This is probably as a good a place as any to raise this issue. I’m in the midst of reading St. Faustina’s “Diary of a Soul” (I highly recommend it to all!), and I just came across the following passage St. Faustina wrote about Confession. And as it turns out, I recently had an experience somewhat similar to what she describes below (and please note, I’m not blaming the priest who heard my confession whatsoever):
Two weeks ago, I went to confession as part of my return to the Church after being a lukewarm Catholic for quite a few years. I gave a general confession that spanned roughly the last 25 years of my life.
I was probably in the confessional for a solid 45 minutes. I had my sins written down on paper prior to the Confession, although in retrospect I could have organized them better. I started writing the sins down by each Commandment, but after I did that I just kept thinking of more and more of them, and I kept writing them down.
Well, as time wore on during my Confession, we were reaching the end of the time allotted for Confessions, and the priest gently encouraged me to cut to the chase, so he could give me my penance and some parting words. Time was tight at that point. I suppose I was rambling a bit, but I just had so much ground to cover. Again, I’m not blaming the priest. He was very pleased that I had returned to confession, and that was nice. But once I sensed that he wanted me to wrap things up, I got nervous and locked up. (My fault, not the confessor’s.) I said a bit more, but once I felt the urgency to wrap up, I named a couple more sins in very general terms, and told him that’s all I had.
The final sins I named, I could have given him a better feel for the frequency and specifics. And I also looked again after the Confession at my written list, and realized there were some things I just didn’t get to.
To make a long story short, I left the confessional feeling somewhat concerned that my confession was invalid, despite going into the Confession with the intention of routing sin out of my soul. And reading the above entry from St. Faustina really hit me. Could it be that this Confession “profited nothing?”
I want to go back to Confession at a minimum to tell sins I forgot to tell during this Confession, but also to come back with a bucket full of trust in The Lord, as St. Faustina suggests.
I’m wondering if the group has any thoughts about my situation, particularly in light of St. Faustina’s journal entry above. I’m willing to confess all my sins again, but couldn’t that be an insult to the Sacrament if my last Confession was valid?
I’d appreciate any guidance you can provide. I’m also torn as to whether I should return to the same priest, since he might remember me (at least somewhat) and express my concerns to him, or whether I should start from scratch with a different priest, and explain my situation. Thanks in advance.
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