Do not present self with false image. 
Pope Francis, Homily, June 14, 2013 >>>

​

Without humility, without the ability to publicly acknowledge your sins and your own human frailty, you can not attain salvation and proclaim Christ, nor pretend to be his witness.

​

Between "us poor, earthen vessels" and "the power of Jesus Christ" is a dialogue, and that is the "dialogue of salvation". He warned that when this dialogue assumes the tone of self-justification, it means that something is not working and that there is no salvation. The humility of a Christian is that of one who follows the path indicated by the Apostle. "We must recognize our sins, concretely, and not present ourselves with a false image".

 

"Brothers, we have a treasure: the Saviour Jesus Christ, the cross of Jesus Christ is treasure in which we rejoice", but let us not forget "to also confess our sins" because only in this way "the dialogue is Christian, Catholic, and concrete". "Jesus Christ did not save us with an idea, nor with an intellectual program. He saved us with flesh, with the concreteness of the flesh. He lowered himself, became man, and was made flesh until the end."  You can only understand a treasure like this if you are transformed into clay pots.

 

"We recognize that we need forgiveness over and over again, and that forgiveness brings responsibility. Openness to love is present in man, implanted in him by the Creator, together with the capacity to respond to God in faith. But also present, in consequence of man’s sinful history ... is the tendency ... towards selfishness, towards becoming closed in on oneself, in fact towards evil. ... Therefore we need the humility that constantly asks God for forgiveness, that seeks purification and awakens in us the counterforce, the positive force of the Creator, to draw us upwards". -Benedict XVI, Dec 22, 2011

​

Overcome our shame and humbly confess the truth without trying to hide its ugliness, no matter how painful it may be to do so. Without this painful process of purification we cannot advance in union with Jesus. If we have old sins already confessed but confessed poorly, it would bring much grace to us if we make a good general confession. See: A Contrite Spirit

 

Jesus wants to take us from his feet to his heart to his mouth. We begin at His feet, united to Mary, so that our spiritual foundation can be solid in HUMILITY. God taught us profoundly through the words of St. Catherine of Siena the importance of coming to His feet, kissing them and begging the Holy Spirit for the GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE. It is ONLY through the Holy Spirit's gift of knowledge that we can:

 

1- See ourselves as God sees us.
2- See all the dirt that needs to be cleansed from our hearts. The "wooden beam in our own eyes"
3- Receive the gift of the gold of precious repentance.
4- Know the love and mercy of God for us.

 

We must "live wrapped in this gift". Through these words our Lord is revealing to us that even as we ascend from the feet to His kiss we must daily live repentance with the Holy Spirit in the constant knowledge of our NOTHINGNESS. It is only through this way that He can be our ALL.

 

The Lord wants to make us "living hosts," humble and pure. He wants to make us His "living  chalices," pure shining gold (purity), empty of all self-love, so that He can fill us with His precious Blood that heals, restores and brings life to many.

 

Our Lady at Medjugorje: "Dear children; today I call you to a difficult and painful step for your unity with my Son. I call you to complete admission and confession of sins, to purification. An impure heart cannot be in my Son and with my Son. An impure heart cannot give the fruit of love and unity. An impure heart cannot do correct and just things; it is not an example of the beauty of God’s love to those who surround it and to those who have not come to know that love." July 2011

 

The examination of conscience has "an important pedagogical value" as it "educates to look with sincerity at one's own existence, to confront it with the truth of the Gospel, and to evaluate it not just with human parameters, but changed by divine revelation"  "The comparison with the Commandments, with the Beatitudes and, above all, with the precept of love, constitutes the first great 'penitential school.'"

 

Integral confession of sins "educates the penitent in humility, in recognition of his own fragility and, at the same time, in awareness of the need for God's forgiveness and trust that divine grace can transform life."  -Benedict XVI, March 25, 2011