The cult of 'emotionalism' and the protestantization of the Church in the west has blinded us from the power of God's Grace given through His Church. How frequently we forget the great power of the sacraments, the visible and outward sign of God's invisible and inward Grace. Penance is one of these sacraments. The fact is that the priestly forgiveness of sins is a far great miracle than even raising the dead because it restores our sanctifying grace and can restore us into communion with the Church saving us from eternal hellfire! Here is a link of a lecture I had the honor of doing recently at the Benedictine Monastery in Wailua on the island of Oahu on the Biblical basis of Confession.
image from the 'Public domain' via wikimedia commons. St. Benedict, From a fresco by Fra Angelico
