Do not be afraid of Confession

It is true that I can talk to the Lord and ask him for forgiveness, implore him. And the Lord will forgive me immediately. But it is important that I go to confession, that I sit in front of a priest who embodies Jesus, that I kneel before Mother Church, called to dispense the mercy of Christ. There is objectivity in this gesture of genuflection before the priest; it becomes the vehicle through which grace reaches and heals me.
There is also the importance of the gesture. The very fact that someone goes to the confessional indicates the initiation of repentance, even if it is not conscious. Without that initial impulse, the person would not be there. His being there is testimony to the desire for change. Words are important, but the gesture is explicit. And the gesture itself is important.
Confessing to a priest is a way of putting my life into the hands and heart of someone else, someone who at that moment acts in the Name of Jesus. It’s a way to be real and authentic: we face the facts by looking at another person and not in the mirror. What advice would you give a penitent so that he can give a good confession? He ought to reflect on the truth of his life, of what he feels and what he thinks before God. He ought to be able to look earnestly at himself and his sin. He ought to feel like a sinner so that he can be amazed by God. Many humble people confess to having fallen again. The most important thing in the life of every man and every woman is not that they should never fall along the way. The important thing is always to get back up, not to stay on the ground licking your wounds. The Lord of Mercy always forgives me; he always offers me the possibility of starting over.