What Happens in Confession...
This past week, I walked out of confession light as a feather. It was a beautiful feeling. I think I floated from Abouna's office to my car and sang at the top of my lungs on the long drive home.*So, of course, the first thing I thought of is YOU--how can I share this feeling with all of you? How can I make you feel light as a feather? What can I share from the advice my father of confession gave me to ease your burdens?
IT STAYS IN CONFESSION
Then I remembered a piece of advice I heard a while back. I thought it was really odd at the time, and I pushed against it mentally. (Remember, I am a stubborn person.) But the words stayed in the back there, whirring, as I tried to figure out what it really meant.The advice was this: "All conversation during confession is privileged, both ways."What that means is that the conversation is actually private on both sides. Abouna cannot share our confessions with other people, and we also should not share his advice publicly.Well, why not? If it's good, sound spiritual advice, why can't we share it publicly?*
SPECIFIC ADVICE
When your priest gave you that piece of spiritual advice, he did not give it generally. He gave it very, very specifically. He had in mind YOUR personal spiritual journey.If you come to your priest a year from now with the exact same problem, it's unlikely he will give you the exact same response. His response will be adapted to how you have grown or fallen in your faith since then.In fact, if the very next person in the confession line comes to your priest with the exact same problem, it's unlikely he will give THEM the exact same response he gave you.Why? Because you are two completely different people, with different struggles and different personalities, and on different places in your journey to salvation.Abouna gave you that advice specifically: the right advice, for the right person, at the right time. If he wanted to make it general advice, he would have just stuck it in a sermon and everyone would have heard it (and some seeds would fall by the wayside).He didn't.He looked at you there, he asked the Holy Spirit for guidance, and he gave you the message that God wanted you to hear. Wanted YOU to hear -- not every other person on Facebook or Instagram.But, come on, Laura!! What if the advice was really FANTASTIC! I can't let it go to waste on just me!
WALK THE WALK
First, make sure that you are doing the spiritual advice you have been given. Your job is not to talk about the faith, but to walk in the faith. Are you walking according to the advice you've been given?Second, I want you to know and trust that God will give you an opportunity to share this wisdom one on one with someone who will really need it. In that moment, you will be the wise spiritual friend who says the right thing (drawn from years of advice from your spiritual father) to the right person at the right time.Just as the priest's advice was specific to you; there will come a time when God will send you a friend who needs that advice specifically. That is the time to share it--especially especially if you have LIVED the advice in the intervening time.Live the faith, live the advice you're given. That is the best way to honor a great father of confession--and the only way to grow in the faith.Finally, I realize that if I want YOU to have this light as a feather feeling, you need to GO to confession. To have YOUR burdens lifted, you need to share them with someone who can help you carry them, shift them, and release them. Don't delay!
Love this post? Don't miss the next one! Get on our [thrive_2step id='3559']VIP list[/thrive_2step] to get announcements and posts sent right to your inbox!
*No, I don't confess to my husband.*Does that mean I can't talk to anyone AT ALL about it? No, I usually tell my husband what my FOC and I discussed because he is my accountability partner. He's the person who makes sure I live the advice between confessions. Maybe you have an accountability partner with whom it would be appropriate to share. This should be someone who encourages you to OBEY and not someone who parses out the advice so you can both criticize it and do nothing to change the spiritual state of your life. What a waste and a shame that would be.