Making The Most Of Confession

[cathoholic_anonymous]

For a while I've been struggling to make a 'good' Confession. The difficult part is confessing my sins - sometimes I come out of the confessional feeling as if I've made excuses for myself, or given the priest the wrong picture. Does anybody have suggestions for making a concise but thorough confession?

[journeyman]

[quote name='Cathoholic Anonymous' post='1357288' date='Aug 12 2007, 10:11 AM']For a while I've been struggling to make a 'good' Confession. The difficult part is confessing my sins - sometimes I come out of the confessional feeling as if I've made excuses for myself, or given the priest the wrong picture. Does anybody have suggestions for making a concise but thorough confession?[/quote]

You could retreat to a more historical format
Forgive me Father, for I have sinned

I may have omitted sins from my last confession, or I may be suffering pangs of scrupulosity (and that is the last excuse I'll offer)
I missed Mass once
I swore at the driver who splashed me driving through a puddle
I was disrespectful of some American bishops on an online discussion forum
I disrespected my parents six times out loud and about 20 times silently
I called my lab partner a clumsy idiot, and it turned out he/she had mono and should have been in home in bed.
I liberated a jar of peanut butter from the mini-mart
I lusted after the girl next door every day
I really, really, really wanted the Porsche convertible I saw parked on the street on Wednesday
I indulged in alcohol to excess Friday night
I procrastinated on my theology paper and didn't do my best work because I was lazy

I forgot the Act of Contrition




If the priest wants to give you a chance to explain or make excuses, he'll ask. Otherwise, perform the required penance. Concise, as complete as memory allows, and no excuses or misrepresentations.




(yes, I forgot the Act of Contrition last time I was in for confession - I remembered the basics, but couldn't get the words out . . . but that's an excuse - thank Goodness the priest had prayer cards with it printed - not the version I didn't remember, but it did the job.)



Five things are necessary for a good confession.

1. Examination of Conscience. We should make an earnest effort to call to mind all the sins since our last worthy Confession.
2. Sorrow for our sins. We should have sorrow for our sins because sin is the greatest of all evils, gravely offends God and because mortal sin shuts us out of heaven and condemns us to the eternal pains of hell.
3. Firm resolution never to offend God again. We must resolve not only to avoid sin but also the persons, places and things that may easily lead us into sin.
4. Confess our sins to a Priest. We must tell all our mortal sins to a priest, their kind and the number of times we have committed each one.
5. Say the penance which the Priest gives to us. The priest gives us a penance that we may make some atonement to God for our sins, receive help to avoid them in the future and make some satisfaction for the temporal punishment due to them.

[url="http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/19990101/SCRMNTL/adultexam.htm"]http://www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC...L/adultexam.htm[/url]

Act of Contrition at the end of Confession

O, my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell.
But most of all because they offend thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.
Amen.



Prayer of Thanksgiving after Confession

O my God and saviour Jesus Christ, I thank thee with all my heart for pardoning my sins and for washing my sinful soul in thy precious blood from the cross!
So many times I have sinned against thee, and so many times you have forgiven me and given me another chance!
O grant that I may never wilfully break one of thy commandments again.
Grant that I may choose to die rather than lose thy grace and friendship.

[Noel's angel]

Agreed

Although, I don't see how forgetting the Act of Contrition is a sin. If you can't remember something, you can't remember it. It's not a conscious decision to forget something.

Edited August 12, 2007 by Noel's angel

[journeyman]

The sin wasn't in forgetting, it was in not learning it in the first place.

As my brain develops more and more missing synapses, I find it easier and easier to argue that it wasn't a conscious decision to not memorize.

[Noel's angel]

So, you never bothered to learn it? Or did you learn it and forget it?

[Groo the Wanderer]

LOL I have seen so many versions of the Act of Contrition that they all run together. I usually end saying my own version that is an amalgam of all the rest. Not sure I have ever said it exactly the same twice

[Lil Red]

i just realized something that i think will help me. i wrote down all my sins (i'm going to confession shortly), and then i wrote down what leads me to make those sins, and how to correct them. for example (and i don't mind sharing this one):

-getting into my car seems to inevitably lead to road rage
-i can't avoid the car, so how do i make the car a more holy place to be?
-possible ideas: get the car blessed, get rosary/medals blessed that hang from my rearview mirror, pray the rosary in the car (rosary on cd), play religious music in the car.

[journeyman]

[quote name='Noel's angel' post='1358048' date='Aug 13 2007, 09:29 AM']So, you never bothered to learn it? Or did you learn it and forget it?[/quote]

learned one, didn't use it (when the parish has no full time priest, and the sacrament is rarely offered, some memories dim quickly)
and if you don't remember the first phrase of a rote learning, somehow, the whole thing disappears.

