First Confession

[Krislavis]

Does anyone on here who is a convert have information on how their first confession went (no need to go into detail about the sins committed unless you want to). I still have a while before I would go to my first confession, but since I have almost a full year to examine my conscience, I keep wondering how the experience will go.

There are definitely things I am not proud of and some things I feel I need to tell the whole situation in order to understand, but I have gotten the impression that I should just list them off with the number of times committed without explanation and that is that. Is it okay to explain the situation a bit as you say what you did wrong?

Does the priest typically ask a lot of questions as to what led you to sin? If you have many sins to list (since as a convert I have never been to confession and I am now an adult), would he address each one you listed or only some that you listed? If there was something that maybe often led you to sin (say a need for acceptance or a fear of rejection that caused you to avoid confrontation and lie about some things) should you list it as a sin or just mention you want to discuss something that often leads you to sin on occasion?

I hope this is the right place to post this. please let me know if it is not.

 

[jmcrae]

I am a convert; I was 39 years old when I was received into the Church and I had been baptized as an infant. I made a general Confession that included all the sins I could remember, focusing on recent events first and then dealing with childhood and young adulthood. The whole thing took about 25 minutes, and my penance was to reflect on the parable of the prodigal son.

The priest didn’t say much and only asked questions when I needed help staying on track.

I remember thinking it was a lot easier than I had been expecting.

To prepare for it, I used a very thorough examination of conscience, and I memorized a simple Act of Contrition.

 

[CB_Catholic]

Just tell the priest your sins, no need to give explanations, and if he wants to know more, he will ask Remember, you are confessing to God, and he already knows the details.

If you can’t remember the number of times, that is fine. Don’t worry about it. Try to make your Confession as simple and straightforward as possible, because excess detailing and explanations and worrying about things can lead to scrupulosity, which is not a desirable spiritual condition and can make one miserable.

If you forget something, it is still forgiven and absolved. If it is a grave or serious sin, it is still forgiven, as long as it was not deliberately withheld, but should be confessed the next time. If you mess up the words of the Act of Contrition, you are still forgiven. It is your repentance that is important. God WANTS to forgive you.

Trust the priest. He’s heard it all before and knows what he is doing.

Reconciliation is a blessing–be happy about it.