Approaching Confession with comfort and hope

“Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.” And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. (Luke 15:18–20)

Do not despair of his mercy, no matter how great your sins, for great mercy will take away great sins. For the Lord is gracious and merciful and prefers the conversion of a sinner rather than his death. (St. Jerome, Commentary on the Book of Joel)
 
What, exactly, do the Sacrament of Penance and God’s mercy have in common? Our Lord Himself gives us a beautiful answer to this question in something He told St. Faustina Kowalska, the Divine Mercy seer:

Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the sacrament of Reconciliation]. There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle... it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one’s misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of divine mercy restores that soul in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! (Diary, 1448)
 
This passage should provide each one of us with great comfort and hope. In the Sacrament of Confession, our Blessed Lord is ever ready to welcome back the truly repentant sinner—the prodigal son or daughter. This sacrament is where we take our mortal sins to be reconciled with God and are welcome to take our venial sins as well.

In fact, for those who partake of the sacrament of Confession faithfully and regularly — for example, once a month, say, in honor of the First Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus or on the First Saturday of each month in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary — hopefully it will only be venial sins that will need to be confessed, as the person will have habitually grown in virtue to shun every mortal sin.

Regarding those persons who may be fearful of Confession — for example, out of fear or shame — our Lord relayed to St. Faustina these comforting words: “Pray for souls that they be not afraid to approach the tribunal of My mercy. Do not grow weary of praying for sinners. You know what a burden their souls are to My Heart. Relieve My deathly sorrow; dispense My mercy.”
 
So, let us always approach the Sacrament of Penance with confidence, a word which, in its Latin breakdown – con fide – means, “with faith.” Thus, to have confidence in something is precisely to be with faith in that same something.
 
Let us foster this truth with holy Confession.