Confession

In this life, we all fall short of the glory of God and commit sin, even after our baptism. Jesus came into the world to forgive sins. Throughout His ministry, He preached about forgiveness, exemplified in parables like the Prodigal Son and the Lost Sheep, and demonstrated through acts such as forgiving the woman caught in adultery. In order that we may receive the God’s forgiveness, love, and mercy, Jesus instituted the sacrament of confession empowering His ministers to forgive sins in His name. This ministry of reconciliation, continued from the Apostles, has been upheld continuously in the Church through the sacrament of confession.

While venial sins can be forgiven by many means, mortal sins can only be absolved in sacramental confession. While venial sin damages or harms our relationship with God, a mortal sin severs our relationship with God and destroys sanctifying grace in the soul. To die in this state would lead to eternal separation from God.

For a sin to be mortal three conditions must all be present:

1. Grave Matter: The act or omission is a grave violation of God’s law (e.g. worship of a false God, murder, masturbation, adultery etc).
2. Full Knowledge: The person must have sufficient knowledge and awareness that the act they are committing is seriously wrong.
3. Full Consent: The person must have freely chosen to commit the sinful act with full consent of the will.

Confession reconciles us to God, restores sanctifying grace to the soul if it has been lost, and gives us the graces to be healed from the damage caused to ourselves by our sins, and the graces to help us avoid sin in the future.

We can also go to confession to receive forgiveness for our venial sins or to renew the sorrow for sins we have confessed in the past. This is called a devotional confession, for it is made out of devotion rather than necessity. Regular confession is a healthy spiritual practice.

All Catholics ought to regularly examine their conscience holding ourselves to the example of Christ.

We should asses how well we have lived a Christ-like life following the commandments and teachings of the Church.

The Church encourages regular devotional confession with a good practice being once a month. If we have committed a mortal sin we should make an Act of Perfect Contrition, and get to Confession as soon as possible, and as often as we need.

A brochure in the church is available with this information, but it is also presented here to help you know what to expect.

Step 1: Prepare

Before going to confession, reflect on the sins you have committed, this is called an examination of conscience. It can be helpful to use a list of sins to reflect upon. These lists are often called an examination of conscience (link to PDF) for this is what they are used for. Say a prayer to the Holy Spirit to help enlighten your mind to recall your sins. If it has been a long time since your last confession, you may find it helpful to make a written list and bring it with you to Confession.

We are obliged to confess all mortal sins since our last confession (or baptism), to deliberately not mention a mortal sin makes the sacrament of confession invalid and itself is a grave sin. We are required to name the species and number or frequency of the sin. We only need to include details that seriously change the gravity of the sin. Examples of sins and the detail required include: “Procuring an abortion one time”, “Deliberately not attending Sunday Mass almost every Sunday for ten years” etc.

It is important that you are truly sorry for your sins (contrite) and that you are determined to try and avoid committing these sins in the future (resolution of amendment). A very important part of Confession, sometimes forgotten, is that we ought to pray and ask God to help us be truly sorry for our sins, and to reflect on ways or practices we might put in place to avoid committing that sin in the future.

Step 2: Go to Confession

1. 1. 1. When you enter the confession, kneel behind the screen.
      2. Begin with the sign of the Cross and say:
         “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been (# of weeks/months/years) since my last confession. These are my sins.”
      3. Tell the priest the sins you have committed and for mortal sins indicate the number or frequency of the sin to the best of your abilities.
         e.g. I have committed x sin five times, or multiple times a week for many months. The priest may stop you to ask for more detail if necessary.
      4. When you have finished say: “For these and all my sins, I am truly sorry.”
      5.  Listen to the advice the priest gives, and he will give you an act of penance, a prayer or something for you to do to start to make amends for your sin.
      6. The priest will ask you to pray an Act of Contrition, there is a copy of the prayer in the confessional or you can use the one on the brochure.
      7. The priest will begin saying the prayer of absolution to absolve you from your sins.
      8. At the end the press will dismiss you with a short prayer, for which you can respond “Thanks be to God” and you then leave the Confessional.

   Step 3: Complete your penance

   If your penance is to say certain prayers, it is praiseworthy to do so immediately in the church. If your penance is something else, or will take longer, attempt to complete your penance as soon as you can.

Confession times in the church are available in the Parish Bulletin. You can go to there regular confession times. If you so desire, you can also make an appointment to see one of the Fathers by contacting the Parish Office.

Devotional confessions are those when we confess venial sins or grave sins from our past life (meaning those that have already been forgiven in confession or by baptism).

In order for their to be valid matter for Confession, when making a devotional confession we are required to confess something that is a sin. Furthermore, we are not required to confess all venial sins. In making devotional confession it can be helpful to confess those venial sins we commit most frequently are trying to overcome, and to mention one sin from our past life that we are greatly sorrow for.

This is because the more sorrow we have in confession, the more graces we receive. When doing this we need to let the priest know this is a sin that has already been absolved, and we can do this by saying “The sin of my past life of x.”