Confess at Confession, Not Gossip

At times, there are some people who come to confession and when they begin, instead of confessing their sins, they start to confess other people's sins, or sometimes, they even start blaming other people for causing them to sin. They talk about what their husband, wife, children, parents, in-laws, out-laws, etc. have done; they talk about their colleagues at work or their boss; but they seem to be unable to talk about the sins they have committed. Some of them even say that they are the victim and others are being mean or unfair. This behaviour and attitude is merely gossip, where one tries to justify oneself and being self-righteous.

Confession is not an avenue for people to complain or grumble about other people but to humbly and repentantly seek forgiveness from God. Perhaps one should look clearly at oneself instead of being so quick to accuse others, as Jesus reminded us:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5 or Luke 6:41-42)."

Are some of us becoming so insensitive to our own sins and take delight in accusing others? Do we value the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or have we become indifferent to its true value?