Posted on 04/07/2015 3:26:06 PM PDT by NYer
From a reader…
QUAERITUR:
I’m 49 and haven’t been to confession since I was about 9 I say prayers every day and pop into church now and then to light candles the thing is I’ve not been to well recently and would like to make a confession but not to sure what to say could you please help
How about,
“Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It’s been about 40 years since my last confession. I think I’m going to need some help from you for this confession.”
It would probably be best to make an appointment for this confession, since it might take some time. Father can help you out through the mechanics of the sacrament.
It would be helpful to make a good examination of conscience beforehand. Sit down, grab a pen and paper (just remember to keep anything your write secret, and burn it or destroy it some other way once you’ve made your confession). Organize your sins in, say, chronological order if you want, taking each decade and thinking back on what you’ve done.
While everyone should confess all mortal sins in kind and number, when we’re talking of a confession covering 40 years, it’s okay if the numbers aren’t exact (e.g. “I missed Mass a lot when I was in my twenties, Father. There were a couple years there when I only went on Easter and Christmas, and at my best during that time, I probably only went ten-twelve times a year.” Still, try and be as thorough as possible.
Don’t gloss over sins.
Don’t try and make yourself look better so that the priest won’t think ill of you (the priest will already think you are a hero for coming to the sacrament).
Don’t meander and tell stories. That time you got rollicking drunk with your buddy and stole the enemy school’s goat mascot might be a hilarious anecdote, but this is not the time. Stick to the sins: getting intoxicated, stealing, leading someone else into sin.
In the end, just do it.
Just go.
At the end, say, “for these and all of the sins of my past which I cannot now remember, I am sorry and I beg the Lord’s forgiveness.”
And mean it.
You’ll be okay.
Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained"
(John 20:21–23).
The most beautiful words you will ever hear: "I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Amen!
Many churches are offering extended times for confession on Divine Mercy Sunday. If you have not yet gone to confession, do it!
Ping!
Wonderful sacrament
Nice article.
i’m a practicing Catholic and a church goer every week but do not practice the sacrament of Penance...sorry- i feel its just as legitimate to get on my knees and pray to God the Father every night and tell Him my sins rather than a priest...
For most people, it’s difficult to go to confession. But once you’ve gone, you feel much, much better. In the end, it’s a wonderful, happy experience.
And this advice is just right. Make an examination of conscience, remember all the mortal sins you can, number them as well as you can, and be careful to end by begging forgiveness for those sins that you cannot now remember.
To be a good Catholic, you should get in the habit of going to confession at least once a year, during the long Easter season, from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost. Once a month or so is better, if you can manage it. And if you know you’ve committed a mortal sin, get to confession as soon as you can, and don’t receive Communion until you do.
All basic Catholic teaching, but not all priests or religious instructors talk about it these days, unfortunately.
Remember that GOD forgives your sins, not the priest.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
|
1449 The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:
God, the Father of mercies, |
By not going to Confession would you say that you are receiving the Eucharist unworthily? That’s a grave sin. Do you understand what I mean by that term?
Confession is for the purpose of letting God know - and yourself know - that you recognize, take responsibility for, and repent of your sins. Once you have done that, God forgives and forgets, and so can you.
If it were not for the possibility of giving scandal, we could all detail our sins in the congregation, or in the cereal aisle at Walmart, because once God has taken them on, they aren't "our" sins anymore. They are His: Christ took it all to the Cross and paid the price.
i receive Communion once a year during the Easter season....but thanks for being judgmental- i’m sure it will go a long way on your day of reckoning...do you know what i mean by that?
Just want to clear up this misconception: our obligation to go to confession at least once per year does not have to take place during the Lenten/Easter season.
You are not required to receive communion every Sunday. However, as a practicing Catholic, you are obligated to go to confession once per year. If for some reason you were in a state of mortal sin when you received your yearly communion, you would have also committed sacrilege.
That's cute.
I don’t have the name or date at hand, but I investigated the history of confession for a book I was writing some years ago. I’m pretty sure that a Medieval pope wrote an encyclical in conclave that called for annual confession during the Easter season. And as far as I know, that papal encyclical has never been officially reversed. As you indicate, one doesn’t hear it much, if ever, spoken of post Vatican II, but I THINK it still applies.
I see that EWTN agrees with you:
http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage.asp?number=636747
But I find it disturbing that there has been no solemn papal pronouncement reversing the earlier papal encyclical.
My wife was a “cradle Catholic” and broke from the Church when she was around 20. 43 years later, after she was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, she was able to return to the Church. I was witness to some amazing things during her last days as her care giver, and that started me ( a real dyed-in-the-wool heathen and life long sinner) on the path to joining the Catholic Church. We were lucky in that the local priest is a gentle man who welcomed her back with open arms. I pray every day I can find the kind of strength and faith she had.
My understanding is that receiving Communion during the Easter Season is a precept of the Church. If you’ve committed a mortal sin, the Sacrament of Penance is a requirement before receiving Communion. It’s a reasonable supposition that one would immediately follow the other, but it’s not necessarily required. You could, for example, go to Confession during January, and then, without having committed a mortal sin in the interim, receive Communion at Easter.
A lot depends on one’s formation of conscience. Many people don’t believe anything is a mortal sin that isn’t also a felony. As one of my teenage sons observed, “I haven’t murdered anyone!”
i understand what Catholic teaching is- i went to Catholic school for 17 years and go to mass every weekend. But here’s some breaking news- the Catholic church is not the end all nor are they right about everything...
if someone goes to confession every weekend then goes out and commit the same sin(s) every week, only to go to confession and admit the same sin every week, etc, etc, etc, is that person a good Catholic???
I wonder if the focus of that encyclical was: if you were in a state of mortal sin when you received the Eucharist once a year at Easter, you must go to confession beforehand. Since we are also only obliged to receive communion once per year, oftentimes these two things happen at the same time. In this case, yes, one would then HAVE to go to confession as well. But for those of us who go to confession at other times during the year, no, I don't believe it is required.
Would be nice of you to back up your comment with Scriptural references about “God saw your sins when you committed them. God kneow your sins before you committed them”.
“Confession is for the purpose of letting God know-and yourself know-that you recognize.....”
If God knows me , he knows my heart so there is NO LETTING GOD know & ourselves know. Your statement “God forgives and forgets and so can you” completely contradicts your statement about “God saw your sins when you committed them, etc.”.
If this is what you “teaching” “that, God forgives and forgets, and so can you” I wonder to what group of students you teach to. I’m hoping you teach sin and forgiveness at
grade level.
If you are teaching to 1st & 2nd graders this is a very handy explanation w/o going into a lot of dialogue but
if you are dealing with upper grades you are sorely informed.
I agree with you that” God forgives and forgets & so can you” but it’s not as cut and dried as this.
There is a deeper meaning to behold within all of us in confessing our sins whether to a priest w/no counseling experience or one with and sin has morphed into a multitude of areas ;e.g., social media.
An age old prayer uttered by ancients and contemporaries alike should also be taught , too,
http://www.prayerfulrosary.com/Jesusprayer.html
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