Making first confession

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Hello all

This weekend I’m going to be recieving first communion. Any words of wisdom or advice before making my first confession?
 
uwwhitewater84 said:
Hello all

This weekend I’m going to be recieving first communion. Any words of wisdom or advice before making my first confession?
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First Praise God!

When you go into confession, tell the priest its your first confession. You don’t go into details about your sins, unless he ask for clarification.

Most of all, know that you are forgiven!

Jim
 
I just did my very first confession not even two weeks ago. I was a nervous wreck, and ended up not having the… ahem… best confession. THEN I was so upset with myself, and had such a lack of peace that I drove out of my way to find another parish with confession during the week to finish up what I had not said that Saturday. It wasn’t that I went in intending to not say everything, I froze. As in drenched in sweat, light headed, spinning, dizzy, stuttering - all this because I didn’t prepare properly. Talk about learning a lesson the hard way!

SO… my advice is this: PRAY beforehand. A LOT. If you rely simply on your own ability to follow through you may find that things get very difficult. Not that it is easy to admit how we have behaved… I confess that I didn’t pray about it like I should have, thinking “oh, I know what I need to say…” and that was a dreadful mistake. Pray for strength from the Holy Spirit, to be open and honest about the state of affairs.

Remember that you are confessing to God, and the priest is there in Jesus’ place. God already knows what you have done, so you aren’t really hiding anything if you conceal something. And if you conceal on purpose, the absolution isn’t there. Not being willing to confess it all is a symptom of pride (speaking from experience here) and means you are lying to yourself about the honest condition of your soul.

Going through a list to help with an examination can be very helpful. Reading things can jog your memory about areas in which you have failed.

Realize that the priest most likely doesn’t want an exhaustive, detailed list of everything done in your lifetime. General statements of “I’ve lied on numerous occasions” will cover a lot of things, although you may of course have a specific thing in your life that needs to be mentioned. Also, barring you being a mass murderer in private and on the FBI’s top ten wanted list, it is highly doubtful that you are going to say anything the priest hasn’t heard. Many times. I think I actually had a form of pride that I was so awful and just couldn’t admit to things, even though I’ve actually had a very tame life. Well, all have sinned, and the priest knows it. Let me say, I have a whole new respect for the priesthood just in this area - how difficult it must be to hear people confess their sins!

Again, I can tell you from personal experience, that getting it all out feels WONDERFUL afterwards.
 
First of all, Congratulations and God bless you! You are about to have a wonderful experience, a meeting with Jesus that will change your life. Don’t be afraid of your first confession.

I came into the Church from a Protestant tradition (Episcopalian). All throughout RCIA, I kept thinking that Catholicism wasn’t that much different than the tradition in which I was raised. The very first time I emerged from the confessional, I gave up that idea completely. This sacrament is like nothing else in the world.

Start with a good “Examination of Conscience” based upon the Ten Commandments. Read it and meditate quietly on it several times. Rather than trying to make out a laundry list of your sins, focus on whether there is a certain theme to your life. Have your sins been motivated mostly by pride (the big one), greed, lust, etc.? You can build your first confession around that theme.

Examine whether there are certain sins in your past that are especially bugging you. Make a list and burn it in the barbecue when you get home.

One more from my personal experience. I found that it’s good to get used to making confessions face to face rather than anonymously, assuming you and the priest are comfortable with that. For me, it just adds to the experience to see the priest as he says those beautiful words of absolution and see him making the sign of the cross without a screen between us.

PRAY, and ask others to keep you in their prayers. You will be in mine.

Blessings,

Mrs_Mac
 
uwwhitewater84 said:
Hello all

This weekend I’m going to be recieving first communion. Any words of wisdom or advice before making my first confession?
Click to expand...
congratulations!!! my hubby will be doing the same thing as you on october 23rd! what our priest suggested is to write it down on paper for your first confession and try to memorize it. then you confess what you wrote down. shred what you wrote, or like the poster said, burn the paper. confession is wonderful! its a cleansing of the soul.
it truly is wonderful! your going to feel so good!👍
 
Mrs_Mac said:
I came into the Church from a Protestant tradition (Episcopalian). All throughout RCIA, I kept thinking that Catholicism wasn’t that much different than the tradition in which I was raised. The very first time I emerged from the confessional, I gave up that idea completely. This sacrament is like nothing else in the world.
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Thank you Mrs. Mac for your post. I am coming into the Church from Episcopal tradition, and although I feel more home in that I can speak of my beliefs more openly because they are in line with the Church, I am also looking forward to Confession. I almost went to Confession one time in the EC…but didn’t get up enough nerve. Thanks again!

OP - whitewater - I am praying for you!
 
DJgang said:
Thank you Mrs. Mac for your post. I am coming into the Church from Episcopal tradition, and although I feel more home in that I can speak of my beliefs more openly because they are in line with the Church, I am also looking forward to Confession. I almost went to Confession one time in the EC…but didn’t get up enough nerve. Thanks again!

OP - whitewater - I am praying for you!
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You’re welcome, DJgang!

The EC I grew up in didn’t have private confession and I never even knew it existed there until very recently. I have read that some Protestant denoms have tried to bring it back but a lot of their laity seem to want nothing to do with it.

Oh, and here’s another one for the OP that nobody ever warned me about. After the glow of confession, be prepared to face some serious temptations. I usually have a bad day the next day. There really is an enemy out there and he gets seriously bent out of shape by a reconciled Catholic. Grace will get you through it, though.

Blessings,

Mrs_Mac
 
LindaS said:
For a really good examination of conscience, go to

www.scborromeo.org/confess

That whole site is great! Lots of good stuff.

Peace,
Linda
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That’s a good exam. My personal favourite, though, is Fr Altier’s Examination of Conscience which also examines the ten commandments but distinguishes between mortal and venial sin.

It’s a good aid in developing your own sense of the difference between mortal and venial sin, since you actually can’t assume that everything listed on most exams is mortal. Something as simple as ‘have you lied’ for example - well, there are different levels and motives of lying, some are mortal some are venial.
 
uwwhitewater84 said:
Hello all

This weekend I’m going to be recieving first communion. Any words of wisdom or advice before making my first confession?
Click to expand...
Get there about a half hour early and spend the extra 30 minutes in prayer and reflection before the Tabernacle.
 
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