F
FrancescaMaria
Guest
Hello,
I was baptized as a baby in a Protestant church, but was raised atheist in a country where any religious education was forbidden. When I was confirmed and received first Communion in America, I was not advised to make my first Confession at the time. When I did come to my first Confession about 6 months after regularly receiving the Communion, the priest instructed me to confess what I want to work on now (i.e. now that I know there is a loving God and what his Commandments are - and I had no other instruction on the sacrament at the time) and to go from there, so I did. I have been practicing for almost 25 years now, but now I am hearing that everyone needs to make their first confession of all their sins since baptism, not conversion, so I have doubts. I do not think I could remember my childhood and teenage sins now, much less to assess how my conscience was developed at the time. Also, as my conscience gradually developed, I am now confessing things that I did not consider serious enough (and probably did not confess) during the initial years of my journey. I would appreciate any help. I used to love my spiritual journey, but I have doubts now that I might have been in a state of sin all this time, and it really scares me. Thank you!
I was baptized as a baby in a Protestant church, but was raised atheist in a country where any religious education was forbidden. When I was confirmed and received first Communion in America, I was not advised to make my first Confession at the time. When I did come to my first Confession about 6 months after regularly receiving the Communion, the priest instructed me to confess what I want to work on now (i.e. now that I know there is a loving God and what his Commandments are - and I had no other instruction on the sacrament at the time) and to go from there, so I did. I have been practicing for almost 25 years now, but now I am hearing that everyone needs to make their first confession of all their sins since baptism, not conversion, so I have doubts. I do not think I could remember my childhood and teenage sins now, much less to assess how my conscience was developed at the time. Also, as my conscience gradually developed, I am now confessing things that I did not consider serious enough (and probably did not confess) during the initial years of my journey. I would appreciate any help. I used to love my spiritual journey, but I have doubts now that I might have been in a state of sin all this time, and it really scares me. Thank you!