How often do you go to confession?

[whatevergirl]

I think that perhaps what some are speaking of on here are mortal sins…it would be rather foolish to say that we are avoiding sin daily…only Jesus was sinless ALL OF THE TIME. I think that venial sins are not necessary to confess, but really help us to stay away from mortal sins. I think that is most likely what those posters who say that they are not sinning, mean. I would say that I haven’t commited a mortal sin in years…but I sin daily on a more venial level. Uncharitable thoughts or things I might say…judging someone in my mind…critical thoughts…impure thoughts…losing my temper when I shouldn’t…these are all very ‘human’ things that we do, daily. I would like to meet the person though, who doesn’t sin. That would be very exciting!

 

[johnnydigit]

I am in the habit of actively avoiding sin and making sure to do what God wants.I examine my conscince every day, and usually have not sinned.I commit hundreds of imperfections, but that doesnt really matter, because they’re not sins and God doesnt mind.I go to Confession usually once a year, at Easter.If I commit a sin, I would go and confess it as soon as possible.I hate sin.

you should definitely be going to confession more often if you want to grow, regardless of not committing mortal sin. those venial sins can add up and lead to mortal sin. if you don’t think they are leading you to mortal sin, then just their accumulated weight is keeping you from growing. they are like sitting on tacks. sure they won’t kill you, but a bunch of them will surely hurt you and keep you from having a nice day. after a year, boy you must have a lot of tacks.

go. now! you won’t realize how much you actually sin until you do more examinations of conscience and go to confession more frequently. you’ll be surprised what God has to show you…

 

[zemi]

I think that perhaps what some are speaking of on here are mortal sins…it would be rather foolish to say that we are avoiding sin daily…only Jesus was sinless ALL OF THE TIME. I think that venial sins are not necessary to confess, but really help us to stay away from mortal sins. I think that is most likely what those posters who say that they are not sinning, mean. I would say that I haven’t commited a mortal sin in years…but I sin daily on a more venial level. Uncharitable thoughts or things I might say…judging someone in my mind…critical thoughts…impure thoughts…losing my temper when I shouldn’t…these are all very ‘human’ things that we do, daily. I would like to meet the person though, who doesn’t sin. That would be very exciting!

Do you know this one? :

Jesus: “Ok! So who’s without any sin, let him throw the stone at her as first!!”

(BANG!!!)

Jesus: “Ohhh, Mom, pleeease…”

 

[InLight247]

WOW! Another person who doesn’t sin.

I have never said I don’t sin. I meant sometimes at the end of the day when I exam my conscience, I don’t feel I have sinned - not that everyday I have to come up with some kind of sin, even venial. With that explained, I often feel the need and have the desire of repentance. I think with the original sin, we are all created with the desire of repentance. At least it is true for me. When I walk the station of the Cross (usually daily), my heart is sorrowful with conviction while kneeling there and looking up the Passion of my Lord. I find myself often keep on saying “I am sorry, so sorry.” I know many of my faults hurt Jesus.

I try my best to follow St. Faustina - to accuse myself for every trifle thing I can think of. Sometimes my confessor told me what I confessed was not a sin. However, he always absolved me and gave me penance. He would say “Let God decide.”

I have no intention to sound holy at all. I am not. It is a long way to freedom. I am only in the beginning of my journey. Maybe it is my fault to say or feel I sometimes don’t feel I have sinned. I will surely discuss this with my spiritual director in the coming meeting.

 

[az_4_faith]

The longer I delay confession of venial sins, the more my own sin of pride covers them. Before long I don’t think they’re a big deal anymore.

Pride is the worst of sins and will try to convince you of your own false perfection.

 

[johnnydigit]

I meant sometimes at the end of the day when I exam my conscience, I don’t feel I have sinned - not that everyday I have to come up with some kind of sin, even venial.

examine harder

 

[teachccd]

I have never said I don’t sin. I meant sometimes at the end of the day when I exam my conscience, I don’t feel I have sinned - not that everyday I have to come up with some kind of sin, even venial. With that explained, I often feel the need and have the desire of repentance. I think with the original sin, we are all created with the desire of repentance. At least it is true for me. When I walk the station of the Cross (usually daily), my heart is sorrowful with conviction while kneeling there and looking up the Passion of my Lord. I find myself often keep on saying “I am sorry, so sorry.” I know many of my faults hurt Jesus.

I try my best to follow St. Faustina - to accuse myself for every trifle thing I can think of. Sometimes my confessor told me what I confessed was not a sin. However, he always absolved me and gave me penance. He would say “Let God decide.”

I have no intention to sound holy at all. I am not. It is a long way to freedom. I am only in the beginning of my journey. Maybe it is my fault to say or feel I sometimes don’t feel I have sinned. I will surely discuss this with my spiritual director in the coming meeting.

