{"id":86,"date":"2019-09-03T20:15:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blessedtobeben.wordpress.com\/?p=86"},"modified":"2019-09-03T20:15:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T00:15:00","slug":"the-freedom-of-the-confessional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/blessedtobeben\/2019\/09\/the-freedom-of-the-confessional\/","title":{"rendered":"The Freedom of the Confessional"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/blessedtobeben.files.wordpress.com\/2022\/07\/annie-spratt-s6ar9jykduq-unsplash.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-311\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@anniespratt?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Annie Spratt<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/s\/photos\/confessional?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Monthly \u2013 or more frequent \u2013 confession has freed me like almost nothing else. That steady flow of grace, even when there are no mortal sins to confess, is better than a bag of saline after a long weekend on Monday morning before a Fun Run. (Trust me, <strong>that<\/strong> is awesome!) This morning, I washed the frying pan that was left on the stove after someone made eggs yesterday morning. Along with washing my favorite spatula, I had to summon some serious elbow grease. I made some fanfreakingtastic eggs with diced ham, onions, and hot sauce. Later, after everyone had been fed, I loaded the dishwasher and washed the rest of the dishes. Including that same pan and spatula. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second time around was much easier. A shower as soon as you come in from logging is easier and more relaxing than waiting. Talking to the person at work with whom you disagree is more productive and less difficult if it happens sooner than later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Confessing sins sooner rather than later is easier, too. God already knows. What? Do you think you hid it from Him? You didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t let the sun set on anger for a happy marriage. And I try like the Dickens to not let a Mass be sacrificed on unrepentant sin. What good is it for me to participate in a sacrifice that I\u2019m not willing to fully accept myself, never mind fully give to God?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A shower as soon as you come in from logging is easier and more relaxing than waiting. Talking to the person at work with whom you disagree is more productive and less difficult if it happens sooner than later. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4687,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[109],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic","tag-confession"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Freedom of the Confessional<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A shower as soon as you come in from logging is easier and more relaxing than waiting. Talking to the person at work with whom you disagree is more productive and less difficult if it happens sooner than later.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/blessedtobeben\/2019\/09\/the-freedom-of-the-confessional\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Freedom of the Confessional\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A shower as soon as you come in from logging is easier and more relaxing than waiting. Talking to the person at work with whom you disagree is more productive and less difficult if it happens sooner than later.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/blessedtobeben\/2019\/09\/the-freedom-of-the-confessional\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blessed to Be Ben\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-04T00:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blessedtobeben.files.wordpress.com\/2022\/07\/annie-spratt-s6ar9jykduq-unsplash.jpg?w=1024\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Hartford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheNerdyPapist\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Hartford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/blessedtobeben\/2019\/09\/the-freedom-of-the-confessional\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/blessedtobeben\/2019\/09\/the-freedom-of-the-confessional\/\",\"name\":\"The Freedom of the Confessional\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/blessedtobeben\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-04T00:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-04T00:15:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/blessedtobeben\/#\/schema\/person\/26fdadda2c6bd29a513a95fa153bf0da\"},\"description\":\"A shower as soon as you come in from logging is easier and more relaxing than waiting. 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