The Second Precept of the Church - Confession at Least Once a Year

   The Church, as Holy Mother Church, gives us obligations for our own good.  Much like a mother requires her children to brush their teeth, our Mother, the Church, gives us spiritual obligations; otherwise, She would be a bad Mother.  And of these, the second one listed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church is yearly Confession.

   Confession is better received more frequently than yearly, but our Mother gives us the bare minimum of yearly.  Confession gets us right with God.  If we only have venial sins, we are cleansed of them and strengthened against them in the future.  If we are in a state of mortal sin, then we are given a spiritual resurrection.  The dead soul is once again alive!

   Confession “continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness”. [CCC 2042]  When Jesus says, “repent and believe the Gospel”, it might be more accurate to be translated “repent continuously and believe the Gospel”.  To say that we do not need Confession is a pride in oneself that we do not need to ‘repent’.  Surely, it is the first step in saying we do not need God if we do not claim to need His forgiveness.

   We are not God and as the Bible tells us, “[t]hough the just fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble from only one mishap”. [Proverbs 24:16]  Will we be among those who “rise again” in Confession by God’s power, or will we be among the wicked that never get back up?  God is waiting for you, so that He might bring you back to new life … eternal life.  He desires it far more than we will ever comprehend.  After all, that is why He died for you!

   Jesus, You died to bring us life and gave us Confession when You appeared to the eleven on Easter Sunday, give us new life in God and strengthen us to repent always, especially as Mom has required us. Amen.