Confession..

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scc11

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HI All,
I am looking to go to confession tomorrow. I try and go every 2 months but its been a little over 2 months since my last one. I have noticed whenever I have gone that I do my best to get all my sins out there but sometimes the priest jumps in and says something to the effect of “I know how I can help you…” and he goes on to suggest a thing or two to help me with one or two of the sins I just confessed. Sometimes I dont get to finish listing my sins. I dont want to be rude and be like I wasn’t done. I know he is very busy and theres usually a long line and my parish only offers confession 1 hour a day during the week, 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the mid afternoon.
My question is, if I do not get these other sins out, but had the intention of telling him, was my confession valid?
 
As long as you get the mortal sins out, you’re good.

It reminds me of advice I’ve heard about confession: be blunt, be brief, be gone! In other words, name the sin, keep it short, and move on.
 
I know mortal sins need to be confessed but what if I cant get them in because he starts giving advice and then is like say your act of contrition?
 
I knew a priest who, the moment you paused, he would jump in with his counsel and he wouldn’t stop to take a breath (it seemed) until he was already through with the absolution. So I learned to speak quickly. 😛 If I needed to pause to think, I would use filler words like, “um…and…um…” so that there was never an opportunity for him to jump in until I was actually done. :o

And keep in mind, I’m more of a formulate-the-list-ahead-of-time-then-get-in-there-say-the-list-and-get-out kind of guys. I’m generally never in the confessional very long, but even I felt rushed going to this priest. Some priests are just like that. You just need to plan accordingly. 😛

I know it can be awkward, but if the priest doesn’t allow you to get a word in edgewise, when he invites you to say the Act of Contrition, politely interject that you have a few more sins you need to confess. It is okay to do this.

This is why I think it’s a good practice to start with the biggest sins first and get them out of the way. No sense builiding up to them.
 
scc11 said:
I know mortal sins need to be confessed but what if I cant get them in because he starts giving advice and then is like say your act of contrition?
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If you have that many mortal sins to confess, I might recommend calling your parish office and making an appointment for a half hour… that way the priest doesn’t have to be conscious of the time constraint to get everyone through in the one hour of general time available every week. Similarly, be blunt. You don’t have to go into great detail about each sin… just state (for each) what it was, how many times, and an estimation of the severity (if needed). It’s possible you’re being far too descriptive with your confession.
 
Its not that I have too many mortal sins. Last confession, I only got one sin out before he was ready to give me absolution.
 
scc11 said:
Its not that I have too many mortal sins. Last confession, I only got one sin out before he was ready to give me absolution.
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You just have to say, that you have more to say… It isn’t that difficult. Don’t worry, I’m sure the priest has many other penitents who are much longer and tiring than you. I would say, it is more important that you make a good confession than not to annoy the priest.
 
If you are truly repentant and wish to ask God for forgiveness - then fear not…some people put God into a ‘box"…just remember…it is the Heavenly Fathers desire that we all come to repentance and claim the forgiveness of sin thru Jesus’…do you really think that just because a priest who may have “rushed” through the sacrament of reconciliation - that God would not honour the desire in your heart to be forgiven and set free from sin??

Of course God will honour your heart’s desire to be forgiven - because that is His will also…that is why He went to such great length to allow His Son to be offered up us the perfect sacrifice for all sin!

Our heavenly Father loves you so much - and the reality is this - the moment you ask Him in your heart for forgiveness - that moment you come before Him in prayer in a place of true sorrow and repentance - He does indeed forgive you!!

the sacrament of reconciliation is a formal reflection of this - to encourage us to keep a soft and repentant heart before the Lord…the sacrament can be a place of healing and spiritual counsel…but think for a moment about those who due to circumstance may not be able to get to a priest for the sacrament…do you not think God would not honour their hearts desire to be forgiven and set free???

God is so much bigger than all that - bottom line…He wants to be in relationship with us…sin seperates us from Him…Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty (ie the wages of sin is death - Jesus paid that price)…if we confess our sins and believe that He is the Saviour who has done this for us…then we are forgiven…and are restored to relationship with God!!
 
I would suggest that when you start, tell him that you have multiple sins to confess and then jump in and talk fast. If you’re not done, tell him you have more to say.
 
I would suggest make an office appointment for confession ( maybe a 20 min appointment ) so you will have enough time. Of course you dont have to use the entire 20 min, but you know it is set aside for you should you wish to.

Also, you may want to consider going elsewhere for confession, such as another local parish or the parish in the next town over.
 
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