Be Reconciled to God

I am so looking forward to my first general confession after almost 50 years! It will happen after the next men's group meeting this Saturday. Interestingly, the men's group has been going through a book/video series called "Be A Man!" by Father Larry Richards. We happen to be going through the 3rd chapter of the book - Be a Man Who Repents!

It's only a 15 minute appointment. How can I confess all my sins committed for 65 years in such a short time? So I wrote it all down so I won't forget. Father Ian suggested that I go through periods of my life - during my high school years... when I was in college... etc. I have been using a number of online references: A Guide to Confession, How to Confess, and a Kindle Book Guide to General Confession, and of course the Catechism on the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Although I had probably confessed most of these sins to God directly one time or another, I had not confessed them to a priest. Catholic Answers has a very good explanation on why I should confess to a priest:
"God had sent Jesus to forgive sins, but after his resurrection Jesus told the apostles, "‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’" (John 20:21–23). (This is one of only two times we are told that God breathed on man, the other being in Genesis 2:7, when he made man a living soul. It emphasizes how important the establishment of the sacrament of penance was.)"
"Is the Catholic who confesses his sins to a priest any better off than the non-Catholic who confesses directly to God? Yes. First, he seeks forgiveness the way Christ intended. Second, by confessing to a priest, the Catholic learns a lesson in humility, which is avoided when one confesses only through private prayer. Third, the Catholic receives sacramental graces the non-Catholic doesn’t get; through the sacrament of penance sins are forgiven and graces are obtained. Fourth, the Catholic is assured that his sins are forgiven; he does not have to rely on a subjective "feeling." Lastly, the Catholic can also obtain sound advice on avoiding sin in the future." (Catholic Answers "The Forgiveness of Sins")

I am so looking forward to receiving the many blessings from this act of obedience. The Catechism described the spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle. (CCC #1496)

"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:18-21)

I love this picture. It's a very intimate picture of the love of God shown through His church: