How to confess sins you are ashamed of?

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If it’s hard for you to confess remember it was hard for Jesus to die for! Nonetheless he did!

God Bless,

Zooman
 
Do the following:
  1. List (type out) your sins, from the most shameful to the least.
  2. Print out the list, and then destroy the computer file.
  3. Referring from the list, rehearse the confession in private about six times. Practice will help desensitize you to the content you will share with your Priest. Ask yourself why your sins are shameful to you.
  4. Take the list with you into the Confessional, and sit/kneel behind the screen.
  5. After completing the opening statement (e.g., “Bless me Father for I have sinned,” etc.) tell the Priest honestly and simply that what you are about to say will be difficult. Then begin.
  6. As you confess, refer to your list, but don’t read from it. Stay calm and use a steady voice. Your Priest may ask questions or give advice. Be ready to interact.
  7. Conclude your confession. (e.g., “For these and all the sins I have committed, which I may have forgotten, I am sorry.”)
After penance, try to understand the causal factors behind your sins, but do take full responsibility for your thoughts and actions. Knowing the how and why may help protect you from committing the same sins in the future.
 
My advice is to just do it. The first real, thorough Confession of my adult life was at my daughter’s First Confession. They had one confessional open and the line was huge. The kids all had to go up on the altar where there were 3 or 4 priests hearing them out in the open. The parents were “encouraged” to go up with their kids, but we were allowed to go to the confessional if we really wanted to. Being a good dad, and not wanting to stand in line for an hour, I went up on the altar and gave this lengthy, full confession within 10-15 feet of kids and parents I saw every day. They couldn’t hear me, but it was still unsettling. Since I hadn’t had a valid Confession since I was 13, this covered my whole adolescence and early adulthood. Our priest says all the time that we shouldn’t worry about going to Confession because, no matter what we say, he’s heard it before. I have to assume that I said a few things he hadn’t heard before because he blushed a few times and even dropped his jaw, covered his mouth and said, “Oh my!” once. Considering the circumstances and everything I confessed, that was the last time I ever felt really uneasy about going to Confession. Everything since then has been a piece of cake.
 
When i confess there’s usually a loooong list of things i have to go through. I just put the most embarassing ones at the beginning/early that way I can just ease through the less painfull ones.

Then it just doesn’t feel as awkward like if I were to “save” them for last… or “add” them a bit after like "oh and by the way, i forgot ______ 😊 "
 
Gordon_Sims said:
My advice is to just do it. The first real, thorough Confession of my adult life was at my daughter’s First Confession. They had one confessional open and the line was huge. The kids all had to go up on the altar where there were 3 or 4 priests hearing them out in the open. The parents were “encouraged” to go up with their kids, but we were allowed to go to the confessional if we really wanted to. Being a good dad, and not wanting to stand in line for an hour, I went up on the altar and gave this lengthy, full confession within 10-15 feet of kids and parents I saw every day. They couldn’t hear me, but it was still unsettling. Since I hadn’t had a valid Confession since I was 13, this covered my whole adolescence and early adulthood. Our priest says all the time that we shouldn’t worry about going to Confession because, no matter what we say, he’s heard it before. I have to assume that I said a few things he hadn’t heard before because he blushed a few times and even dropped his jaw, covered his mouth and said, “Oh my!” once. Considering the circumstances and everything I confessed, that was the last time I ever felt really uneasy about going to Confession. Everything since then has been a piece of cake.
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Your story has helped me tremendously! 🙂
Thank you so much! You have encouraged me to go to confession
 
=polishprincess;11274075]Does anyone know how to confess sins that you are so embarrassed/ashamed of?
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I gotta go to confession but i’m too scared and ashamed of my sins
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Thanks! God bless! 🙂
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THAT MY DEAR FRIEND is common I suspect to everyone who has ever been to Confession. AND it’s one of the reasons [as a deterent] that God and the CC demand [no options but hell here] [John 20:19-23; 1st. John 5: 16-17].

JUST DO IT!

God will give you the GRACE needed:thumbsup:

Be assurred that no matter what you have done; the prest has head it more than once!

The Priest is SWOREN to secrecy even if he must die fo it.

Heaven and hell are both forever and both VERY REAL>

Make the right choice while you still can.

Luke 15:7
I say to you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance:D.
 
