Confession

[trevor]

Hello All,

I noticed a thread earlier concerned about lying and confession was mentioned. That got me to thinking because I love confession. But I am not sure that I do it right all the time, meaning sometimes I forget sins that I wanted to confess or maybe don’t make a thorough examination of conscience. Are my sins forgiven or do I still need to confess them when I remember them later?

Also, does anyone use a specific examination of conscience before their own confession or just wing it?

Thanks.

ybiC,
Trevor

 

[Deacon_Ed]

Trevor,

The Catholic teaching is that those sins which are not deliberately omitted are forgiven, even if they are ones that wer forgotten or (as I did not too recently) simply skipped over. I was discussing a spiritual matter in the midst of my confession, and simply omitted a sin. I did not intend to hide it, and I really hadn’t forgotten it since it came to mind during an examination of conscience – I simpy skipped over it. It was forgiven.

As for examination of conscience: I generally go through the 10 commandments. While the commandment to honor one’s parents no longer directly applies (my parents are both dead), I still have to honor their memory and, by extension of the principles of the commandment, all those in authority over me. So, a thorough examination of conscience would take a long time – except that I generally do this on a nightly basis as part of Night Prayer, so it’s not all that difficult.

Deacon Ed