Confessing Like a Saint

Fr. John Hollowell knows suffering from the inside. So moved by the anguish of clergy sexual abuse victims, he prayed that God would let him suffer in their place. Thirteen months later, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Through surgery, chemotherapy, depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts, he offered every moment to God for those victims' healing.

And he wants you to know that you can do the same. Your sufferings, big or small, can be united to those of Christ and have redemptive power.

When his cancer worsened, Fr. Hollowell traveled to Lourdes and was healed in the baths. Now he asks you: If God worked that miracle for his physical tumor, how much more will He do for your spiritual ones -- your sins, your vices, your deepest wounds -- when you bring them to Him in Confession?

You were not made to carry that weight around. You were made for healing and for greatness. Our Father wants to restore what is broken in you.

In these pages, Fr. Hollowell strips away the misconceptions that keep Catholics away from Confession -- the shame, the fear, the sense that it's a punishment -- and reveals the sacrament for what it is: a precise surgical instrument for removing spiritual cancer and a direct channel of divine healing. With honesty and warmth, Father shows you:

• What you consider sins that actually aren't
• How to resist temptation before it takes hold
• How to confess sins of lust with dignity, like a saint
• The hidden danger of sins of the tongue
• Why modern sins are like zombies in fresh makeup
• How to break free from fear, despair, and loneliness
• What practices will keep your Catholic life from collapsing
• Simple actions that serve others and purify your soul

You will also find a practical "Quick Guide to Confession," along with a rich list of resources to help you form deeper wells of mercy and grow closer to the Lord.

God is not waiting to condemn you. He is waiting to heal you! Go to Confession. Go to Him.