I found it to be a freeing and liberating experience to own up to my faults and take responsibility for the things I had done. This happened at the actual moment of confession. Before, I was embarrassed.

God bless!
 
polishprincess said:
Does anyone know how to confess sins that you are so embarrassed/ashamed of?

I gotta go to confession but i’m too scared and ashamed of my sins

Thanks! God bless! 🙂
Click to expand...
The old saying “Bad people don’t go to confession, only good people go to confession” is in many ways a profound statement.

You have been moved by the Spirit to go to Confession which is wonderful.

Let me give you some thoughts which might help. God sees everything. He knows your sins and as He knows all our sins.
By you recognising your sins and by confessing them, you open yourself to God’s infinite mercy there and then.
You cannot be closer to Him than when you are making your confession.

Think about the sin you committed before you enter the confessional.
Then enter the confessional and explain to the priest that you thought and prayed before entering the confessional and that you wish to confess the sin that you committed.

You will be granted absolution,

Be Confident!
 
I am ashamed of all my sins. Some more than others though. My problem is that I get worried about confessing some sins that might not even be sins, because I am a bit on the scrupulous side sometimes. And I get a little afraid that Father will be hard on me for asking about something that I know I am probably being scrupulous about. But I do it anyways if I really need to know. I just limit myself to no more than one “Is this a sin?” question per confession, so I don’t take up too much time.

I have only been receiving the sacrament of reconciliation for a little more than 6 months now, because I was only baptized this past Easter Vigil. But I think confessing something you don’t really want to confess, or asking something you kind of are afraid to ask is like pulling off a Band-Aid. It might sting a little, but it is quickly over. Just do it. And you can always do a anonymous confession. I do mine face to face. Don’t know why. That is just how I prefer to do them.
 
Hi, and God Bless you all:
If you find a problem with great shame in confession, try this: write down your sins, kneel by your bed and imagine yourself in the confessional. and do a dry run. Practising confession beforehand might make it easier.
 
polishprincess said:
Does anyone know how to confess sins that you are so embarrassed/ashamed of?

I gotta go to confession but i’m too scared and ashamed of my sins

Thanks! God bless! 🙂
Click to expand...
God bless you! A poem my granmother used to speak in my ear-

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
Code: 
Have we trials and temptations? 
Is there trouble anywhere? 
We should never be discouraged; 
take it to the Lord in prayer. 
Can we find a friend so faithful 
who will all our sorrows share? 
Jesus knows our every weakness; 
take it to the Lord in prayer. 

Are we weak and heavy laden, 
cumbered with a load of care? 
Precious Savior, still our refuge; 
take it to the Lord in prayer. 
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? 
Take it to the Lord in prayer! 
In his arms he'll take and shield thee; 
thou wilt find a solace there.
 
I’ve had a few hum-dingers in my day…

What I do is drive to a parish a couple of towns away, and sit behind the screen. I also take comfort in that once the absolution is granted, and the pennance is completed, it is done forever!

If you’re old enough to drive, it could be the most important trip you ever take.

You can even tell the priest how nervous and ashamed you are… he will help you. If you have the courage to come here and ask us for support, I KNOW you can do it. Be strong, sister.
 
Where I live confession is in a small room that has a short screen that is not enclosed. The expectation is for face to face, and if I sit behind the screen the priest knows immediately who I am since I am active in the parish and so I see the priests at least twice a week. So it is silly to go behind the screen. These factors do not encourage me to go to confession.

I really do not appreciate the emphasis on face to face confession. Confession really should have nothing to do with a personal relationship with the priest, or to be visibly seen by the priest… He is in persona Christi, that’s all that matters. And I don’t think it’s any accident that we have almost non-existent participation in confession along with face to face. I just don’t get the reasoning for doing it this way.
 
Seatuck said:
Go Behind the screen and just do it. It’s the only way for me. Saying a prayer for you.
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Stay calm. List the sins simply and let the confessor ask questions if he needs more information. We all commit sins we are ashamed of. You are going to feel so much better after you go to confession!
 
[edited]
Ask him, then, to help you make a good confession. Father won’t be upset with you. He won’t criticize you. He’ll show you how to confess.
Trust me, he’s heard confessions far worse than anything you’re likely to tell him.
When you are finished, say, “Thank you, Father.”

Reb Levi
 
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