Confession question?

[Redratfish]

Recently while going to confession I have found myself not as nervous as I use to be, I am able to confess my sins without hesitation. When going to the priest face to face, I often times see that the priest is surprised that I confess what I do, without acting shy or scared, especially for my age. During one confession, a priest once talked about how during confession we must be sincere and truly sorry for our sins for them to be forgiven. I can’t help but think he was refering to my appearance of not being truly sorry.

Is this natural? Or am I being disrespectful by not showing physically that I am sorry for my sins?

I am truly repentant, However, I often times do not show my emotions.

 

[Barbkw]

I’ve wondered about this - ever since I went to confession and wasn’t allowed to read from the list I’d written.

I can be & sound repentant reading from a list.

Ever since then, I’ve forced myself to memorize the sins, which means I’m on a time schedule (I’m 50 and my memory is bad) to get the sins out before I forget the whole shebang - throw up my hands and say, “…sorry for all those sins which I can’t remember.”

No lists and memorization - are not win win situations for me.

 

[EmeraldWings]

I am the same way, i rarely show my emotions, it’s just how i am, even though i may feel a certain way, i usually don’t show it very much,
but don’t let it worry you to much, Jesus knows your heart, and He is the one that forgives you, and if the priest ever makes anything more of it, just tell him what you’ve said here, i’m sure he’d understand.

 

[irenesg]

I will be confirmed this Easter so I have never been to confession. I am very nervous about how to act. Were any of you nervous or did it just come natural?

 

[Barbkw]

I will be confirmed this Easter so I have never been to confession. I am very nervous about how to act. Were any of you nervous or did it just come natural?

I should lie to you and say it all came natural.

I was a bag of nerves at 7 years old and I’m still a bit nervous each time that I receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

It’s the whole thought that Jesus is there, between me and the priest.

 

[utah_rose]

I’ve wondered about this - ever since I went to confession and wasn’t allowed to read from the list I’d written.

I can be & sound repentant reading from a list.

Ever since then, I’ve forced myself to memorize the sins, which means I’m on a time schedule (I’m 50 and my memory is bad) to get the sins out before I forget the whole shebang - throw up my hands and say, “…sorry for all those sins which I can’t remember.”

No lists and memorization - are not win win situations for me.

I don’t understand why your priest won’t allow you to do this? I am older than you and without making a list I’m lost. I think that I would find another Confessor if this one won’t allow you to do this.

 

[RSD]

I will be confirmed this Easter so I have never been to confession. I am very nervous about how to act. Were any of you nervous or did it just come natural?

I think that we were all nervous, no matter what age our first confession. I remember one time, before I was Catholic, I was visiting a Catholic family who turned out to be very instrumental in my conversion. Some question about confession came up, and my friend asked her father. He came and spoke to us very solemnly, and to our surprise said something like this: I find confession to be extremely unpleasant… until it is over." I am probably not doing justice to his words, but the gist of it was that thinking about your sins, and saying them out loud to someone is very hard. The only thing that keeps us coming back is the absolution.

 

[Redratfish]

I will be confirmed this Easter so I have never been to confession. I am very nervous about how to act. Were any of you nervous or did it just come natural?

I certainly was nervous for my first confession. However, now that Im in highschool and looked into apologetics, i see now that there is absolutely nothing that I can tell the priest he hasn’t heard before. The priest cannot tell others that I confessed these sins, so to me, there is no reason to be scared.

However, I wish you luck and congradulate on your first confession, and pray that one day you might not be nervous

 

[jmcrae]

I will be confirmed this Easter so I have never been to confession. I am very nervous about how to act. Were any of you nervous or did it just come natural?

I was horribly nervous at my First Confession, but the priest was very kind to me, and I got through it just fine.

I still get nervous before I go, but once I am in there and talking to the priest, I am relaxed and normal.

Going into Confession is nerve-wracking :blackeye:, but coming out is wonderful. :heaven:

 

[Kennywood]

@ irenseg:

In that it is human nature to get nervous before one speaks, we probably all get nervous. At different times I have been slightly worked up to off the charts, not sure I could do it at all nervous. But ALWAYS I have been glad that I went. Especially when it was the hardest.

It is the worrying about it ahead of time that is nerve-wracking. I have NEVER had a less than pleasant exchange in the confessional. In fact, most recently I was bowled over by the grace I received, in words from a priest who didn’t know my life story but said more precise words to me than a person could ever come up with on their own.

It’s a good thing.

 

[svid]

From the first, I was and probably always will be nervous. Often it seems like I’m smiling, not taking it seriously, but the priest should know that God knows what is in my heart.

If a priest did not allow a list, or was not giving me good spiritual guidance, I would find another priest. But a list should only be necessary if it’s been a very long time since your last confession (you’re a revert or convert), or if your memory is bad, or you have questions, or you’re scrupulous. Watch out for that last one.