View all Retreat Guides |
From Sorrow to Joy: A Retreat Guide on the Sacrament of Confession
Not sure how to use this retreat guide?

When the devil tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he directly contradicted something that God had told them. God had told them that eating the forbidden fruit would cause them to die. But the devil says to them, “You certainly will not die!” Adam and Eve believe him, and they eat the forbidden fruit and… Well, they didn’t die. They lived on for a long time, becoming the first parents of the human race.
So, was God lying? Of course not. Physical death did enter the human family with original sin, even though Adam and Eve didn’t die right away.
But biblical scholars point out that another kind of death did in fact happen right away: spiritual death. To live in communion with God is to be on the path of full, meaningful, everlasting life. To live separated from God— and that’s what sin does, it opens the door of separation from God—is to be cut off from the source of all life, joy and goodness. It’s a spiritual death.
Jesus, through his passion, death, and resurrection, went through that door himself, not because he sinned but because he loved sinners and wanted to come and save them. And then he opened another door, the door of mercy, which rescues sinners (and we are all sinners) from spiritual death and its many sorrows, if only we are humble enough to walk through it.
See Introductory Video Here
To see the rest of this Retreat Guide
log in or create a free account
Can't view this content? Set up your FREE account to access everything!
Already have an account?
Log Inor
What did you think?
Share your review! Just log in or create your free account.
2 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thank you for this retreat guide; I am finding it extremely helpful.
This gave me a different focus on confession especially in relation to penance and the fact that my forgiveness is based on the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus not on my reparation.