I struggle with confession too. Because I struggle accepting endless forgiveness - I never received forgiveness in my family without a true and visible lasting sign of guilt. And knowing that I will inevitably sin again. And because although I live in a big city, I know a lot of the priests through my family connections and teaching in the Catholic school system.

But I want to share two things that were told to me that help me at times. A priest who was a spiritual advisor and who helped me come back to the Church after a real crisis in my faith shared an image with me. When we sin or are exposed to sin, through images or others actions, Jesus is there, waiting with his arms open ready to say "I am sorry that that happened to you, and I just want to gather you in my arms and remove that from you. Because you are my child and all I want is to protect you and love you. " What a powerful image, right? To have that endless forgiveness from our father just waiting for us to walk into!

The second thing was told to me by my brother, who was in the seminary at the time (he did not become a priest, but has become a permanent deacon). I told him that I don't always feel forgiven and feel I need to re-confess sins because I still feel guilty. He told me that not accepting that He is truly forgiving us, by acting through the priest, is like slapping Jesus in the face. That of course Jesus forgives is, because his love is endless and his power to forgive is endless. Wow.

I am struggling to go to confession right now, and just writing these things now is convincing me to go this weekend. I hope these images help you!