Do you have a confession to make? Yeah, you probably do

It’s now three years in a row since I decided to impersonate the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference and issue a pastoral letter calling the faithful to the sacrament of reconciliation on the first Sunday of Advent.

Someone emailed me last year and told me that this column inspired them to go to confession. So, let’s do it again this year. And, as always, with a few new and improved sins.

Dear People of God—It’s high time you repented and came to confession. Most of you haven’t been for ages, and that’s a real shame.

I can hear you complaining that you don’t do anything worth confessing. I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong.

This year, we’ll focus on your many sins of omission. Think about all the good you could have done this year but didn’t.

You could have stood up for that co-worker, but you stayed silent.

You could have given your loose change to the beggar but didn’t.

You spent all that time browsing utter rubbish online in your room instead of spending time with your family.

That lonely person just wanted a brief chat, but you were far too important and impatient to listen.

You could have skipped that treat on a Friday as a tiny act of self-denial, but you didn’t. And why have you been working on a Sunday when you didn’t really need to?

What about the time and money you’ve wasted on dubious “entertainment” for yourself, and yet you hardly donate anything to charities?

Why are you so mean to other people? She’s apologised to you, but you’re holding on to that grudge like a life support system.

Why do you never say sorry? He’s given you countless openings to do so, but you always have to be right about everything.

You could have walked away from that gossip session, but you didn’t. Did it make you any happier?

And what about the wrong you did this year? You’ve left debts unpaid. You’ve made promises you didn’t keep.

You’ve expected other people to clean up your messes. You’ve hoarded and refused to curb your chronic spending problem.

You are spoken for, and yet you’ve flirted. You’ve terrorised your spouse behind closed doors.

You’ve spoiled your children because it was easier than disciplining them and setting boundaries.

You’ve slacked off at work and distracted other people. You’ve interrupted, talked over people, interfered, and been a pest.

You’ve underpaid your employees, especially your casual ones. You’ve been rude to “unimportant people” and fawned over “important people.”

You’ve damaged other people’s property and possessions and made no effort at restitution. You’ve bought yourself the best of everything and then bought rubbish gifts for other people.

You’ve created dramas to remain the centre of attention. You’ve trolled on social media.

You’ve missed Mass for no good reason (which is a mortal sin), or come late, or left early, or talked all the way through.

You’ve strung someone along in a romance because you’re scared of being alone. You’re chronically (and rudely) late for everything.

You’ve been a careless, scary, angry driver. You’ve driven home drunk or distracted.

You take pleasure in other people’s misfortunes. You never say, “thank you” and you take the good people around you for granted.

Above all, you’ve made the most pathetic litany of excuses for yourself when you do any of the above.

So, do you think you might make the effort to go to confession before Christmas this year?

Do you think you might have a few things to share with Jesus who has loved you patiently throughout all your stupidity and malice and carelessness?

When you put your failures in love before him, you will see them for what they really are— awful, petty actions that injured others and took away their dignity as children of God.

Many of these things aren’t mentioned in the Ten Commandments, but they’re sins nonetheless—sins against the love of God and the love of neighbour.

You are so loved by God. You are so precious in his sight that he spent thousands of years carefully preparing the entire planet for his arrival in human form, just to save you.

Show him the things you’re ashamed of. Let him fix them up for you.

It will take time and effort because you didn’t get into such a bad state overnight. Lots of little bad decisions got you here.

So, the first little good decision you can make, to turn your life around, is to go to confession before Christmas this year.