I'm slowly re-reading St. Faustina's diary in the Church's Year of Mercy and thought I'd take a quick minute to share her wisdom in regards to confessing sins in the Sacrament of Confession...
And again, I would like to say three words to the soul that is determined to strive for sanctity and to derive fruit; that is to say, benefit from confession. [Diary, par. 113]
Now, I will quote each word and give a quick commentary following it...
1...
First [word] - Complete sincerity and openness. ...An insincere, secretive soul risks great dangers in the spiritual life, and even the Lord Jesus Himself does not give Himself to such a soul on a higher level, because He knows it would derive no benefit from these special graces. [Diary par. 113]
A soul cannot draw close to God when it strives to conceal some of her sins in the Sacrament of Confession. In fact, if one purposely does this, it is a sacrilege. The confession is also invalid. If one has made a sacrilege, that in itself is a mortal sin and therefore it is even moreso important that they go to confession as soon as possible and honestly and openly confess everything! I once heard a priest say that after he was ordained, there was nothing new he hadn't heard after six months. Priests have heard it all; nothing you tell them will be new and shocking.
2...
Second [word] - Humility. A soul does not benefit as it should from the sacrament of confession if it is not humble. Pride keeps it in darkness. The soul neither knows how, nor is it willing, to prove with precision the depths of its own misery. It puts on a mask and avoids everything that might bring it recovery. [Diary, par 113]
If God's grace, given through the sacrament of confession brings healing to our sinful and wounded souls, why would we avoid this? I love to think of this sacrament as the sacrament of humility as well! Not only mercy, but humility. It is a bit humiliating in a way to confess your sins to another; yet, as Mother Teresa and many many saints have said, "We learn humility through accepting humiliations." We want to become humble, as God requires the soul to be, yet we do not want to be humiliated. I do believe that the more frequently a person goes to confession, the easier it becomes to the point where it's not humiliating anymore but a joy to look forward to because one sees the great spiritual benefit for their soul.
It is often pride (although not always) that leads one to think this sacrament is just not all together necessary. What incredible and overflowing graces are being neglected through fear of humiliation (pride). And if mortal sin is on the soul, this is a very grave and dangerous place to be. The problem is that underlying many reasons for neglecting this sacrament is a secret and hidden pride that is suicidal for the spiritual life. It is hidden pride that makes one think they know better than the command of Christ Himself, the entire 2,000 years of tradition and wisdom from His Spouse, the Church, and all the wisdom of the saints put together. What arrogance. And although it may not be intentional arrogance, as though someone is purposing asserting they know better than Christ and the Church, this idea is still governed by this same spirit of arrogance. One who believes this idea that the sacrament of confession is unnecessary may as well insist on their own spiritual mediocrity or possibly even worse - eternal perdition; it is a deception some want to believe for their own comfort and self-constructed interpretation of Scripture and Church teaching. And those who willingly believe a deception are themselves deceived and deprive themselves of the love for truth and love for God, who is Truth Himself.
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way and the truth* and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'" [ John 14:6]
The love and thirst for truth is necessary for salvation, even if at the cost of our own comfort and our own desired spiritual lukewarmness and mediocrity. We must put what is right and true above our own desires. In fact, we must develop our relationship with Christ in such a way that we will only desire Him and His Will, which encompasses all that is right and true.
"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord [Jesus] will kill with the breath of his mouth and render powerless by the manifestation of his coming, the one whose coming springs from the power of Satan in every mighty deed and in signs and wonders that lie, and in every wicked deceit for those who are perishing because they have not accepted the love of truth so that they may be saved. Therefore, God is sending them a deceiving power so that they may believe the lie, that all who have not believed the truth but have approved wrongdoing may be condemned." [2 Thess 2:10-12; my emphasis added]
We are living in these times. There are many lies about how we are to live our life; there are many lies that people willingly believe about the sacrament of confession despite the fact that all the saints could not speak enough about it and that Christ instituted it at the pouring forth of His breath (His power) upon the Apostles to forgive sins (John 20:20-23). In a broader sense, God has permitted this "operation of error" and "lawlessness" in our world to happen in order that we may realize the ugliness and darkness around us that has been the fall-out of our world's neglect of seeking and living by the Truth, so that we may fall to our knees and whole-heartedly seek the truth about this life and how He wants us to live it. The grave problem is that many still want to believe the lies - the immorality around us that seems permissible as well as this false idea prevalent among Catholics that we do not need to go to the sacrament of confession. We must seek the truth and do this while putting aside all personal tastes and whims about what we think living out the Gospel should look like. Self deception is a dangerous thing and the even more dangerous thing about it is that most do not even realize they are living in it. It cannot be broken unless we humbly and constantly call upon the Holy Spirit to cast light onto our darkness and reveal to us our faults, even our hidden ones...
Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord: And from those of others spare thy servant. If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin. And the words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. O Lord, my helper, and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:12-15]
Confession: The beautiful sacrament of mercy and humility!
3.
Third [word] - Obedience. A disobedient soul will win no victory, even if the Lord Jesus Himself, in person, were to hear its confession...The disobedient soul exposes itself to great misfortunes; it will make no progress toward perfection, nor will it succeed in the spiritual life. God lavishes His graces most generously upon the soul, but it must be an obedient soul.
Christ tells us that the test of our love towards Him is our willingness to keep His Commandments:
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. [John 14:15]
It's interesting actually that the Lord says this three times in almost the same breath. Keeping God's Commandments are the proof of our love. When we are disobedient - and even hostile - to Christ's ways as expressed in Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of our Catholic faith, we put up a huge block in the spiritual life; we are disobedient. We cannot grow in union with God nor succeed in the spiritual life in this state. It is, as St. Faustina says, a set-up for failure in our relationship with God and in growing in virtue. Failing to have an authentic (authentic, not self-illusioned) relationship with God could bring one to hell. Again, this self-deception is dangerous in the spiritual life; this is why the saints never trusted in themselves but always begged for God's grace to know their faults and hidden sins. This is not to say that once we endeavor in the spiritual life to be faithful to Christ that we will not fail and be disobedient by sinning. Of course we will! But there is a major difference between willed disobedience and the disobedience that arises out of our weakened human nature, despite the fact we don't want to sin. Humility, sincerity, and repentance are key in our relationship with God!
So in this Year of Mercy that the Church proclaims, let us make frequent use of this sacrament of mercy, the sacrament of confession! Let us experience the graces of God pouring over us through this sacrament given us by Christ, and experience them overflowing in our souls....all because we have decided, in our relationship with God and His bride the Holy Catholic Church, to try to live humbly, sincerely, and obediently as St. Faustina advised.
"The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds..."
Sirach 35:21