5 thoughts on “Reading assignment 24: Diary Entries 628, 1725 & 1728”

  1. # 628

    I don’t believe I ever thought that doubting my confessor was a sin unto itself, in that, it could hurt God more than the sin itself. What a relief that must have been for the elderly sister to once & for all, “know” & “accept” that those particular sins she confessed are truly gone. What a gift St. Faustina was for her & for us, many years later.

    1725
    This is another reminder that we are speaking to Christ Himself. His wonderful reminder that He will fill us with His light if we only make a good, repentent confession & always realize it is He whom we are speaking to!!!

    1728
    When He mentions “pursuing” our souls & how He detests the smallest sins, I have 2 thoughts. The classic poem, “The Hound of Heaven,” comes to mind when God pursues the soul until He catches him. The other part that comes to mind is not to dismiss the “venial” sins as not a big deal. What I got from these readings is that it IS a big deal because they are hurtful to our loving God. I must be fervent in getting rid of them.
    The 2nd paragraph to this note is very sobering, where He talks about anyone leaving His merciful hands, we will run into His justice. How much we need His Mercy! I must be remorseful, offering my variety of sufferings to His Sacred Heart. Then He adds, if we turn away from Him we are left to ourselves. What an unthinkable thought that is. I remember hearing from a religious years ago that hell was being left totally alone with ourselves for all eternity.

  2. Greetings,

    628–Disbelief in forgiveness of sin wounds Jesus more than sins committed. It is as if disbelief in His forgiveness is disbelief in His Divine Mercy. How beautifully God used St. Faustina to comfort an aged sister. Again St. Faustina was the secretary of His Mercy.

    1725–It is Jesus to whom I confess my sins. I guess it’s been a grace for me to always have been aware of this blessing.

    1728–“I pursue sinners along all their paths.” He truly is the “Hound of Heaven!” He said it to St. Faustina. And His “heart rejoices when they return to Me.” He is also the “Prodigal’s Father.”
    Bonnie.

    628–Yikes! Beware of Scrupulosity! What a lesson taught by our Lord, and the firmness of St. Faustina in dealing with the aged sister. Truly a lesson in “tough love.” And can you sense the relief the sister felt as, “great joy entered her soul.” Yet St. Faustina reveals the price of her pain of frustration in dealing with the aged nun.

    1725–I can recall my very first Confession. It was terrifying! It was some time before I came to better realize the priest as an “alter Christus,” the other (kind and merciful) Christ. And that once confessed it is He that carries my bag full of sins, and I no longer have to burdened with them, and no longer have to do works in order to be saved. That insight of His redeeming grace gave me “great joy.”

    1728–How I want to discount those small, insignificant venial sins. But, the Lord doesn’t think so, “I detest the smallest sin.” The tension between God’s Justice and Mercy. “If they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands.” He has us coming or going! So why not just yield!
    Gene.

  3. Ok, so for this week’s assignment…again, I have more questions than insights. I guess I’m not really very good at this. But I’ve been going to confession at St. Thomas ever since I moved back to Freeport, which was in 1998, because in the beginning I was too scared of the priest from St. Joes recognizing me in the confessional, and then after I started being the CRE, I thought it would just be too weird to go to confession to the same person that signs my paycheck! So anyway I’ve been going to St. Thomas and with the exception of a couple of months when they had an assistant priest hearing confessions, I’ve been going to the same priest. Now he’s a real nice guy and everything, he doesn’t yell at me or anything, but he doesn’t really give me any good concrete advice on overcoming my sins. Which may or may not be due to the fact that I confess the same stupid sins every time I go to confession. But anyway, before this assignment, I was thinking that maybe I need to find a new confessor, one that would actually give me advice in the confessional. Now, after reading what Jesus said to St. Faustina, I’m thinking maybe it doesn’t matter who I go to since I’m confessing to Jesus anyway? But what would He say if someone was going to a priest that just yelled at the person the whole time and wasn’t being nice at all? I don’t know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    At the risk of sending the longest email in the history of email, I would just like to add how grateful I am for the sacrament of confession (all the sacraments actually!). I know that many of our Protestant brothers and sisters really love Jesus and they are very close to Him, and I would venture to guess that many of them are closer to Him than I am, but how fortunate we are to have the fullness of the faith that Jesus gave us! He created us, and He knows how we are and what we need, so He gave us confession, where we can say our sins out loud and hear the words of absolution out loud so there’s no guessing if we’ve been forgiven or not. I can imagine if you just confess your sins to Jesus and then all you hear are the crickets chirping, that wouldn’t be as nice as hearing the words “and I absolve you from your sins, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” I just love hearing that!

  4. What powerful readings today! I am overwhelmed w/ a need & desire to go to confession.

    1715: Peace-I desire everyday! I feel more angry the more I avoid confession. How often do all of you go? I want more peace. There has got to be a way to fit it in my schedule. I need to contact our parish and ask! I want to be rid of anger-which is not of God. The stress of day to day life can be so daunting sometimes. To be rid of that and offer it up to God gives me a glimpse of peace already:)

    1725: It is so hard to open up to share the ugliest things about yourself to someone I look up to (my priest) This passage reminds me he is just a screen and not be afraid to be vulnerable.

    1728: I was moved by the phrase “I cannot love a soul which is stained w/ sin” How scary is that! I want to be loved by Jesus, I do not want to make him angry. I thirst for his mercy. I remember when we suffer the most my mom said we are closest to God-she was right! I love you mom:)

  5. “Use it or loose it” is one of the messages I got (the benefit of confession); We who are given much have much expected from us. The importance of confession, for me, was re-inforced by these readings; So, I purposely missed going to confession this last Sunday before Mass and I felt strange, not good, (cannot explain) because of my actions. Something or someone gave me the idea and I fell for it.
    (maybe I’m afraid of crickets- just kidding) One step forward two steps back for me! I guess God never said this would be easy.

    All of your insights are giving me hope. Thanks!

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