We all have a very deadly disease. It is a disease whose effects are felt throughout society. The symptoms are everywhere. We are infected with deadly pride.

Pride causes our marital fights to drag on for days, or even weeks. Pride hurts those whom we love most. Pride even hurts ourselves. We make prideful decisions and then have to reap the consequences.

As Catholics, we have been given a great gift by the Church to be cured. It is called Confession. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is perhaps the most underutilized Sacrament in the Church. Catholics just don’t take advantage.

Maybe it is because we are afraid that the Priest will know who we are. Maybe we are ashamed to say out loud what we have done. Maybe we haven’t been in so long, we wouldn’t know what to say. Maybe we don’t think we can be forgiven. PRIDE!

Confession is such a powerful tool because it cares for us spiritually and psychologically. We are able to take off the burden of our mistakes. We are able to confront our failings out loud. Sometimes even just calling our sins by name is enough to get us to change.

Maybe we just need to change our paradigm. Perhaps if we changed the name from “Confession” to “Free Counseling,” more Catholics would engage the Sacrament. That is, of course, a ridiculous proposition, but it is true. There is an added benefit to calling your sins what they are in the Sacrament. You then get advice directly from Christ, through the person of the Priest. Free counseling.

To further sweeten the deal, the Priest can never tell anyone what you said. Ever. Even still, it is unlikely that they would even remember what you said. Have you seen how much priests do these days? I’m sorry to hurt your pride, but your sins probably weren’t even that interesting. They’ve heard it all before.

I bring up this subject of Confession because I believe that it is vital to your marriage. When you are open to the Sacrament, when you engage fully, you can de-stress. You can stop bringing the stresses of your failings into your marriage. The Sacrament can even help you stop sinning within your marital relationship.

How often should you go to Confession? The Church has two rules. You must go at least once a year during Lent. You must also go after committing a mortal sin before receiving Communion. That is the minimum. Those two rules will help you to be average.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be average. I didn’t get married to have an average marriage. I don’t enter into any relationship hoping that it will be average. I want to be awesome. I want to have an awesome marriage. I want to have awesome relationships. If you want to be awesome, once a month will do it. Going for baller status? Weekly.

Confession is vital to your success in marriage. Through the process, you begin to renew yourself. You begin to grow closer to God and, through that closeness, you become a better husband. Grab your bulletin and head to Confession this week!