Confession Question

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ATeutonicKnight

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Usually when I go to confession I don’t go into much detail, in that I don’t say “I lied to someone on the internet on Saturday, and then I kicked a cat seven times on Friday, and then,” I just say, “I’ve lied, I’ve kicked cats, I’ve,”. (Note, I haven’t actually kicked cats) So I wanted to know, if, perhaps, instead of saying, “I payed three strippers, then had intimate matters with them, and then I did this and that with five more women,” I could just say, “I’ve done sexual acts”? Would that count as a good account of my sins, or do you have to say everything that you’ve done? Not in detail, like I described earlier, but just state the sins you’ve committed instead of making it somewhat vague?
 
I say in confession all the acts I have committed but I think I do not need to be descriptive. I think about confession as a court: I am the accuser and the accused. The priest, standing in the place of God, administers punishment - a sentence and punishment. Usually it is forgiveness and a penance. The accuser always presents detail of an criminal act, in my case sins.
 
When confessing grave sins, we ought to confess the number and kind insofar as that is possible (see canon 988 in the Code of Canon Law).

I always say that there is no need to go into too much detail and if the priest needs more details, he’ll ask. That said, I think “sexual acts” is a bit too vague. There are a lot of things that could mean: masturbation, fornication, adultery, etc. I think it is important to make at least a minimal distinction (e.g. “impure acts with others 5 times and impure acts with myself a dozen or so times”). Obviously, you don’t lay out the sordid details. But if your sin is adultery as opposed to fornication, there is a whole other level to it (damaging the bonds of marriage) that is important to convey.
 
That’s what I figured. I was just asking because I’ve been around the block and done a few things I’m not too proud of. But, as always, I’ll walk out of there happy as a clam. It’s impossible not to when you’re freed from Mortal Sin.

I’m not too into stating how many times you’ve done something. First of all because it’s impossible to remember if you don’t write it down (Since we do sin everyday), and also because every Priest I’ve known is content with just knowing what you’ve done. It doesn’t really matter how many people you’ve slept with, it just matters if you’ve slept with someone. Of course, if you sleep with someone and you’re married, you would probably have to confess that tiny detail, but seeing as how I’m not married and haven’t slept with anyone it doesn’t seem like it has relevance to me. 😛

:knight1:
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
I’m not too into stating how many times you’ve done something. First of all because it’s impossible to remember if you don’t write it down (Since we do sin everyday), and also because every Priest I’ve known is content with just knowing what you’ve done. It doesn’t really matter how many people you’ve slept with, it just matters if you’ve slept with someone. Of course, if you sleep with someone and you’re married, you would probably have to confess that tiny detail, but seeing as how I’m not married and haven’t slept with anyone it doesn’t seem like it has relevance to me.
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Well, I hope you get “into” it, because Canon Law requires that mortal sins be confessed in kind and number. Despite all the love and forgiveness abounding in confession, your confession is actually a legal proceeding with specific requirements, one of which is the number of your mortal sins. You can confess your venial sins without numbers, but mortal sins need to be counted.
 
baltobetsy said:
Well, I hope you get “into” it, because Canon Law requires that mortal sins be confessed in kind and number. Despite all the love and forgiveness abounding in confession, your confession is actually a legal proceeding with specific requirements, one of which is the number of your mortal sins. You can confess your venial sins without numbers, but mortal sins need to be counted.
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Agreed. But, again, it is not necessary to go through great pains to come up with an exact number. A rough estimate is usually enough. Sometimes, reflecting too much to come up with an exact number can lead us to be tempted to commit that sin again.

Consider the difference between these two Confessions:

  1. *]It has been 3 months since my last Confession. In that time, I committed an impure act with myself one time.
    *]It has been 3 months since my last Confession. In that time, I committed impure acts with myself probably 4-5 times a week on average.

    The priest’s counsel would likely be quite a bit different for the person who had one slip up as opposed the one who appears to be in the throngs of habitual vice. That’s why the Church asks us to state number and kind.
 
baltobetsy said:
Well, I hope you get “into” it, because Canon Law requires that mortal sins be confessed in kind and number. Despite all the love and forgiveness abounding in confession, your confession is actually a legal proceeding with specific requirements, one of which is the number of your mortal sins. You can confess your venial sins without numbers, but mortal sins need to be counted.
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Where does it say in Canon Law that you have to count how many sins you’ve committed? I’ve never even heard of this, so, no offense, but I’m a bit skeptical.
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
Where does it say in Canon Law that you have to count how many sins you’ve committed? I’ve never even heard of this, so, no offense, but I’m a bit skeptical.
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I gave the citation above: Canon 988

Can. 988 §1. A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience.

§2. It is recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess venial sins.
 
If we go to private confession, we can confess any sin that is bothering our conscience or just confess sins of co mission and omission. We can never confess all our sins because we sin in thought, word, and deed. We sin in things that done and what ought to have done and we sin against our neighbor. :signofcross:
 
baltobetsy said:
Well, I hope you get “into” it, because Canon Law requires that mortal sins be confessed in kind and number. Despite all the love and forgiveness abounding in confession, your confession is actually a legal proceeding with specific requirements, one of which is the number of your mortal sins. You can confess your venial sins without numbers, but mortal sins need to be counted.
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baltobetsy, you are absolutely correct… I think there is a greater issue. Each person need to develop a personal way to confess. The law gives us the principle or guidance - how to confess and the minimum times we need to confess. However, we confess (shouldn’t) do not confess to satisfy the law (you are not saying this) but to get the personal spiritual benefit from it. It is a straight forward confession if we know we have done something wrong. The other question is to confess on regular basis, let say once a month, or once a week, which is a good practice, even thought there are no mortal sins. This opens a completely new discussion… how often should we confess, and what are the benefits and dangers of such a confession. Any ideas?
 
I think the point that is being missed here is the sound doctrine when it comes to the Sacrament of Confession.

An examination of conscience a few minutes before going into the confessional is helpful in that it “should” create in the penitent an awarness of how destructive sin really is and how offensive it is to God…[who is all good and deserving of all my love].

Contrition of heart is not just something that someone puts on and gets an Oscar from God. Understanding the seriousness of the sin committed and that it is a true offense to God, is what brings about a true contrition of heart. The [Fear of God] that everyone talks about is not being “afraid” of God - it is the fear of offending Him.

Purpose of Amendment: “I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin…” Do we truly have the intention of not going back into that website? Do we really have the intention to not drive down that street where my occasion of sin stimulates me? Do I really have the intention of not seeing that person again or going to that place again or having that conversation again???"

A good confession is more effective than an exorcism. Any exorcist will tell you this: Fr. Amorth; Fr. Fortea et al.

Let us not trivialize or infantilize our sin. Let us not make it sound like a high school or college prank. When we do this, we loose one of the essential elements of a good confession.

Confession is the inexhaustible source of renewable grace.

mangy dog.
 
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