Examination of Conscience

[loouuii]

I am a returning Catholic who stayed away from the church since the mid 60s. I have been back for almost two years now. My spouse and I have been through RCIA together. I’ve had to make a petition to the church for annulment of a previous marriage.

All is done now and we will be validating our vows in two weeks. we will also be going to confession just before the mass.

My question is this; What should I do as part of my examination of conscience and should I only concentrate on mortal sin that I have committed? Our priest has said that we will be confessing in a general confession where he will be calling out the 10 Commandments and we make a response if we have sinned against a particular commandment.

I am really serious about wanting to be a good catholic in the eyes of the lord. I read my bible most days and am working on praying most days also. I just want to do the right thing.

 

[Mirror_Mirror]

I am a returning Catholic who stayed away from the church since the mid 60s. I have been back for almost two years now. My spouse and I have been through RCIA together. I’ve had to make a petition to the church for annulment of a previous marriage.

All is done now and we will be validating our vows in two weeks. we will also be going to confession just before the mass.

My question is this; What should I do as part of my examination of conscience and should I only concentrate on mortal sin that I have committed? Our priest has said that we will be confessing in a general confession where he will be calling out the 10 Commandments and we make a response if we have sinned against a particular commandment.

I am really serious about wanting to be a good catholic in the eyes of the lord. I read my bible most days and am working on praying most days also. I just want to do the right thing.

I am not sure, but you need to post again, quick to change your post count.

Here you go…check these links out…

catholic-pages.com/penance/examine.asp

or

thereasonforourhope.org/pdfs/14.pdf

 

[loouuii]

Thank you for the links. My wife and I will discuss these tonight. This is exactly what I was after.

As for my post count, I play the Geography game in the clubhouse. I was looking for something to keep me away from television all day when at home sick.

 

[Mirror_Mirror]

Thank you for the links. My wife and I will discuss these tonight. This is exactly what I was after.

As for my post count, I play the Geography game in the clubhouse. I was looking for something to keep me away from television all day when at home sick.

Your welcome! Best of luck to you and your wife, I hope it helps!

Hope you feel better!

 

[Seatuck]

I’m so impressed you will be going to confession prior to the validation. So many people do not understand the need for being without mortal sin in order to receive the full grace of a Sacrament.

I like the following Examen of Conscience also. It helps me work on my venial sins and imperfections as well.

catholicparents.org/oxcart/Examination%20of%20Conscience.pdf

 

[loouuii]

Thank you for your considerate reply. I have never been disappointed when I ask for help on this web site. I only hope that I can become as knowlegeable as the people on here some day.

I know that I’ll be asking more questions in the future. I have joined the RCIA group at our church and will be conducting some of the sessions. I was an instructor in the Army for over 7 years and know how to teach and research my material. I did teach a class on the Rosary this year and our pastor said that I did a good job. I received a lot of help from this site prior to teaching it.

I’ll be back soon…

 

[Ramalama]

Thank you all for posting this here. My wife and I are trying to understand the more subtile aspects of sin. Just last night I asked God for help. This morning I stumbled over this thread. Hmm . . .

 

[Greg27]

Your conscience is your deepest ‘inner voice’ which tells you what is wrong. In a way it is also your own judge. Just be quiet and listen to what it is telling you, and you will know what you need to confess as sins.

 

[loouuii]

Thank you for all the help. I am much more prepared than before.

 

[blessedtoo]

I am a returning Catholic who stayed away from the church since the mid 60s. I have been back for almost two years now.

God bless!
I left the Church in the early 70’s and only returned four years ago. I had much to confess! I worried quite a bit in that first year that I wasn’t confessing all of my past sins, and panicked when I realized I had forgotten sins after receiving absolution. The fine folks here at CAF kept me from falling into scrupulosity by reminding me that I had still been forgiven but to make every effort to remember those sins in subsequent confessions. It took about a year, but I finally caught up with most of them! So don’t worry if you find yourself remembering things after your first Confession. You can bring them to the priest the next time you go! God bless!

 

[DL82]

Our priest has said that we will be confessing in a general confession where he will be calling out the 10 Commandments and we make a response if we have sinned against a particular commandment.

Your priest is making you all go through a general confession for your first confession after RCIA?

Apart from the fact that general confession with general absolution is only valid in situations where there is a grave immediate threat to life, e.g. a crashing plane, an army going into battle.

Surely for your first confession at least you need a priest to guide you through it, and you deserve to have the priest hear your individual sins, hear the words of the absolution just for you, and be given an appropriate penance to help your spiritual growth.

If I were you, I’d ask the priest if you could have a private confession.

 

[blessedtoo]

Your priest is making you all go through a general confession for your first confession after RCIA?

Apart from the fact that general confession with general absolution is only valid in situations where there is a grave immediate threat to life, e.g. a crashing plane, an army going into battle.

Surely for your first confession at least you need a priest to guide you through it, and you deserve to have the priest hear your individual sins, hear the words of the absolution just for you, and be given an appropriate penance to help your spiritual growth.

If I were you, I’d ask the priest if you could have a private confession.

I’ll second that suggestion!

 

[loouuii]

It will be a private confession. He will also guide me through it through the 10 Commandments,

As I was going through RCIA I had my own private slide show where at different times during my day, in my mind I would see all of the bad things that I have done in my life. It was quite an experience. Shortly after that ended I think the devil was trying to make me remember some of my sinful pleasures, once I realized what that was I would say the Lords Prayer and it would stop.

After reading through the material that these kind folks have recommended, I am more than ready to make the best confession of my life. The only thing that I have problems with is when I’m around my fellow workers, sometimes I fall back into my old ways. I’m working at it and am making progress. I know with the help of our church I’ll finally see an end to my bad habits. One of the things that I have done is to purchase a little card called The Cross in My Pocket, it helps me remember my promises to God.

 

[InLight247]

Your priest is making you all go through a general confession for your first confession after RCIA?

Is there a misunderstanding here?

The general confession the OP meant is probably not the definition of
“general” you think. The priest must mean to make a confession of all sins in life up to date. That is usually what “general confession” means. It is not a confession with a large crowd and receive general absolution.