Specificness of confessions

[BibleReader700]

This is my first post, and i probably won’t be posting that much, i just had some questions about confession( i’ve never gone):

1. When you go to confession, how specific are you supposed to be?
   Examples:
   “I had thoughts about murder ( or should i be specific like suicide, abortion,etc.).”

“I had lustful thoughts ( homosexual,incest,etc.).”

What i’m trying to say is should you just say the overall sin of the sin (if that makes any sense) or the actual specific sin you did?

1. If i sinned without knowing it was a sin, it’s not a sin right? So i shouldn’t be confessed?
2. If i ridiculed God when i was younger, how should i confess that? Like, what is the sin called?

I might be posting this all wrong, i’m not sure. I didn’t know if i should post this all in the same post or not so i’m sorry if i did it wrong.

 

[LindaS]

Let the priest know, if he doesn’t already, that this is your first Confession. He will probably walk you through it and answer any questions you have. If there is a line at the Church, you might want to make an appointment with the priest for a private Confession. Welcome home!

Peace,
Linda

 

[BrooklynBoy200]

Good question. I’m sorry but i have no idea, i’m new here too. But i have another question that sort of goes with this one i thought i would add on: If i’ve sinned more than once (im talking especially about mortal sins), should i tell the priest how much i’ve committed the sin, or just that i have?

 

[LindaS]

Generally you would give some indication of how many times a particular sin has been committed. The priest can get an idea if this is a problem for you and give some advice about how to deal with it. Now, you don’t need an exact number like “I lied 32 times”! But help the priest to recognize what types of sins are real problems for you. It helps if you go to the same priest for Confession every time, so he can get to know you and counsel you. God bless.

Peace,
Linda

 

[BibleReader700]

If i had homosexual thoughts out of lust, not actually out of homosexualness, ( it’s hard to explain. Like if you see like porn stars(which i mean im sure you don’t but im sure you know what im talking about) they do like homosexual things, but im pretty sure their not really homosexual, just lustful) would i just say i had lustful thoughts? ( im not trying to compare myself with a porn star, but its the closest i could come to explaining.)

 

[BrooklynBoy200]

Generally you would give some indication of how many times a particular sin has been committed. The priest can get an idea if this is a problem for you and give some advice about how to deal with it. Now, you don’t need an exact number like “I lied 32 times”! But help the priest to recognize what types of sins are real problems for you. It helps if you go to the same priest for Confession every time, so he can get to know you and counsel you. God bless.

Peace,
Linda

So would i just say: “i’ve had lustful thoughts a lot”, or “i’ve lied a lot”?

Sorry im no help biblereader, i don’t know this question either. It probably would be lust though, wouldn’t it? Because homosexuality is the attraction to members of your own sex, while you were just being lustful. But i’m just guessing. I’m definitly not an authority.

 

[LilyM]

So would i just say: “i’ve had lustful thoughts a lot”, or “i’ve lied a lot”?

Sorry im no help biblereader, i don’t know this question either. It probably would be lust though, wouldn’t it? Because homosexuality is the attraction to members of your own sex, while you were just being lustful. But i’m just guessing. I’m definitly not an authority.

My own philosophy is to be specific rather than unnecessarily explicit. Don’t deliberately hide anything to try and make your sin look better than it is.

At the same time don’t go into a lot of meaningless detail - usually the priest will ask questions if you’re not specific enough.

My own opinion is that if, for example, the lustful thoughts are primarily or always homosexual you may wish to mention this - it could be a symptom of same sex attraction and there is probably specific counselling and advice that the priest would wish to give in this situation. This is the kind of meaningful detail that can be helpful. Same wit thoughts of suicide v abortion v murder.

Sin should be confessed by number - if you’re uncertain you can either approximate or give frequency instead - “daily for about six months”, “weekly my whole life”, “twice a year since I was ten” or whatever. This is important in that it helps the priest to have an idea of how serious a problem each particular sin is for you.

And of course you don’t have to confess thing that you were unaware were sins. If it’s something you think you’re likely to do again in the future you may wish to mention it, so that you can get advice as to how to prevent it.

Remember confession is also a place to ask questions and obtain advice as well as absolution - don’t be afraid to do all of these things!

 

[BrooklynBoy200]

My own philosophy is to be specific rather than unnecessarily explicit. Don’t deliberately hide anything to try and make your sin look better than it is.

At the same time don’t go into a lot of meaningless detail - usually the priest will ask questions if you’re not specific enough.

My own opinion is that if, for example, the lustful thoughts are primarily or always homosexual you may wish to mention this - it could be a symptom of same sex attraction and there is probably specific counselling and advice that the priest would wish to give in this situation. This is the kind of meaningful detail that can be helpful. Same wit thoughts of suicide v abortion v murder.

Sin should be confessed by number - if you’re uncertain you can either approximate or give frequency instead - “daily for about six months”, “weekly my whole life”, “twice a year since I was ten” or whatever. This is important in that it helps the priest to have an idea of how serious a problem each particular sin is for you.

And of course you don’t have to confess thing that you were unaware were sins. If it’s something you think you’re likely to do again in the future you may wish to mention it, so that you can get advice as to how to prevent it.

Remember confession is also a place to ask questions and obtain advice as well as absolution - don’t be afraid to do all of these things!

Thankyou very much for the answer LilyM.