CONFESSION (Prepared by some other author)

The precept to confess at least
once a year is a reminder to receive the sacrament of penance on a regular
basis. If no grave sin has been committed in that time, confession is not
necessary. However, frequent confession is of great value; it makes us more
deeply conformed to Christ and most submissive to the voice of the Spirit.
Reconciliation is a personal encounter with Jesus Christ represented by the
priest in the confessional. The penitent admits to God that he has sinned,
makes an act of sorrow, accepts a penance (prayers, acts of self-denial, or
works of service to others), and resolves to do better in the future.
The
first step is prayer and an examination of conscience
Examination of
Conscience
"A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and
drinks of the cup"[1 Cor 11:27-29]
First Commandment
"I am the Lord your God.
You shall not have strange gods before Me." [Ex 20:2,3]
7 Did I doubt or deny
that God exists?
7 Did I refuse to believe what God as revealed to us?
7 Did
I believe in fortune telling, horoscopes, dreams, the occult, good-luck
charms, tarot cards, palmistry, Ouija boards, seances, reincarnation?
7 Did I
deny that I was Christian?
7 Did I leave the Christian Faith?
7 Did I give
time to God each day in prayer?
7 Did I love God with my whole heart?
7 Did
I despair of or presume on God's mercy?
7 Did I have false gods in my life
that I gave greater attention to than God, like money, profession, drugs, TV,
fame, pleasure, property, etc.?
Second Commandment
"You shall not take the
Name of the Lord your God in vain." [Ex 20:7]
7 Did I blaspheme or insult
God?
7 Did I take God's name carelessly or uselessly?
7 Did I curse, or
break an oath or vow?
7 Did I get angry with God?
Third Commandment
"Remember that you keep holy the Sabbath Day." [Ex 20:8]
7 Did I miss Mass
Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation through my own fault?
7 Did I come to Mass
on time? Leave early?
7 Did I do work on Sunday that was not necessary?
7
Did I set aside Sunday as a day of rest and a family day?
7 Did I show
reverence in the presence of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament?
Fourth
Commandment
"Honor your father and your mother." [Ex 20:12]
7 Did I disobey
or disrespect my parents or legitimate superiors?
7 Did I neglect my duties
to my husband, wife, children or parents?
7 Did I neglect to give good
religious example to my family?
7 Did I fail to actively take an interest in
the religious education and formation of my children?
7 Did I fail to educate
myself on the true teachings of the Church?
7 Did I give scandal by what I
said or did, especially to the young?
7 Did I cause anyone to leave the
faith?
7 Did I cause tension and fights in my family?
7 Did I care for my
aged and infirm relatives?
7 Did I give a full day's work for a full day's
pay?
7 Did I give a fair wage to my employees?
Fifth Commandment
"You shall
not kill." [Ex 20:13]
7 Did I kill or physically injure anyone?
7 Did I have
an abortion, or advise someone else to have an abortion? [One who procures and
abortion is automatically excommunicated, as is anyone who is involved in an
abortion, Canon 1398. The excommunication will be lifted in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation.]
7 Did I use or cause my spouse to use birth control pills
[whether or not realizing that birth control pills do abort the fetus if and
when conceived]?
7 Did I attempt suicide?
7 Did I take part in or approve of
"mercy killing" [euthanasia]?
7 Did I get angry, impatient, envious, unkind,
proud, revengeful, jealous, hateful toward another, lazy?
7 Did I give bad
example by drug abuse, drinking alcohol to excess, fighting, quarreling?
7
Did I abuse my children?
Sixth Commandment
"You shall not commit adultery."
[Ex 20:14] "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife." [Ex 20:17]
Note: In
the area of deliberate sexual sins listed below, all are mortal sins if there
is sufficient reflection and full consent of the will. "No fornicators,
idolaters, or adulterers, no sodomites,... will inherit the kingdom of God."
[1 Cor 6:9-10] "Anyone who looks lustfully at a woman has already committed
adultery with her in his thoughts." [Mt 5:28]
7 Did I willfully entertain
impure thoughts or desires?
7 Did I use impure or suggestive words? Tell
impure stories? Listen to them?
7 Did I deliberately look at impure TV,
videos, plays, pictures or movies? Or deliberately read impure materials?
7
Did I commit impure acts by myself [masturbation]?
7 Did I commit impure acts
with another - fornication [premarital sex], adultery [sex with a married
person]?
7 Did I practice artificial birth control [by pills, device,
withdrawal]?
7 Did I marry or advise anyone to marry outside the Church?
7
Did I avoid the occasions of impurity?
7 Did I try to control my thoughts?
7
Did I engage in homosexual activity?
7 Did I respect all members of the
opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?
7 Did I or my
spouse have sterilization done?
7 Did I abuse my marriage rights?
Seventh
Commandment
"You shall not steal." [Ex 20:15] "You shall not covet your
neighbor's goods." [Ex 20:17]
7 Did I steal, cheat, help or encourage others
to steal or keep stolen goods? Have I made restitution for stolen goods?
7
Did I fulfill my contracts; give or accept bribes; pay my bills; rashly gamble
or speculate; deprive my family of the necessities of life?
7 Did I waste
time at work, school or at home?
7 Did I envy other people's families or
possessions?
7 Did I make material possessions the purpose of my life?
Eighth Commandment
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
[Ex 20:16]
7 Did I lie?
7 Did I deliberately deceive others, or injure
others by lies?
7 Did I commit perjury?
7 Did I gossip or reveal others'
faults or sins?
7 Did I fail to keep secret what should be confidential?
OTHER SINS
7 Did I fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday?
7 Did I eat meat on
the Fridays of Lent or Ash Wednesday?
7 Did I fail to receive Holy Communion
during Easter time?
7 Did I go to Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin?
Without fasting [water and medicine permitted] for one hour from food and
drink?
7 Did I make a bad confession?
7 Did I fail to contribute to the
support of the Church?

"Whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the
Lord unworthily sins against the Body and Blood of the Lord. ... He who eats
and drinks without recognizing the Body eats and drinks judgment on himself."
[1 Cor 11:27-29]

How Do I Confess!!
In the Confessional kneel and make the
sign of the cross and say:"Bless me father for I have sinned." Then say: "It
has been days, weeks or months since your last confession." Here name all the
sins which you have recalled to mind since your last confession. Then say:
"For these, and all the sins of my past life I am heartily sorry". Then listen
attentively and humbly to the priest and note the penance he imposes.
The
priest then will ask you make an Act of Contrition then say: "O my God I am
heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I
dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell, but most of all because they
offend Thee, my God, Who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly
resolve with the help of Thy grace, amend my life and to do my penance. Amen".
The priest will then give you Absolution.["God, the Father of mercies, through
the death and resurrection of his Son reconciled the world to himself and sent
the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; Through the ministry of
the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins
in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"]
The priest
will then say " Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good." You then say: "His
mercy endures for ever."
You then exit the confessional and perform your
penance.
The Bible and Confession

The disciples were the first priests of
the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church and Christ gave them the power
to forgive sin through the sacrament of confession when breathed upon them and
said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and
whose sins you retain are retained" [John 20:22-23]
SCRIPTURAL PROOF
1. "all
this from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and given us
the ministry of reconciliation...So, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God
were appealing through us" [2 Cor. 5:18-20]

2. "Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on
earth shall be looses in heaven." [Matt 18:18]

3. "Therefore, confess your
sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." [James
5:16]

4. "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and what ever you loose on earth shall
be loosed in heaven." [Matt 16:19]

5. "Many of those who had become
believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices." [Acts
19:18]
Suggestions For A Good Confession
1. Set up a time every month that
you go to confession, example the first of every month.

2. Get a book that
will help you examine you conscience. Peter and Paul Ministries suggests
3. Spend some quite time in prayer and reflection.

4. Write your sins
down.( It is ok to take the the list of your sins or any guide that will help
you into the confessional.)

5. Go as a Family!


+Praise the Lord