Have you thanked your priest today?

I frequently get into discussions with those of my generation who refuse to get Facebook or Twitter accounts because “nobody needs to know my every move!  I have to have privacy!”  In the wrong hands, this could and does happen.  There are those who seem addicted to these services and the cure is simple; stop following them!  But both of those modern methods of instant communication can be used for great good and evangelization as well.  Even the basic internet e-mail is a tool to building a stronger faith—for instance, I am being sent several paragraphs of the Catechism of the Catholic Church each morning to read and study as my commitment to this Year of Faith as proclaimed by the Holy Father.

Pope Benedict sees the value in Twitter, as evidenced by his entry into “tweeting”.  I am finding his “tweets” both thought-provoking and uplifting.  There are also about a dozen Catholic apologists I follow on Twitter and/or Facebook that give me plenty of ideas for spiritual growth.  It feels at times as though I have several spiritual directors.  It helps that they all teach the same truths about our Catholic faith, albeit at different levels of scholarship. 

I love that I get links to great articles by priests, religious and devout lay men and women who have great insights into the faith and can help me steer clear of fuzzy or heretical teachers. 

Now that I’ve laid the groundwork, I have to share a link to an article written by Fr. Mike Schmitz titled “My Side of the Confessional: What Is It Like for a Priest? “

We all know the best thing about priests is that they alone can “confect” the bread and wine at Mass into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.  But coming up a close 2^nd (I would argue that it is tied for 1^st place) is that they can hear our confessions and by the power of Christ absolve us of our sins.

After reading the piece by Fr. Schmitz I am even more in awe of priests.  I have heard before that priests are given a special grace by their ordination that allows them to forget individual confessions just as God forgets sins once He’s forgiven them.  But what I didn’t know was that the Catechism teaches that the priest must do penance for all those who come to him for Confession! (ccc1448) It made my heart sick when I read that! It brought home the fact that because the priest is in personae Christi, and he actually does my penance alongside me, my sins are affecting not only my soul, but the soul of the priest and the Holy Soul of Jesus Himself!  That point was brought home by Fr. Schmitz's analogy of the Blood of Christ dripping from the fingers of the priest as he holds his hands above the penitent's head during absolution. It’s so humbling, I want to cry.  Better yet, I think I’ll actually thank my confessor more sincerely from now on when I exit the confessional cleansed of the stain of sin.  Maybe even today!