Confession concern

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I’m going to be going to confession tomorrow, and I feel compelled to reiterate some previously confessed sins in a more adequate way than I had confessed them. I understand mortal sins must be confessed by number and kind. I’ve got the number part figured out, but in regards to kind, how specific do we have to be in regards to confessing our sins?

Take Lust for example, would saying “I had lustful thoughts X number of times.” be sufficient?

Or would I have to go into further detail about who was involved in these thoughts?
or even what was going on in these thoughts?

I don’t want to gross the priest out or have him draw wrong conclusions by what I say but at the same time I want to be completely and undoubtedly sincere.

So I suppose the essence of my question is, what is meant by “kind” in confessing sins by both number and kind?
 
One needs to confess mortal sins in number and kind…yes.

and circumstances that change the sin…such as one is married (that goes in beginning of your confession) or the person whom you murdered was your brother…things like that…

*any question ask the Priest…

this can help…from the senior apologist at Cath. Answers…

jimmyakin.typepad.com/defensor_fidei/2007/03/specific_confes.html
 
It is necessary to tell about number and kind, or as best you can remember. It however is not necessary to go into minute details. I find myself almost getting to a point of rambling as I try to spurt out details. I usually choose to go face to face with the priest so I get to see him when he puts his hand up to slow me down.
 
Thank you all for the answers, I just have another question that may sound silly. scrupulosity warning

Im doing my best to examine my conscience, and I recall an instance back when i was maybe 14 or 15, when all this Iran nuclear stuff was starting up, and I thought to myself that if I had the chance to nuke their capital, I would in order to prevent them from using nuclear weapons or whatever.

And this was before I knew about the Church’s teaching on nuclear weapons, before I knew what mortal sin was, and before I knew I could sin in that way by merely consenting to a thought. It was just a stupid thought I had as a ill informed and immature teen. Is this worthy of confessing or am I just being way too scrupulous and wasting the priest’s time?
 
_L said:
Thank you all for the answers, I just have another question that may sound silly. scrupulosity warning

Im doing my best to examine my conscience, and I recall an instance back when i was maybe 14 or 15, when all this Iran nuclear stuff was starting up, and I thought to myself that if I had the chance to nuke their capital, I would in order to prevent them from using nuclear weapons or whatever.

And this was before I knew about the Church’s teaching on nuclear weapons, before I knew what mortal sin was, and before I knew I could sin in that way by merely consenting to a thought. It was just a stupid thought I had as a ill informed and immature teen. Is this worthy of confessing or am I just being way too scrupulous and wasting the priest’s time?
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My opinion: this one is not worth confessing. If every dumb teenage thought had to be confessed, our priests would be overwhelmed.

As for the previous question: “Take Lust for example, would saying “I had lustful thoughts X number of times.” be sufficient?”
Yes.
 
What I like to do as an examination is to go through the commandments and then make a mental list of what I broke and to what extent. If you feel that you may forget something important it is okay to write it down and take the list with you. I have read where priests want you to try to recall from memory but I always feel to get them all off my chest by reading them instead of reciting them is best. If you miss something it is okay just remember them for the next confession.

One thing that is pertinent to remember is that God loves the sinner but not the sin. Jesus ate with sinners and chose them over the ones who thought themselves righteous. This is something I have to keep reminding myself of because of scrupulosity issues. Sometimes I get to a point of feeling inadequate enough where it becomes a why bother. But then I realize that he reached out to me now its my turn to reciprocate. If you are a sinner then you are in the right place. Just keep your head up and continue walking the path best you can.
 
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