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Kent
Member
| Joined: | Tue Nov 6th, 2007 |
| Location: | Houston, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 4 |
| First Name: | Kent | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Baptist to Episcopal to Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Fri Nov 9th, 2007 05:00 pm |
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| I have recently started RCIA after having dropped out of religion for 20 years. I am enjoying the classes very much and I do intend to continue on and become a member of the Catholic church at Easter. However my biggest concern at the moment is the first confession. I am not sure how this should be done. As I understand it, I will need to confess all my mortal sins since my baptism which was 40+ years ago. How do I go about doing this? I can't remember ever sin and especially the number of times it was committed. Can I do kind of a top level summary of what I remember, saying "many times committed"? I have general fear of confession before a priest. This had kept me from entering RCIA in the past. Any comments would be appreciated to ease my anxiety on this issue.
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Intercessor
Member
| Joined: | Tue Sep 25th, 2007 |
| Location: | Southcentral, Kentucky USA |
| Posts: | 854 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Southern Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Nov 9th, 2007 05:55 pm |
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Hi, Kent. Welcome to the forum!
Here's a free audio CD on confession:
Free Audio CD on Confession
samples of an examination of conscience:
Catholicculture examination of conscience
mariancatechist examination of conscience
st-thomas exam of conscience
Last edited on Mon Nov 12th, 2007 03:16 am by Intercessor
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"If our charity is arrested by the difficulties encountered in dealing with our neighbor, . . . our relations with our brethren are not regulated by our love of God, but by our love of self." Divine Intimacy p. 781, Fr. Gabriel, O.C.D.
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4977 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Fri Nov 9th, 2007 09:50 pm |
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Kent wrote: my biggest concern at the moment is the first confession. I am not sure how this should be done.
First of all, Kent, welcome to the forum and the Catholic faith.
I recommend that you schedule an appointment with your priest for a "general confession". You and he will discuss the pattens of your sinfulness, and at the end he will give you absolution. It's not necessary that you give him an accurate count of how many times you may have committed a particular sin; it is enough to indicate "few" versus "plenty" or "for six months" rather than "for ten years". If he feels he needs further clarification, he'll ask. He'll offer spiritual guidance as he sees fit, and assign you a penance if he believes it would be helpful to you. And then he'll grant absolution and you will be forgiven.
Before your confession, prayerfully go through the Ten Commandments. How have you failed to honor the Lord's Day? How have you failed to honor your parents? How have you hurt other people? How have you coveted another's possessions? How have you made others into sexual objects? Have you done it once or twice, or frequently for several years? Have you taken things that didn't belong to you? And so on. Then be honest with your priest. Remember that he is bound by canon law not to reveal anything you say, and unless you are a Mafia hit man in your spare time, it is doubtful you will tell him anything he hasn't heard before (unless he was ordained last week!).
The entire purpose of confession is healing and forgiveness, and every priest I've ever known finds nothing more satisfying than telling sinners that their sins are forgiven. It is the ultimate benefit of their vocation. So let him exercise his ministry by taking away your sins, and you will both leave the room closer to God.
And thank God we have been given this wonderful gift.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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