I was part of an Anglican church for a few years. One of the most powerful times in the service was the corporate confession of sin. The priest would lead us in a prayer of repentance, ending with the words, “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.”
The confession would mention things like not loving our neighbor as ourselves. But I’m now convinced it was not nearly specific enough. That was my realization after listening to a public confession in which a priest gets super detailed about the kinds of sins he suspects his congregation of committing. It starts out fairly normal, confessing things like entitlement and judgmentalism—but then things take a turn. The priest confesses “the theft of xerox copies for personal use” at work, cheating at golf tournaments by “not reporting strokes,” and for hoarding toilet paper during the pandemic.
I haven’t committed any of those sins, but I was just waiting for him to confess sharing Netflix passwords with friends and family.
Give it a listen. It’s wonderfully weird.
And then think of what strange sins you need to confess.
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