Catechesis Notes for the Week—Confession of sin is confession of faith in Christ. For us as, as Christians, when we confess our sins, we are not merely admitting that we have done something wrong and feel badly about it. Non-believers can do that. No, true confession of sin involves contrition and faith in Christ. Contrition is the sorrow over sin that is worked by God. Faith in Christ confesses sin and flees to Jesus for rescue. “Acknowledging our guilt” and “seeking the face of Jesus” is what faith does. Our confession is not a work that merits God’s forgiveness. Confession is what He calls us to that He might help us. The refusal to confess, therefore, is the refusal to believe that you need Jesus. So the Lord’s call is one in which He invites us as sinners to trust in Him rather than ourselves. He calls us to contrition and faith so that He might help us. It is the absolution of the Lord that raises us up from the death of sin and gives us comfort, peace, and new life. When we respond to the Lord’s call, when we dare to confess our sins, when we flee to Jesus for His absolution, that is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. That is, very simply the call of the Holy Spirit to faith in Christ. Confession of sins is the fruit of the miracle of faith. This is why we confess our sins, that our faith might be strengthened and our consciences comforted by Christ’s absolution. So the Prophet Hosea encourages us, “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”