and then he said I believe my son will save more lives than I ever have in confession the only thing that priest offers is that real love of God is the real mercy of God in fact that's whenever someone comes to confession that's all I have to give the life changing and life resurrecting power of Jesus and that's why it reveals the priests heart because all he can give there all he has to offer there is mercy years and years ago long before I went into seminary I went to confession for the first time in a long time and this was after a lot of life spent away from God and a lot of life spent away from reconciliation and I laid it all out and I just kind of dumped out all the sins and at the end of it the priest gave me my penance right the what I'm supposed to do now and he said I just want you to pray one Hail Mary I thought father did you do hear everything I said he said no no I all right I heard it all and he paused and then he said but I want you to know that I'll be fasting for you for the next thirty days I was just blown away he was like no no you're the sinner Jesus he is the one who paid the price I just want you to pray pray one prayer but he saw himself he realized he knew the truth that as the priest he's supposed to join his sufferings is paying his penances to Jesus is on the cross in fact the Catechism teaches that that every priest who hears confessions must do penance for those that come to him why because again confession reveals the priests heart and it reveals to me it really reveals me to me it reveals whether I'm the kind of priest who's willing to offer up my wounds and my sufferings with the wounds and the saving sufferings of Jesus you know this is one of the reasons why these are a bunch of the reasons why confession is one of the most joyful and humbling and inspiring places on the face of the earth and why I'm so grateful to the Lord that he has called me to be a priest so I can be part of the sacrament because this is where God wins his children back you know confession is a place of victory confession is a place of victory and I don't care whether this is a person's first time they've ever confessed this particular sin or there are 12,000 and first times they've confessed this particular sin every time they go to confession it is a win for Jesus and as a priest I get to sit there and I get to be a part of I get to watch I get to see God winning his children back every single day [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Ascension Presents

Views: 207,875

Rating: 4.9764051 out of 5

Keywords: confession (religious practice), the 99, going to confession, going to confession catholic, catholic confession explained, evangelization fr mike, evangelization catholic, fr mike on confession, confession is a place of victory, confession fr mike schmitz, confession fr mike, priest explains confession, reconciliation, catholic reconciliation, reconciliation sacrament catholic, reconciliation catholic church, reconciliation sacrament, catholicism the new evangelization

Id: YiVjwlUO9Sc

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 20 2019