should I confess the sins I would like to commit, but don’t have the opportunity, or energy, to commit?
those checklists of sins in the typical examination of conscience guide are not meant to be an exhaustive compendium of all possible sins (which is the way some of use used them as teens, looking for interesting sins we had not yet considered, even looking up the names of some of them in the dictionary).
such guides are intended as just that, guides to help us open our minds, hearts and memories to everything that has been going on in our lives, our relationship with God, and our relationship with others.
of more help to a mature Christian who has made progress in conquering some of the more obvious sins, is the practice of the regular examen nightly and monthly, and the particular examen, in which we consider our progress in aquiring one specific virtue or combatting one particular sin or habit. These guides based on Ignatian spirituality are in Fr. John Hardon’s Catholic Prayerbook, and are extremely helpful, especially for the Christian who has come to the point where he thinks he has no sins because he is not longer attracted to the more colorful ones.
It guides us, for instance, in an examen on the Theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. really, the entire section of the book on confession is of enormous help to someone who has moved beyond the checklist type of examination (T/F or multiple choice). Regular use of this guide will help one confront the really deep underlying sins and lead to enormous growth in self-knowledge and compunction.
