I would suggest going back to the priest who suggested it, if you can.
Giving your life to Messiah Jesus, you are seen righteous before our God through the blood of the Lamb. It is just that simple.
God knows your weaknesses. He knows you better than you know yourself. Confession to a priest is for US, not God. It helps you and I reconcile our sins, but God has already forgiven you. When Jesus said, “It is finished”, He was saying, those who believe in me will have their nature changed. Changed from sinner, to righteous.
This is why Jesus is referred to as the 2nd Adam. Hamartia. This Greek word is used in the New Testament to describe sin. Hamartia is not a verb, it is a noun. When Jesus paid the penalty for us, He changed who we ARE, not what we've done.
So, go on and go to confession. It is a good thing. It is a good thing to have a priest help you come to terms with sin, but remember, when you've yielded your life to Jesus, your name is written in the book of life.....forever.
It is ALL about what Jesus did. Not what you do or have done. Your righteousness means nothing apart from the blood of Jesus. You could never do enough to earn your way into Abba's heaven.
The awesome wonder of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ has made FULL atonement for our sins by His shed blood on the cross - because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14) When we come to Him in sincere faith and trust, He cleanses us from all sin - past, present and future. The "unpleasant" time you are experiencing is evidence of the conviction you feel in your heart for the many times you know you have failed to live the way He has called you to live. It really is a GOOD sign because those who have no desire for change or feel shame over past sins are still living in denial and cannot know the truth. The atonement for our sins - only by the shedding of blood is atonement made for the soul - has already been made by Christ. We come to Him with empty hands ready to receive the righteousness we need to be declared HIS own.
Confession of our sins - whether to those we have sinned against or directly to God - is how we "come clean" before God. We admit our wrongs without rationalizing, justifying or excusing them and accept the forgiveness freely given and are cleansed from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). Rather than worrying about trying to remember every possible sin we have committed, I'd say it's more about acknowledging we cannot save ourselves and do not deserve to be accounted righteous enough to be saved, but realizing that this is what God's GRACE is all about. It is UN-deserved, UN-merited, UN-earned, but granted to us by His everlasting mercy and love. What a wonderful God we serve!
Hi Catmom! IMHO... i would definitely request a one to one meeting with a priest. They can do face to face confessions in their office. I also would do this: get a notebook and start writing things out. Visually go through the Ten Commandments and write those sins. In addition, write out other concerns/intense feelings. For example, “I feel intensely angry at people” because “I am in the midst of a divorce”. The priest will guide you and there is nothing wrong with having a cheat sheet (so to speak). You will be fine and I’ll be praying for you. (((Hugs))) Mom
The 1929 prayer book has an excellent one
When I teach the First Confession lessons to the Bilingual Supplemental Sacrament Class, I tell them to focus on three areas: Did you love God? Did you love yourself? Did you love your neighbor? The Ten Commandments provide another level of detail.
Remember, God already knows everything you’ve done. An important benefit is if you can see patterns in your life. What have you done that doesn’t reflect God’s love? Why do you think you did those things? What ways have you deflected love for God and need for God into wrong directions?
Don’t beat yourself up: you’ll end up a basket case.
Try speaking to God. A priest is just a man.
The best confessions come from the Holy Ghost, so pray to Him to enlighten you about your past sins and even to take over your will and your heart when you are receiving the sacrament.
Find a good traditional examination of conscience to set the stage. Here’s one I just found, but you may like another one better.
http://www.fatima.org/essentials/requests/examconc.asp
That said, I wouldn’t get hung up on cataloging every venial sin. I would concentrate on any mortal sins, particularly whatever is most gnawing at you. You can even ask the priest for help covering the bases since it sounds like you’ll have a bit of time with him.
And, of course, expect to walk out of there lighter than air!! Some of the posters on here don’t realize what a powerful, powerful grace it is to humble yourself before another human being. There is a reason that Christ gave the power to forgive sins to the Apostles—He understands human psychology better than we do!
And be assured of my prayers....you really made my night with this post. :)
My apologies, I replied a little too hastily and didn’t understand you had already been going to confession for a while already.
Well, hopefully someone else can use the info, and you’re still in my prayers.
Read, Claud, read!! :)
I hope you don't run out of time before you get all penanced up...
I don’t know why I started reading this thread, probably because I’ve always been interested in the Catholic religion. As a Jew I recognize that Catholics become closer to the Holy by their senses and by actions (scents, candle lighting) like we Jews.
Anyway, I can imagine how hard it must be to go to Confession and say all your sins out loud. I’m sure it is greatly beneficial though. One thing we are lucky about on the one day we publicly apologize for our sins (Yom Kippur) is that the liturgy has us all as a congregation beating our breast (symbolically) for each of many sins together. In other words, the entire congregation together chants our sorrow over committing adultery, even if only 7 people in there committed it that year. I kind of like that.
Blessings to you.
Confess to wanting to kill pedophiles. See where it takes you.
Good spiritual directors recommend a general confession, bless you for listening to them. Many people write down everything they can remember, start with raiding the cookie jar and move on. All sin offends Our Lord but as others have mentioned, concentrate on the biggies and as many of the less serious as you can remember. Don’t beat your self up and don’t have anxiety, good priests love helping people through this. The shower of love, mercy and forgiveness is well worth the effort.
First of all, know that the Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. I take great comfort in the Psalms, especially Psalms 103 and 145.
I would recommend going on a retreat, preferably a silent retreat. There is usually an opportunity during a retreat for an extended confession. During the retreat, open your heart to God’s unending love for you and know that you cannot go below His resting arms. A song that has been very meaningful to me is at the link below. I hope it gives you some comfort.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec9hQrfAxV8&list=PLw9KcFk9OmsBRmPLdMm-DuGMDND3TvyhP&index=17
Peace
Relax the priest is wrong.If he gave you absolution you are forgiven.He might have meant you have to talk more.That’s for a Confessor.You don’t have to do that.Sounds like your not ready.
First, open Excel. It’s better for Lists than Word is.
And, of course, don’t forget a sizable donation....if you’re really serious about it.
Get on your knees, say an Our Father (the prayer Jesus gave His disciples) and tell Him/God all about it. Jesus walked the earth as a Man/God to develop a personal relationship with us that requires no mortal intermediaries.
I read your post as if you were returning to Confession after a long while as other have apparently others did.
So it seems you’ve already been to Confession since returning to the Faith. If this is the case don’t let yourself be overwhelmed with your past sins, they’ve already been absolved if you honestly forgot to mention them the last time you went.
If any particular sin is still weighing on your conscience then confess it next time you go but don’t worry about trying to remember all of them next time. They’ve already been forgiven if you honestly forgot them the first time you went back after a long time. God understands that.
Go monthly or twice a month now (or as needed when/if you commit a mortal sin of course) And from now on when you are aware of a sin mark it down somewhere and then you can tell the priest how many times you committed sin X. That’s a good practice for you and helpful for him so he may give you some good advice if he’s so inclined to avoid ones that are habitual for you. But always don’t worry if you forget one here and there. If you go to Confession truly contrite the precision of the recounting doesn’t matter that’s only to help you and the priest make a good confession. But all your sins are always forgiven even ones you honestly forget. So don’t become scrupulous about counting them and obsessing over them.
To all those who have confessions to make...Get on you knee’s and pray to God the Father and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Your sins will be forgiven. Jesus is the High Priest. No intermediaries needed. He alone intercedes with God the Father.