You are very sound and I apologize for misinterpreting your post. Pray for me and God Bless…teachccd

 

[whatevergirl]

Do you know this one? :

Jesus: “Ok! So who’s without any sin, let him throw the stone at her as first!!”

(BANG!!!)

Jesus: “Ohhh, Mom, pleeease…”

that’s great! hi zemi.:hug1:

truthfully, I think that the poster(s) is/are speaking of mortal sins.

 

[whatevergirl]

What do you suppose Fr Corapi means when he has spoken of not ‘pointing out another’s sin?’ (that we should not do that) I think I know the meaning, but just throwing it out there.

 

[InLight247]

examine harder

I will.

 

[InLight247]

You are very sound and I apologize for misinterpreting your post.

Don’t worry.

Pray for me and God Bless…teachccd

I did. God bless you too.

 

[johnnydigit]

i should add that i also went through a period of a false sense of security. i reached a point where i finally had made it through months without committing mortal sins. so then i would start to confess my venial sins. after a while, it seemed like when i went to confession, i couldn’t think of anything to confess. i knew this couldn’t be right, because there are much holier people than me who confess all the time.

so as God’s providence would have it, a friend asked me to go on a retreat where they emphasized “sacreligious confession and communion”. basically, it’s when you go to confession thinking you’re absolved but you really aren’t, or receiving communion while in mortal sin. they taught us that even when you think you are absolved or free of mortal sin, you can still be in mortal sin because you did not do them properly. (kinda like going to confession but not doing the penance that the priest prescribed.) so here is when i unknowingly did my first “General Confession” of my whole life with the help of one of the pamphlets they had explaining the possible sins that one could commit, mortal or venial. it covered a lot and opened my eyes to a lot of things i couldn’t see. (kinda like how lusting after a woman is committing adultery in your heart.)

the shocker here is that many of us, even after doing a good confession, were paranoid when going up for communion because we were afraid we forgot to confess something.

after all this, i was able to do a much better examination of conscience each day, or at least before confessions. i realized how guilty i really was, and how many more sins i was really committing. i realized that it’s not God trying to make you scrupulous and worry about every little thing, but God helping you to become better and better each day.

it’s like He helps you to see that your clear cup of water, which was once black and dirty but looks clean now, still has tiny particles of dirt that you can still eliminate. the closer you look, the more dirt you can find, the cleaner you will be, and the closer to God you will get.

 

[LilyM]

examine harder

Or get parents, spouse, siblings or kids to help - mine are often more than happy to point out my faults and failings

 

[InLight247]

the shocker here is that many of us, even after doing a good confession, were paranoid when going up for communion because we were afraid we forgot to confess something.

If one genuinely forgot to mention some sin during confession, it is absolved and forgiven. There is no need to be paranoid. Trust in God’s mercy.

While we ought to be thorough with our confession, we have to remember God’s mercy and trust in Him.

I have asked my SD if I should confess old sins that were forgotten in confession, his answer was a firm “NO”. He emphasizes “trust” in God’s mercy. My SD is my pastor for our parish of seven thousands people, a man with solid theology background, a very sharp and wonderful pastor.

If one feels he owes Jesus an apology and wants to bring up certain old unconfessed sins, one may do so, but it is not required.

 

[TraditionalCath]

i go to confession as often as i can. iam unable to get to Mass all the time because of my health, but when i go and if i need to go to confession, i will. i usually go about 4 times a year.some go more, some go less.

 

[GandalfTheWhite]

Well, go regularly once a month unless I feel that I need to go before that. I think going more would be great and I’ll think about that option and see what I can do.

I personally love confession but I’m not a fan of confessing confessing. I guess that’s a good thing though - it’s a form of penance.

For all those who feel you don’t sin…the fact is that we often sin but don’t even realize this. Sometimes I can’t think about any sin I did but when I actually do a deeper examination of my consciousness I’m surprised about how much filth is there. Try taking a look at this link, it might help you: Examination of Consciousness

 

[johnnydigit]

Or get parents, spouse, siblings or kids to help - mine are often more than happy to point out my faults and failings

what a novel idea! talk about humility…

If one genuinely forgot to mention some sin during confession, it is absolved and forgiven. There is no need to be paranoid. Trust in God’s mercy.

While we ought to be thorough with our confession, we have to remember God’s mercy and trust in Him.

I have asked my SD if I should confess old sins that were forgotten in confession, his answer was a firm “NO”. He emphasizes “trust” in God’s mercy. My SD is my pastor for our parish of seven thousands people, a man with solid theology background, a very sharp and wonderful pastor.

