Face to face Confession?

[JCPhoenix]

When I was a child I went to confession face to face…although I was very shy it was more comfortable for me.

Then I didn’t go for a long time…and when I finally returned to confession after more than 10 years, it was face to face and I couldn’t stop crying. The thought of it makes me cry now. The good priest was so alarmed (he didn’t really show “alarm” per se…it’s hard to explain) and in public I" m not a very demonstrative person so I don’t want to cause a reaction in anyone.

Now I go behind the screen. I haven’t yet been able to go to confession without crying since I’ve been back to the church. And for this reason I stay behind the grille. Maybe it sounds dumb but I know these wondeful priests and I have diffuculty facing them when I reveal what a horrible human being I am.

I said I know that sounds dumb, and I know it’s irrational. I have all the intellectual arguments down pat and I’ve helped others in their similar struggles…but I can’t seem to overcome this particular one for myself.

I look forward to the day when I can confess face to face again.

It is a beautiful sacrament.

 

[Celia]

Growing up, we always went to confession face to face. Or, in high school, they had the chairs set up so you could sit behind the priest if you wanted too. The last time I went to confession was the first time I ever didn’t go face to face, we have a large red curtain separating you and the priest or you can sit in front of the priest in a chair. Like another poster mentioned, I now find it more comfortable to go behind the curtain, that way I’m not concentrating on the reaction or expression of the priest but what I need to say. It’s much easier for me, however, I may try going face to face again sometime if I feel like I need to.

Confession can be nerve wracking but it is truly a great thing. You feel like you’re walking on air afterwards.

 

[Jimmy_B]

JMJ

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Catechism of the Catholic Church

**1455 **The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.

**1456 **Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: “All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly.”

When Christ’s faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, “for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.”

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**1457 **According to the Church’s command, “after having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year.” Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession. Children must go to the sacrament of Penance before receiving Holy Communion for the first time.

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**1458 **Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful:

Whoever confesses his sins . . . is already working with God. God indicts your sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear “man” - this is what God has made; when you hear “sinner” - this is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made. . . . When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You do the truth and come to the light.

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Yours in Christ,

 

[Jimmy_B]

JMJ
Catechism of the Catholic Church

**1484 **“Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile themselves with God and the Church, unless physical or moral impossibility excuses from this kind of confession.” There are profound reasons for this. Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He personally addresses every sinner: “My son, your sins are forgiven.” He is the physician tending each one of the sick who need him to cure them. He raises them up and reintegrates them into fraternal communion. Personal confession is thus the form most expressive of reconciliation with God and with the Church.

**1486 **The forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism is conferred by a particular sacrament called the sacrament of conversion, confession, penance, or reconciliation

**1493 **One who desires to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his conscience. The confession of venial faults, without being necessary in itself, is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.

**1817 **Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” “The Holy Spirit . . . he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.”

Yours in Christ,