Pope Francis meets with participants in an annual course on the internal forum, organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary
By Vatican News staff reporter
Pope Francis told confessors on Friday that love is at the heart of a good confession.
He talked to participants about an annual course on the internal forum, organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary.
This year’s course was held online due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Desertion
During the audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope dwelt on three expressions that explain the meaning of the sacrament of reconciliation: the first, ‘to surrender yourself to love’; the second, “to let yourself be changed by love”; and the third: “corresponds to love”.
The pope addresses those who were present and notes that “going to confession does not go to the dry cleaners to remove a stain. No. It is something else.”
The first step to a good confession, he said, “is precisely the act of faith, of abandonment, by which the penitent grace is approached.”
The pope went on to say that ‘every confession must therefore always be able to amaze the brothers who by faith ask for forgiveness from God … The pain for one’s sins is the sign of such a confidential surrender to love ‘.
Transformation
“To live confession in this way means to let yourself be transformed by love,” he emphasized.
On the basis of this second expression, the pope remarked that the penitent who encounters a ray of this welcome love is transformed by love ‘, which turns’ a stone heart into a heart of flesh’.
He added: “It’s the same in emotional life: one is changed by the encounter with great love.”
Pope Francis told those present that a good confession is “always called to see the miracle of change, to see the work of Grace in the hearts of penitents, and to encourage the transforming action as much as possible.”
Match with love
Paying attention to the third expression – to agree with love – the pope said: “the true will to repentance becomes concrete in accordance with the love of God received and accepted.”
By loving our brothers and sisters, he emphasized: “We show ourselves, the world, and God that we truly love Him, and we always do not fully conform to His grace.”
Forgive sinners
Pope Francis added: “The good confession, together with the primacy of love, always points to the indispensable love of neighbor as a daily gym for training love for God.”
The pope also stressed the importance of regular confession as ‘a way of sanctification, a school of faith, of abandonment, of change and of conformity with the Father’s merciful love’.
In conclusion, Pope Francis remarked, “Each of us is a forgiven sinner, placed in the service of others, so that through the sacramental encounter they too may meet the love that has fascinated and changed our lives.”