If one feels he owes Jesus an apology and wants to bring up certain old unconfessed sins, one may do so, but it is not required.

oh ya, we were fully aware of all that, but still were terrified from the talks about sacreligious communion and confession. he really put the shock value into it. now i know how the people in the old times felt about burning in hell…

 

[milimac]

i should add that i also went through a period of a false sense of security. i reached a point where i finally had made it through months without committing mortal sins. so then i would start to confess my venial sins. after a while, it seemed like when i went to confession, i couldn’t think of anything to confess. i knew this couldn’t be right, because there are much holier people than me who confess all the time.

so as God’s providence would have it, a friend asked me to go on a retreat where they emphasized “sacreligious confession and communion”. basically, it’s when you go to confession thinking you’re absolved but you really aren’t, or receiving communion while in mortal sin. they taught us that even when you think you are absolved or free of mortal sin, you can still be in mortal sin because you did not do them properly. (kinda like going to confession but not doing the penance that the priest prescribed.) so here is when i unknowingly did my first “General Confession” of my whole life with the help of one of the pamphlets they had explaining the possible sins that one could commit, mortal or venial. it covered a lot and opened my eyes to a lot of things i couldn’t see. (kinda like how lusting after a woman is committing adultery in your heart.)

the shocker here is that many of us, even after doing a good confession, were paranoid when going up for communion because we were afraid we forgot to confess something.

after all this, i was able to do a much better examination of conscience each day, or at least before confessions. i realized how guilty i really was, and how many more sins i was really committing. i realized that it’s not God trying to make you scrupulous and worry about every little thing, but God helping you to become better and better each day.

it’s like He helps you to see that your clear cup of water, which was once black and dirty but looks clean now, still has tiny particles of dirt that you can still eliminate. the closer you look, the more dirt you can find, the cleaner you will be, and the closer to God you will get.

Your previous period in your life that you describe sounds similar to mine now.

For many years I habitually committed many mortal sins, was stuck, and going to confession about once a year. People can laugh or wince all they want about indulgences, but towards the end of the 2000 Jubilee I took off a Friday and went to confession and Mass at the Cathedral here in Denver in order to receive the indulgence. I had also been praying the Rosary regularly – a habit I had continued from Lent. I did not know that that day also happened to be the feast day of the Immaculate Conception, and my eyes still well up just thinking about it. To cut the story short, I firmly resolved that no matter what happened I would not commit sin again, most especially the serious sins I had been doing. The scariest ones to give up were the ones I did with others (such as contraception with my non-Catholic wife).

Despite my intentions, I still sin, but I have never committed the mortal sins I had been doing, and my wife hasn’t stopped loving me. I am more conscious of my venial sins as well and with the help of God’s grace I have even been able to remove some of those. But now I am at the point where I want to go to confession a couple times a month, but I have difficulty thinking of sins. I admit that my past sinfulness may have damaged my conscience to the point where I just don’t see my lesser sins (murky water looks drinkable compared to thick mud), and I do need to get better at making a daily examination of conscience. But sometimes I think of things that are sins only if I exaggerate them (such as just being upset that a person did something as compared to an exaggerated version where I also wished harm to come to that person, which truly wasn’t the case).

I’m not going to “make up” sins that I didn’t commit, or exaggerate things to make them sins just so I have something to confess. I don’t want to fall into scrupulosity, but I’m also worried about priests thinking I’m being scrupulous anyway when I’m confessing imperfections, sins of omission, or expressing continued sorrow for past sins.

So perhaps my worry is not so much thinking of things appropriate for confession, but worrying about making a truly good confession and not having a confessor roll his eyes – not that it’s ever happened, but sometimes I wonder what the priest might be thinking.

 

[InLight247]

I’m not going to “make up” sins that I didn’t commit, or exaggerate things to make them sins just so I have something to confess. I don’t want to fall into scrupulosity, but I’m also worried about priests thinking I’m being scrupulous anyway when I’m confessing imperfections, sins of omission, or expressing continued sorrow for past sins.

So perhaps my worry is not so much thinking of things appropriate for confession, but worrying about making a truly good confession and not having a confessor roll his eyes – not that it’s ever happened, but sometimes I wonder what the priest might be thinking.

I don’t think we need to worry about our confession of imperfection may result in the confessor rolling his eyes. That shouldn’t happen. At least that’s not in my experience.

Most of the time I make my confession with my spiritual director. But I had confession with other priests and with Bishop also. I remembered the time of confession with the gentle Bishop. He told me one sin I brought up was imperfection. I still remember the kind smile on that aged Bishop’s face.

We are all called to holiness. Confessing imperfection definitely has its merit.

 

[seascape]

In the past, about once every two or three months. But I’m trying to go more often.