Captivated by Communion and Confession

Some thoughts which I heard at recent Catholic events that captivate me:

1. Christ has married His Body, the Church, as His very own Bride. Therefore, the consummation of this marriage, the renewing of our vows, if you will, the act of becoming one flesh with Christ is in receiving Him in the Eucharist at Mass!

2. Christ, our Bridegroom, is truly present in the Eucharist. Just as we would not come to our wedding bed without having bathed and made ourselves appealing, neither should we approach our heavenly Bridegroom in the Eucharist without seeking to make ourselves clean and pleasing. This is what the Sacrament of Penance is all about. (Penance is when a Christian confesses his sins to a priest in true penitence, and the priest by the power of God forgives his sins and counsels him what to do next. Sin is a cancer to our souls and separates us from intimacy with God; a preist is a spiritual surgeon, given us by God to remove this cancer. Hence, we want to give over EVERY bit of this cancer in the confessional to have it removed.)

3. Every person has an ingrained need from our Maker to be loved and accepted unconditionally. We were designed to be known fully and desired by another. Confession provides not only for the atonement of sin, but can help us find fulfillment for this legitimate psychological need. In confession we can "spit-out" the full truth of even the worst parts about our lives and thoughts, and we receive unconditional mercy and forgiveness from Christ through His agent, the priest.

Wow!