The first thing that came to my mind when thinking about a beautiful soul was confession. You can't be beautiful if you're dirty, so cleaning is the very first and fundamental step. There's nothing else that makes your soul dirtier than a sin and a wonderful solution that Catholic Church offers is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
Sacraments are holy, visible signs instituted by Christ of an invisible reality, in which Christians can experience the healing, forgiving, nourishing, strengthening presence of God that enables them to love in turn; this is possible because God's grace works in the sacraments.
This sounds very inviting, doesn't it? The Church also helps to lead you through the process by providing 5 steps for a good confession:
1. Examination of Conscience.
Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your mortal (of a grave matter, committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent) and venial sins.
You can use commandments recommended by Jesus in Mt 19: 18;19
You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.2. Act of contrition.
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.
Amen.
3. Confession. Tell your sins to a priest, who is the one to forgive you "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" and bring you back to Jesus with a clean soul.
4. Absolution. Have a strong desire to start to live with a clean soul now.
5. Penance. Follow what the priest asks you to do. Jesus already washed away your sins on the Cross but do something for Him as an act of thanks for His sacrifice.
I try to go to confessions every six weeks so I have done many confessions in my life. There are two special confessions that I will probably always remember.
One was a long time ago, I don't remember the exact time, the church or even the priest but he said something of a great significance: "The most important thing about our faith is the relationship with Jesus". I didn't understand much of it back then but this sentence stuck with me and I sought to figure it out at the time. Now I get it. So I go to confession often to make sure I'm clean while maintaining my relationship with Jesus.
Second one was not that long ago... I remember the church and the gentle peaceful face of the priest. While we were talking he told me: "You're an incredible person". I heard many compliments in my life but somehow this one means a lot to me. Surprisingly he said this after me revealing my sins so the word "incredible" wouldn't be the one to describe a sinner.
I'm a member of Our Lady Of Czestochowa parish where Pastor Fr. Andrew offers confessions before every mass during the week and Sundays, also by appointments. Not all church's are like this, but most are accommodating. So there's no excuse to not go to confession and all the responsibility is on you.
I don't think people especially in the US like confession. If you don't know about confession and don't do it... it's somewhat understood. The Bible says "how can they know it, if no one tells them". So I'm telling you now. Make good usage of it and be happy to have your soul cleaned.
I sometimes compare Europe to the US, there, few people go for communion and here, nearly all go which is statistically not possible. Or you just simply had this wrong. If you commit a mortal sin and don't go to confession or break church law (like divorce) you're not allowed to go to communion.
How do you encourage confession?
Educate yourself about it.
Go to confession.
Talk about it. Not that long ago I met the St. Paul Street Evangelization group. Bob was very convincing in his discussions about the need of confession. They also hand out Pamphlets to make you more familiar with the preparation and process of this sacrament.
Testify about it.
Jesus said "I am the way". People like to say our life is a journey or a process. You won't get clean right away, or you do today but you'll get dirty tomorrow again. The more you go to the confession, the more you understand it. The more you awaken the desire for cleanness and ultimately holiness, the deeper and more intimate your relationship with Jesus becomes. You'll get into a state of Sanctifying Grace which means that you don't commit mortal sins anymore and you are with Christ all the time. How beautiful it must be to feel clean!
After so many years of confessions the best advice I can give is: Do not be afraid. Just go, let the Lord liberate you from your dirt. I pray for your good confession and celebrate your newly clean, beautiful soul!
Fr. Andrew
a beautiful Pastor, Father to those whose fathers are in Poland or Heaven already.
Bob
a beautiful evangelizer, who courageously will pray for you and talk about God.
Thank you for your testimony. Confession is a real grace, it gives freedom. Joanna.