Confession: Not often enough?

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KimberlyAnn0218

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I know similar questions get batted around around confession,but I wanted to specifically ask this and see what kind of responses I get.

I am a Catholic Convert whose initiation into the church 17 years ago did not include going to confession. I went for the first time in December. So being a later-ish 30 year old goign to confession for the first time I had some catching up to do. I went about every 2-5 weeks initially.

Now that “the attic is clean” so to speak I have found that I have difficulty feeling like I should**go. I have nothing big anymore. I have a few differnt examinations of conscious documents to hlep me through and obviously I know I am not without sin, but what I seem to be dealing with is that I actually feel “stupid” if I don’t have something “big” to confess. I think it is probably because my first 5 confessions dealth with a lot of “big stuff” so that is what I know…

Thoughts?

Kim
 
Don’t feel stupid, even if you go with nothing to confess, go and ask to receive the grace of the Sacrament.

Better, get yourself a good examination of conscience to use. You’d be amazed how much you actually do sin without recognising it. As we deepen our spirituality and hear the voice of God more clearly, we develop a more heightened sense of what offends God.
 
KimberlyAnn0218 said:
I know similar questions get batted around around confession,but I wanted to specifically ask this and see what kind of responses I get.

I am a Catholic Convert whose initiation into the church 17 years ago did not include going to confession. I went for the first time in December. So being a later-ish 30 year old goign to confession for the first time I had some catching up to do. I went about every 2-5 weeks initially.

Now that “the attic is clean” so to speak I have found that I have difficulty feeling like I should**go. I have nothing big anymore. I have a few differnt examinations of conscious documents to hlep me through and obviously I know I am not without sin, but what I seem to be dealing with is that I actually feel “stupid” if I don’t have something “big” to confess. I think it is probably because my first 5 confessions dealth with a lot of “big stuff” so that is what I know…

Thoughts?

Kim
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There are no small things to God.
If you could do better and you didnt you are sinning. I am not telling whether it is a big or small because there ar BIG and SMALL sins as if they were big and small bags of potatoes.
We may go to the priest and sau: “Father, I have sinned and I repent and i wnat to do better”. that is enough.
Many people think that the important thing is “to say things” as a menu of a rrestaurant.
That is not important or the most important thing. Maybe many of the BIG things we told were not sins at all. Suppose a girl who was initiated by her mother into prostitution at age 12, when she is 27 she is going to confession and she has got a truckload of stuff. But maybe none of it is really a sin but empty baloons. what kind of responsability has she? None. What kind of possibility had she to escape from her life? Probabily none.
So what matters is to recognize before that we are sinners, that God is perfect, that before Him we are nothing and finally, that we want to do more and more to be like Jesus.
For me this is more important than the list of sins. cheers.👍
 
Get in the habit of doing an examination of conscience every night before you go to bed. Ask the Holy Spirit to inspire your mind and guide your thoughts. As the Holy Spirit starts to point out different times in your life where you have offended Him ask for His forgiveness, and promise to do better.

Once you get in the habit of recognizing your little daily sins, you’ll have no shortage of sins to confess even if you go once a week!
 
These priests are trained for anything, so what you tell your priest will not shock him

If you are not confident with your sins, they have a book called examinatioin of Conscience which includes every sin possible.

You might want to get a copy of this.

Or, just the confessor what is on y our mind,

I encourage y ou if you are scrupulus, DO NOT USE THIS EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.

God bless you

JIM ROBERTS
 
First I have to say that what Fightingfat said is wrong. You cannot receive the sacrament of penance if you have no sins to confess. That is the matter of the Sacrament (like bread is for the Holy Eucharist). So without sins, there is no absolution!!

Second, I have also had trouble at times going to confession without a grave sin to confess. But remember, all sins are infinitely offensive to God, mortal or venial. Usually the problem is not a soul without sin (unless you are the Blessed Mother), it is the sin without sufficient remorse and amendment to never commit that sin again. I have had priests tell me that if you are having trouble feeling sorry for your venial sins, recall to mind your past mortal sins and recognize that you are or have offended a perfect and all good God. Because besides having sin to confess, we must have sufficient sorrow and promise to never commit the sin again!

Don’t forget to mention to the priest temptations you have. While these are not sins in themselves, you receive grace to resist the future temptations and he may give some advice on how not to fall into sin from the temptations.

God bless!
 
I remember clearly my first confession after 15 years away from the church. My priest was kind enough to offer categories. I believe (don’t quote me) that the requirement is to go once a year. I try to go every other week just as I don’t like carrying the weight. Even when I am being most aware, I still sin. Sins of pride, anger, frustration are common. Simply think of the traffic snarl you hit on your way to…fill in the blank.

I begin my evening prayers with a prayer for forgiveness for sins of thought and action. As a human, I’m never perfect and know that my memory gets worse every year.

In love and service,
Anne Marie
 
ou can receive absolultion evenif you have a VENIAL SIN.Arguiing with your parents can be a venial sin; fighting with you brothers can be a venial sin

The priest can always say I absolve youi from your past sins especially if you were worrried you did not confess it.

If you argue with a friedn or slander them.
 
Jim_Roberts said:
ou can receive absolultion evenif you have a VENIAL SIN.Arguiing with your parents can be a venial sin; fighting with you brothers can be a venial sin

The priest can always say I absolve youi from your past sins especially if you were worrried you did not confess it.

If you argue with a friedn or slander them.
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Correct. John81 said we can’t confess if we don’t have any sins to confess. We all have sins to confess, and even though sacramental confession isn’t required for venial sin, it is efficacious against venial sin. So even if we don’t have mortal sin we should confess from time to time.

Moreover if we have grave matter on our conscience, but do not for example have full consent (e.g. it’s a grave sin but habitual, due to addiction, mental issues, etc.), even though we don’t meet the conditions for our culpability to be “mortal”, we should still work on these sins, and try to rectify the habit or ailment. In that regard, sacramental confession is probably one of the most powerful weapons in our arsenal for combatting habitual sin. A good confessor is a wonderful person to have on our side! And we need to remember, he is on our side, he is not an adversary! God wants us to be reconciled with Him, and so too do His priests!
 
Thanks for everyone’s thoughts…I can certainly come up with an impressive list of sins on a daily basis… It’s just this feeling I have that I can’t shake. BUT I will work on it 🙂
 
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