I'm sort of with Lounge Daddy . . . it comes out a little different every time

[Noel's angel]

I don't understand how that's a sin though. Ah well

Great idea, Lil Red!

[cathoholic_anonymous]

I made my Confession yesterday. I arrived with ten minutes to spare before Mass began, so I prayed very quickly but very fervently for the Holy Spirit's guidance and bolted into the confessional before somebody else could leap in ahead of me. Everything poured out in a really fast waterfall and - yes! - Fr Lakeland upgraded the penance he usually gives me from three Our Fathers for my family to three Our Fathers AND three Hail Marys for the Holy Souls. Confession jackpot is the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, but I've only hit that once.

I'm being flippant here. On a serious note, it was a good confession. The short, sharp list format really worked. It brought everything out quickly and simply and without fuss. I was able to really appreciate the beauty of the sacrament.

[Budge]

The worrisome thing about confession is Catholic worry about missing a sin and leaving it off the list and not having it "forgiven"

To be honest with you, us humans are such sinful creatures, I doubt any of you are listing all your sins, and are missing plenty. Dont take this wrong. I would say that for myself.

We have sins in our thoughts and more and compared to the holiness of God, there are probably things we do youre not even convicated our sins yet.

I'm glad I have the Holy Spirits help in pointing out and convicting me of sin. There are things I didnt even realize were sins, before I was saved.

[Maggyie]

If one "misses" a sin (not deliberately trying to conceal it from God in the confessional, as though you could really hide it then of course it is forgiven... Catholics who worry a great deal about this are suffering from scrupulosity, which is a spiritual ailment all unto itself...

The Holy Spirit is GREAT in convicting us of sin! I know when I am examining my conscience He helps a great deal

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Budge' post='1360358' date='Aug 16 2007, 04:28 PM']The worrisome thing about confession is Catholic worry about missing a sin and leaving it off the list and not having it "forgiven"

To be honest with you, us humans are such sinful creatures, I doubt any of you are listing all your sins, and are missing plenty. Dont take this wrong. I would say that for myself.

We have sins in our thoughts and more and compared to the holiness of God, there are probably things we do youre not even convicated our sins yet.

I'm glad I have the Holy Spirits help in pointing out and convicting me of sin. There are things I didnt even realize were sins, before I was saved.[/quote]
i usually end my confessions with: "and for these and any sins i may have forgotten, i am truly sorry."

[cathoholic_anonymous]

[quote name='Budge' post='1360358' date='Aug 17 2007, 12:28 AM']The worrisome thing about confession is Catholic worry about missing a sin and leaving it off the list and not having it "forgiven"[/quote]

If you forget to mention a sin you don't have to worry about it. It's forgiven. The list format exists to help us, not to please God.

[quote name='Budge' post='1360358' date='Aug 17 2007, 12:28 AM']I'm glad I have the Holy Spirits help in pointing out and convicting me of sin. There are things I didnt even realize were sins, before I was saved.[/quote]

So am I. Without prayer and understanding of our faults none of us would be able to change.

I am also glad the Holy Spirit gives Himself to me in such a profound and personal way through this sacrament. You see it as an onerous duty undertaken by Catholics fearful of not getting forgiven. I see it as a gift from God.

[MattyD]

[quote name='Cathoholic Anonymous' post='1357288' date='Aug 12 2007, 10:11 AM']For a while I've been struggling to make a 'good' Confession. The difficult part is confessing my sins - sometimes I come out of the confessional feeling as if I've made excuses for myself, or given the priest the wrong picture. Does anybody have suggestions for making a concise but thorough confession?[/quote]

Hello:

I made Confession (Reconciliation) 2-weeks ago with a Father I had never met so I knew it would be at the least a unique experience:

We addressed, of course, Sins in a traditional sense, and he placed his hands upon my head and absolved me of sin(s) at the end. [b]The bulk of the time we just talked about[/b]:

- My spiritual path

- Philosophy

- Science\ Physics

- Literature

- Protestantism

- Problems not classified as "sins"

- Prayer

- Satan

My time with this Father was very nice. Not [i]only[/i] did I confess and have my sins absolved and removed (in God's view via the Father), we also had a wonderful talk which I feel benefited both of us.

[b]Confession can take many forms[/b] (a lot of times depending on both people involved)-- it is what you wish to make of it. The Lord is always with you and by the very fact that you seek\ sought the Rite of Confession, is what counts (IMO)-- the words said in confession [i]is an act[/i] or merely a by-product in some sense of your spirit and intention.

Regards,
Matty

Edited August 21, 2007 by MattyD