It is hard as a priest to see people in so much pain, people who are looking for help and who have no hope of being helped. I see this so often, I see people who’s faces carry so much anger and unforgiveness. I see people who would rather stay mad at someone and remain in bondage rather than forgiving. It is amazing because so many people would be healed if they would just start going to confession on a regular basis. Many people carry sins and burdens that they don’t need to have, but out of fear, they continue to avoid the confessional. God already knows our pain, but I believe from my experience, that many people would rather stay in the pain because they know the pain. We fear knowing freedom, in some ways it is because we don’t believe that we deserve to be free or that we can be free. If we really want to have joy, confession must be a part of our lives on a monthly basis. What is hard for me is watching people remain in pain when freedom would be so easy. I am a sinner and I need confession often in my life. I have made mistakes, but I will tell you that I have found freedom in confessing my sins, I hope that more people will get back into confessing their sins on a monthly basis so that they can experience all the beauty and wonder that God wants to give to them. Yes, it is hard to confess sins, but wouldn’t we like to know the peace that God wants to give us???
Fr. Thomas P. Galarneault