It is of the utmost importance that we first know ourselves before entering into the dynamics of the devil and it's full impact when it comes to confession. It is far easier to see the tactics he uses to prevent us from receiving absolution when we understand, first, how we personally relate to divine truth and how we execute it's reality in our lives. The devil knows the power we receive through this Sacrament and he stops at nothing to prevent us from receiving it. This is mostly achieved by mental withdraw and spiritual laxity. Satan will try to dull our understanding of the grace we actually receive in the Sacrament of Penance by convincing us that confession really isn't necessary. He does this in many unique ways.
1) Whatever sin we've committed, venial or mortal, he enters in dialog with us and he tries to convince us that what we've done really isn't displeasing to God. After all, he may argue, God knows we're trying. Yet, to know the full ramifications of what sin actually is flies in the face of this argument. Any sin, even venial sin, is abhorrent to God. Venial sin doesn't kill us as mortal sin does but if left unchecked we walk on thin ice for the future state of our soul. It must not be taken lightly.
2) Satan will attempt to instill us with fear to prevent us from going to confession. This is the most common tactic he uses and, to be honest, it is the most successful. Perhaps the fear of having to tell another person your faults and being ashamed to think of what that person might think of you. It is very important to always keep in mind that the confessor is sitting in the person of Jesus Christ. In reality it is Christ Himself who hears your confession through the priest. It could be the fear of merely having to disclose something that no one else in the world knows about except you and God; and hopefully your confessor. Satan will tell you, "The priest is never going to look at you the same again." or "You can keep that sin just between you and God; He'll understand." Sound familiar?
3) The devil will oftentimes make excuses as to why you ought to postpone going to confession. He might say, "You're not ready yet. You still need time to think things overor "Maybe what you did really isn't sinful after all. It wasn't that bad." His trick in playing this game is to keep you postponing and postponing confession in and hopes that you eventually lose interest. Worse yet, he convinces you that confession itself, as a Sacrament is unnecessary.
4) What's more is Satan will try to convince us to to keep secret certain sins from the confessional for various reasons. Whatever the case may be it is a mortal sin in itself to withhold any sin willfully during confession. St. Padre Pio had the gift of reading the sins of people and who is to say that your confessor doesn't have this same gift? Nevertheless,if this thought comes to mind you'll know where it came from.
Satan is not limited to these examples alone in keeping us from the confessional. To exhaust every effort he takes would take volumes because he is very personal with us as individuals. These examples do give us a picture of the foundation of his assaults; so when he is made known we are able to take the proper precautions in order to expose and destroy any hope he has at separating us from our Father in heaven.
Wherever we receive sacramental absolution we are basically rendered untouchable. There is nothing the devil can do to harm us except by means of our own willingness to cooperate with him and commit sin. This is why he does all within his power to prevent us from going. Take one look at Jesus crucified and you'll see the ugliness of sin. I firmly believe that if anyone of us were allowed just one minute in hell to witness and suffer with the damned we would strive to live our lives here on earth with the most fervent effort to avoid sin.
It's important to note that the forgiveness of our sins isn't usually accompanied by a grand feeling of weightlessness and joy. Sometimes it is, and that is a grace, but most often it is not. Satan will sometimes take this lack of enthusiasm and deceive you into believing that you weren't actually forgiven. We have all been through this before despite knowing (at least intellectually) full well that we have received sacramental absolution. Rest assured that almighty God, in His unfathomable mercy, has forgiven us. We like to think of this as God's way of keeping us free of becoming attached to a feeling rather than on Him, our sovereign Lord, who alone deserves our love.
We ought to run to confession without fear. Being pleasing to God is all that matters in life. We know He is merciful and if we come to Him with a heart contrite we know that He will not deny us forgiveness and His grace. Sometimes it takes real humility to go to confession; and rightfully so. But to be pleasing to God ought to be the first thing we desire to do. Do not think thing of what the priest might think of you. Think, rather, of what God thinks of you. He alone can throw you into hell. Not only this but having a good confessor or someone to help you during tough times and in temptations helps to keep you from sinning and thus offending God. We are certainly blessed to have this sacrament at our disposal. We need to learn to take advantage of it and use it to our own sanctification.
+ARMOR OF GOD+
Copyright 2012 Armor of God
