LESSON 32
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity." (1 John 1: 9)
DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENT
This second lesson on Confession is equally as important as the first lesson. It is often very difficult to get a new convert the Church to make a complete confession. The new convert does not seem to realize the importance of examining his conscience very well before his first confession and telling the number of times he committed each sin.
A. WHAT TO DO BEFORE ENTERING THE CONFESSIONAL
Each time you go to confession it is very necessary to examine your conscience. This is especially true of your first confession Before confession, ask God to help you remember your sins. Then examine your conscience. Try to remember how often you have committed each sin since your last good confession.
Be sure to tell Almighty God that you are sorry for all these sins.
B. WHAT TO DO IN THE CONFESSIONAL
Wait until the priest opens the little window. Then say, "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, it is one week (or one month or whatever length of time it is) since my last confession. These are my sins." Name the sins and tell how many times you ha' committed each one.
After telling the priest all your sins, and how many times you have committed each one, you should say, "I am heartily sorry for these sins, and all the sins in my past life, especially for. .." Here name some sins you have already confessed in previous confessions. The priest will then ask you some questions and give you some good advice; listen carefully.
While the priest is saying the words of forgiveness, "I forgive you all your sins," say the Act of Contrition. Thank the priest for his help and his absolution and leave the confessional.
| PREPARATION FOR CONFESSION O loving and merciful God! help me to make a good confession. Help me to examine my conscience, that I shall be able to tell the priest what sins I have committed and how often. Let me feel a deep sorrow for all my sins and give me the grace firmly to resolve not to sin again. O Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, my dear Guardian Angel, and all you blessed angels and saints in heaven, pray for me, that I may make a good confession and from now on lead a good life, so that I may join you in heaven to praise our dear Lord, forever and ever . Say the Our Father and the Hail Mary. Examine your conscience. Try to remember all the sins you have committed and how many times you have committed each sin. Go through the Ten Commandments and the Laws of the Church to find what each commands and what each forbids to help you remember your sins. The following is a partial list of mortal sins: Missing Mass on a Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation through your own fault . Permitting your children to miss Mass on a Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation. Arriving at Mass after the priest finishes the Offertory . Doing unnecessary manual work on Sunday. Eating meat on Friday or other days of abstinence. Violation of the laws of fasting. Deliberate enjoyment of the sex passion outside of marriage -adultery, fornication, impure looks, touches, thoughts in your mind. Willful religious ignorance- neglecting to learn the truths of God or neglecting to teach them to your children. Quitting the Catholic Church or actively participating in the services of a man-made religion. Superstition Joining the Masons or the Communists after you knew it was wrong. Perjury. Neglecting the bodies or souls of your children. Hatred. Drunkenness. The use of narcotics in a sinful manner. Theft, fraud, damaging the property of another, not paying your just debts, wasting time, money, or property of your employer, depriving your family of needed money by gambling, drinking, or foolish spending. Telling serious lies, seriously damaging another's reputation, serious rash judgment, revealing serious secrets. Say the Act of Contrition. O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishment. But most of all because I have offended Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen Go into the confessional to make your confession. |
C. WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU LEAVE THE CONFESSIONAL
Go into a quiet place in the Church and say your penance (the prayers the priest gave you to say). Thank God from the bottom of your heart for forgiving your sins and promise Him that you will stay away from these sins in the future.
D. SORROW FOR SINS
Your sorrow for sins must be in your heart, not only on your lips; you must be sorry for all your mortal sins, not just for some of them. Your sorrow must be a sorrow for offending God, not a sorrow for offending man, or a sorrow prompted by mar punishment. It must be greater than the sorrow you experienced for any earthly loss, but tears or any other display of emotion is not necessary .
Sorrow for sin is called perfect when it is a sorrow for offending God Who is so good. It is called imperfect when it is prompt by fear of hell with which God punishes unrepentant sinners. Imperfect sorrow is sufficient in confession, but try to make your sorrow perfect.
Sincere sorrow for sin is a sorrow which makes us avoid not only mortal sin, but any person, place or thing that leads you into mortal sin (near occasions of sin) .If your sorrow is real, your confession will be humble; you will tell your sins honestly and truthfully as you know them, and you will tell the number and kind of sins.
E. IF YOU CANNOT REMEMBER THE NUMBER OF YOUR SINS
You must tell all of your mortal sins in confession as far as you can remember them. In your first confession it might I impossible for you to remember the exact number of your sins. If you cannot remember the number. tell how many times a 00 or week, or month you committed the sins. or how long the habit or practice of the particular sin lasted.
F. WHAT IS A BAD CONFESSION?
A bad confession is one in which the person deliberately conceals a mortal sin. Such a confession is a sacrilege (an abuse the sacred power of forgiving sin). A sacrilegious confession is a rare thing; most people are very sincere and truthful in the confessional. If a person makes a sacrilegious confession, he must confess this fact, and repeat all his sins since his last good confession.
For example, if in 1990 a person willfully concealed a mortal sin in confession, all his confessions and Holy Communions are sacrilegious until he makes a good confession in which he tells of his sacrilegious act. If a person forgets to confess a mortal sin in confession, his confession is not sacrilegious. All that is necessary is that he tells this particular mortal sin in a future confession whenever he thinks of it
G. AFTER CONFESSION DO PENANCE FOR YOUR SINS
In the Sacrament of Penance (Confession), God gives his priest the power to bring sinners back into the state of grace and to prevent them from falling into the abyss of hell. However, after confession some temporal punishment due to sin generally remains, and some of this pounishment is taken away in the penance (prayers the priest gives you to pray) You should perform other acts of penance also so that you can make up for the temporal punishment due to sin and to avoid a long stay in purgatory .The Church suggests to us these forms of penance: prayer, fasting, giving alms in the Name of Christ, the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, the patient sufferings of the ills of life, and the gaining of indulgences.
H. WHAT IS AN INDULGENCE?
An indulgence is the taking away of all or part of the temporal punishment due to sin. The Catholic Church has the power to take away not only sin, but also the temporal punishment due to sin.
Christ gave the Church this power when He said to Peter. ..1 will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. ..and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth it shall be loosed also in heaven.'. ( Matthew 16:19 )
Holy Water and using blessed medals or statues, and several ways listed in Catholic prayer books. Indulgences may be gained also for the poor souls in Purgatory .
