Broken.

Broken. Beaten. Torn. Wounded. Hurt. Scarred. Falling Apart. Stop, have I gotten to you yet? Can you relate yet? Of course you can, we all can. Broken. We are all broken. Some of us just have cracks, some of us are shattered. We see broken people everywhere, in our houses, schools, and churches. What's breaking you? Maybe it's getting drunk when you know you're made by God. Maybe it's listening to the music that you know is eroding away your sense of truth and morals. Maybe it's your family... divorced parents, depressed siblings, they're broken too. Maybe you're confused, you wonder if you're gay because of feelings you have, maybe you're not sure if God exists or if this life has meaning, maybe you're not sure if everything the Church says is Truth, maybe you fear dying, and the questions and doubts are tearing you apart. Broken.

I'm sweating, not because it's hot, but because I'm talking to myself. I'm not preaching a sermon, I'm trying to give myself a peptalk. Brothers and sisters, allow me vulnerable. I'm afraid too, I'm confused too, I'm lost too. But, once upon a time, before I even knew that God was more than man in the sky, He gave me faith, and I believed and I listened to Him call me by name, and I dedicated my life to Him, and now I have a relationship with Him, but I still fall. I am still a sinner, and things definitely do not get easier when you decide to live out your Catholic faith. 

But, when the devil tries to tell me that my sins are what define me, are what hold me back from God, are what separate me from Him and His mercy, I just remember those powerful words:

"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 Corinthians 15:55

Victory! The fight has already been won! Jesus came down, played the game, beat the whole system, and changed the rules forever. Your ticket to Heaven has already been bought with the Blood of the Lamb, all you have to do is redeem it! 

However, I know what you're thinking. If not, it's definitely what I'm thinking. Because if I'm honest, most of the time I don't feel like a winner. I feel like a weak, unworthy loser caught up in sins that seem bigger than me. I feel bound to these sins like a slave, and it sucks. There's no point to sugar coat that. We all know what I'm talking about.

But brothers and sisters, hear me loud and clear, Amazing Grace isn't just a song. It's real, and it's free, on one condition. You gotta ask for it. It's time to get to the confessional!

A few quick tips on going to confession, just a few things that may help that I'm learning from my own experiences with reconciliation:

1. Leave everything in the confessional.

Look deeply for the sins that you may be holding within for fear of shame and embarrassment. The best confessions I have ever had were the ones that I finally let go of my pride and fell on my knees.  Like my good friend Becca shared in her post, "You don't need to suffer anymore."

2. Do not be afraid.

The confessional should be the safest, most open place in the entire world, and it can be the place of great healing for you if you allow it to.

3. Be authentic.

I love that word. It challenges all of us to truly stay alert in our relationship with God. Be honest to yourself and to God. You'll be doing yourself a favor. You wouldn't leave out a symptom while at a doctors appointment just because it's a little gross, would you? Maybe you would, but it's not going do you any good. In the same way, we should be eager to let God take over in our lives, especially where the toughest sins are concerned. So be authentic in the confessional! 

4. Let it go.

This is one of my biggest problems. After the confession is over and you've received absolution, let it go. Don't worry any longer about your sins. Don't let those sins eat away at your dignity! Don't continue to weigh yourself down with shame! God has already forgotten them! (Mind blown) God can't really forget can he? That doesn't seem like...

"I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."

Isaiah 43:25

Oh.

(Double Mind Blown)

If God himself has forgotten, why do you still choose to remember? 

I don't know, I struggle with it too. But it doesn't matter why, it just matters that we let it go, and if we are having trouble with that, then we need to pray about it. So pray for me and I'll pray for you. 

So that wraps up my thoughts on confession, well not really, I have a bunch more, but for now that's enough. 

Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

When our brokenness appears to define us, and our sins seem to be too much for us, we ask that You would help us to meet You in confession, and that You would give us the strength and courage to leave everything there, to open up ourselves to You, and that You would pour out every grace and blessing upon us so that we may be not only purified and cleansed of our sins, but also revived for the path ahead. Lord we thank You for winning over death by Your death, and we thank You for the gift of reconciliation.

Amen.

If you wanna talk, my email is walexfry@sbcglobal.net 

If you don't have an email, but you wanna talk, just comment below and we will figure out how to get into contact! 

Alex Fry

 Common Misconceptions beaten down to a pulp by God's Word:

 

You are not too broken or too lost. Psalm 32:10

When you pray, God is not listening. Psalm 28:6, 34:7, Exodus 3:7