I finally got around to reading The Soul of the Apostolate by Jean-Baptiste Chautard, after hearing it recommended a gazillion times on the Every Knee Shall Bow podcast by Ascension.
It didn’t strike me through the heart, but it affirmed many things I have been praying about. And one of those things was wanting to make a deeper and more thorough Confession.
I’ve had hang-ups with Confession in the past, worrying about if I did it right, said enough, or if I missed something important. I’ve grown a lot as I’ve practiced having simpler Confessions. But lately in my prayer, I’ve been wanting to give God more of my heart by making a better examination and Confession, getting to more habitual venial sins so they don’t block my union with God. So my prayer has been, “Lord, show me what venial sins I need to confess that are getting in the way of loving you more.”
And then I read this paragraph in The Soul of the Apostolate, and it was like he was writing an Examination of Conscience for me (even though it was his own, written 80 years ago). God answered my prayer through another person. So I’ll let Dom Chautard help all of us today make a more thorough examination that can lead to deeper spiritual union. Here is a list of suggested venial sins:
-spiritual laziness, failing to raise up my soul to God
-an inordinate love of creatures
-hasty temper and impatience
-nursing a grudge
-being capricious and changeable
-getting soft, loving whatever is easy and gives pleasure
-always talking without any cause about the faults of other people
-a lot of curiosity about things that have nothing whatever to do with the glory of God
-spreading scandal
-gossiping
-making rash and stupid judgments of others
-vain self-complacency
-contempt of others and constant criticism of their conduct
-always looking for admiration and praise and doing things with these in view
-showing off anything that is to my credit
-stubbornness
-jealousy
-lack of respect for superiors
-murmuring
-no mortification in eating, drinking, and so on
I’ll be honest - the one about curiosity has come to mind every time I start scrolling, and it’s a good feeling of being convicted.
My last piece of news is that I’m working on a DIY retreat to launch here on Substack soon. I’m taking the Mothers of Young Children Retreat that I led last spring, and adapting it so that mothers can do it on their own time. My deepest desire is for all of us to be transformed by spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and I think this will help.
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