Immersed in Christ: Sunday, July 18, 2021

The Sacrament of the Examined Life

Confession is something built into our lifestyle that calls us to examine our lives periodically, because it is a standing invitation to give an account of them. Someone is provided by our church or otherwise made available who is ready and willing to listen: a confessor. This might be an ordained minister or simply a wise, experienced friend. Our confession might be sacramental or not. But its special healing and life-enhancing power requires that it be confession to another human being.

A more authentic understanding of confession will of necessity lead us to prepare for it, to “examine our consciences,” by reflecting on Scripture. We will judge our conduct, not by the minimal standards codified in laws, but by the New Law of Christ as proclaimed in the gospels and probed by Paul. Our basic guide for the “examined life” to which confession invites us will be the Sermon on the Mount, so that we may become more enlightened as our model, the Light of the World directs us.