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The healing power of surrender
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Have you ever noticed what happens to a cramp in your leg if you let it run its course? When we can’t do anything to stop it, we just have to bear the pain. An amazing thing happens when we do this. The pain may get worse for a moment, but, then. it subsides. Because I know my leg won’t be ripped apart, or paralysis won’t set in, but I would get relief, I just let it run its course, I would continue reading or talking on the telephone, if that was what I was doing, I would be grimacing, of course, but I wouldn’t be concerned. I will try to explain what I think is happening here. Once more I make reference to Father Manny (Read “How to think about God”).
Catholics surrender when they take the Sacrament of Contrition. In the old days of the Church, you had to confess your sins before you could take the Host (Holy Communion). You enter the confession booth, located in an inconspicuous place inside the chapel. Sometimes there’s a door, other times just a curtain of heavy material to keep sound in. There is a chair for you next to a wall panel with a screened off window. It’s dark inside. As a kid, I found it to be spooky.
You can’t see who is on the other side. But you know who it is- the priest. If there are several priests, as in a Cathedral, you can easily recognize the voice. The separation is not to hide identity of the listener, but that of the confessor.
The priest speaks in a soft voice: “How can I help you, my child?” You begin by reciting a prayer- the Act of Contrition. You ask for blessing and forgiveness. The most difficult and awkward phase comes next: You confess every sin you can remember committing from the previous Confession. If you ate more than one ice cream sandwich when you supposed to have only one, you confess; If you were angry at your husband and said to him “f…. you!” you confess.
Back in the horse and buggy days, life was hard and moved at a slow pace. Now, life is so complicated. There are much more conveniences-. fancy cars, cell phones and text messaging. Lifestyles are not the same. If you had sex with your girl friend you confess. If you had sex with your neighbor’s wife….
I notice that there are hardly any lines at the confessional nowadays.
We could tell which parishioners committed many sins by the length of time spent in the booth. I remember when I confessed to a long list of sins- the priest told me to recite twenty Holy Marys and ten Our Fathers. We could tell, more or less, how many repetitions were being recited by anyone by the length of time he or she spent kneeling and praying.
Despite my self-consciousness and embarrassment about kneeling and praying longer than average, I looked forward to the feeling that a heavy burden had just been lifted off my shoulders. I would feel clean and wholesome again.
Father Manny, in his Homily, said “surrendering is healing.” He said that, in the confessional booth, it is not necessary to recite what sins you committed, just feel deeply sorry for having committed them. When you do this, you are surrendering, and surrendering is healing. This message is also in the following excerpt I found in the Internet:
"What is the most important thing about confession?" he asked. A woman in the front pew responded: "Telling your sins to the priest. That's why we call it confession." Father Haring said, "Confessing the sins is important, but it's not the most important thing." A man towards the back called out: "Contrition! Being sorry for your sins! The whole thing doesn't work without contrition." Father Häring said, "True, it doesn't 'work' without contrition; but I don't think contrition is the most important thing." A man over on St. Joseph's side spoke up: "It's the examination of conscience. Unless you examine your conscience, you don't know what you have to be sorry for and what to confess."
Father Häring still wasn't satisfied. An uneasy silence fell over the church. Then a little girl in the second pew said: "Father, I know what is most important. It's what Jesus does!"
It's what Jesus does! That's the most important thing, the thing we should focus upon. The examination of conscience, sorrow for sin, telling the sins to the priest—these are all important. But you will have a more positive experience of the sacrament if your focus is on what Jesus does.
(Ten Tips for Better Confessions-The Gift of Reconciliation by Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M,.S.T.D. http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac0890.asp
When Catholics receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation, they sacrifice their sins and go in peace, as Jesus did. Non-Catholics and atheists can reconcile in other ways of their choosing. Reconciliation is total surrendering, total letting go. The healing power of surrendering is a law of nature. It is so natural that we don’t give it a thought. Yet it happens every day. We feel better, for example, after venting off our anger., It is an everyday-type of catharsis.
The late Christian Author Catherine Marshall, in her battle with a terminal respiratory ailment, experienced catharsis, but it happened over a long period of time. It took her a long time to reach it because, unknown to her, she was resisting, and, as we have seen, resistance prevents healing from occurring.
How did she resist? She resisted by not letting go. She appealed to God for healing every day with unwavering faith. Every day, in the morning, in the evening- every time she remembered- she prayed. But she continued to degenerate. As she did so, her prayers became less urgent and hesitant. Surely, she thought, God should hear her by now and intervene. On her death bed, she felt abandoned and was deeply disappointed- she completely lost her faith; With anger she she felt misled by her religion; there is no God; she concluded . She gave up and let everything go.
That night, in her dream, she saw a bright light approaching her- it was an angel. From that moment, healing began. The next morning, she could sit up in bed; those who had expected her to be dead were greeted by her laughter. In just a matter of days, her recovery was complete. She had received the grace of God- the healing power of surrender.
We are reminded of a principle of Psychology: If you step out of the way, the power of the subconscious will take over.
For nonbelievers, it works for you too,
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