A Healing Experience

It looked like a makeshift field hospital. Black curtains hung over individual "rooms" with temporary dividers and unique numbers to distinguish them from the others. The line of patients was staggering - it extended down both sides of one corridor then curved into a perpendicular hallway. Before long, additional "doctors" rushed to the scene - they had smiles on their faces as they quickly ducked into their own little rooms. The line of patients started to move quickly and healing was happening at an astonishing rate. 

The scene I've just described is one that I witnessed and experienced firsthand. But it wasn't a makeshift field hospital - it wasn't even a hospital. While it was a makeshift set-up, it was for a different kind of healing. 

The black-curtained rooms were all temporary confessionals. The doctors were priests. And the patients were hundreds of people - most of whom were teenagers - waiting to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Now some of you may be wondering - where was this extraordinary (or maybe to some of you - strange) setup? It was at Mount St. Mary's College for the Mount 2000 retreat for high schoolers. I had the privilege of being a chaperon for this retreat for the second time, and it was a wonderful experience. While it's a little bigger than the type of retreat I typically prefer (it has 1700 participants), it's a retreat that, for the last 19 years, has had a positive impact on thousands of teenagers. One of the most unique aspects of Mount 2000 is that it offers Confession almost around-the-clock. Sometimes only a few priests are hearing confessions; other times they have to call in reinforcements when the line gets as long as the one I was standing in. It turns out that this year set a Mount 2000 record - over 1300 confessions were heard over the course of the weekend. 1300. Wow. 

Some people may ask - why? Why did Reconciliation - the one sacrament that tends to make people feel super awkward - draw such a large crowd? Why was that crowd composed mostly of teenagers? Why would anyone in their right mind want to tell everything they've done wrong to a total stranger? All very good questions. In order to answer those questions, I think we need to go to one that's even more general. Why do we go to Confession at all?

A lot of people, including many Catholics, wonder why we have to go to Confession. One of the biggest ways people ponder over this is, "Why do I have to tell my sins to a priest? Why can't I just tell my sins to God?" I'm no theologian, so I'm not going to try and answer that question. However, Father Robert Barron is a theologian, so here's a bit of his input on the matter: 

Fr. Barron gives us an excellent start to the theological side of Confession and why we should go. I know that there are even more helpful resources out there to explain this sacramental phenomenon, and I look forward to learning more about it (and I hope you will, too). As a starting point, I found a couple more helpful videos to explain Reconciliation:

Confession Explained - Catholic Diocese Richmond
Sacraments 101: Penance (why we confess) - Busted Halo

You could read (or watch) as much as you want about why the Church "makes" us go to Reconciliation. But some of you still may not be convinced until you hear about it on another level - how this sacrament impacts us personally and spiritually. It's important to think about why we would want to go to Confession, not just why we have to.

Those teenagers didn't get into that line at the Mount because they were forced to by their parents or chaperons. They didn't get into it for the sole reason of feeling like they had to please someone or because the Church made them do it. They stood in that line because they were seeking something. They were seeking forgiveness, healing, humility, guidance - the list goes on and on. Above all, they were seeking a greater closeness to Christ. To some people, this concept of wanting to go to Confession may be a difficult one to grasp. But let me tell you - if you go to Confession with an open heart, an open mind, and seeking something more...you won't be disappointed. 

I can say from personal experience that, when you decide to walk into that confessional with openness, you will get SO much more out of it than you could ever imagine. Every time after that will get easier and easier as you realize all the gifts that this sacrament has to offer. We do need to go to Confession, but not in the "because I said so" sense. We need to go because we need the healing that Christ provides and to continuously grow closer to Him. 

So to my fellow Catholics, do me a favor and consider going to Confession. Whether you go regularly or haven't been in years, it doesn't matter - Christ welcomes us back with open arms no matter what, and He is more than ready to forgive our sins and forget they ever happened.