Recent insights into Reconciliation

I think I'll almost always be the first to admit that I have a very elementary knowledge of my faith. Do I believe and have a fervent faith? Absolutely yes, but one of the greater reasons that I chose to come to Notre Dame was so that I could grow in my knowledge of the Catholic faith. While talking to a couple of my friends, we discussed the fact that (from her theology class) you can't "understand" until you first have faith, which I think is where I currently stand.

Recently I've been reflecting on the Sacrament of Reconciliation and what it means to me after listening to a FIDES group lecture about Reconciliation. Reconciliation was always something I found kind of "funny" in the sense that I wasn't sure why it really is only found in Catholicism (I mean it couldn't have just meant that Catholics commit much worse sins than the rest of the Christian community and therefore had to confess to the priests and do penance, but nonetheless...I wasn't sure). In light of recent conversation and events, my personal understanding of Reconciliation is more for the benefit of us (rather than any punishment or requirement that God had sent down on us). At the most stripped down level, no matter what we do or how terrible a sin we commit, God will always forgive us because His love is absolutely unconditional. However, the harder part (yet less important in the grand scheme of things) is the difficulty of us as finite humans to leave any guilt or disappointment behind and forgive ourselves. The priest is present there not only to help mediate between you and God (ie: keeping you honest with yourself in actually coming full front and naming your sins aloud) but also to offer guidance and support to you and your personal ability to deal with and accept/forgive yourself. I find this truth about Reconciliation personally eye-opening and beautiful in every way. As short and rudimentary as this post is, these are the current thoughts that have been swirling around in my head and I thought I'd jot them down. I'll add more later as I continue to think about and talk about things.