Confession

Confession, also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance, is the sacrament in which a Catholic confesses their sins to a priest, receives God’s forgiveness, and is reconciled with God and the Church. Through the priest, who acts in the person of Christ, God offers mercy, healing, and a fresh start, restoring the soul to grace and strengthening the person to live a holier life.

STEPS FOR A GOOD CONFESSION

• Examine your conscience(given below) to ascertain which sins you have committed since your last good confession.

• Be sincerely sorry for your sins.

• Confess your sins to the priest. Say: “Bless me Father for I have sinned, it has been _____ since my last confession. I am a single/married man/woman (with children). These are my sins…”

• Make certain that you confess all your mortal sins.

• After your confession, do the penance the priest gives to you.

• Pray daily for the strength to avoid the occasion of sin, especially for those sins you were just absolved from. Say the Act of Contrition before going to bed every night! Confession, also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance, is the sacrament in which a Catholic confesses their sins to a priest, receives God’s forgiveness, and is reconciled with God and the Church. Through the priest, who acts in the person of Christ, God offers mercy, healing, and a fresh start, restoring the soul to grace and strengthening the person to live a holier life.

ACT OF CONTRITION (REMORSE)

    Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You.
    And I detest all my sins because of Your just punishments
    but most of all because I have offended You, my God,
    who are all good and worthy of all my love.
    I firmly resolve with the help of Your grace 
    to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.

Examination of Conscience

1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.
   -Do I give God time every day in prayer?
   -Do I seek to love Him with my whole heart?
   -Have I been involved with superstitious practices or have I been involved with the occult?
   -Do I seek to surrender myself to God’s Word as taught by the Church?
   -Have I ever deliberately told a lie in Confession or have I withheld a mortal sin from the priest in Confession?

2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
   -Have I used God’s name in vain: lightly or carelessly?
   -Have I been angry with God?
   -Have I wished evil upon any other person?
   -Have I insulted a sacred person or abused a sacred object?

3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
   -Have I deliberately missed Mass on Sundays or Holy Days of Obligation?
   -Have I not kept Sunday as a family day and a day of rest?
   -Do I do needless work on Sundays?
   -Do I make others work on Sundays?

4. Honor your father and your mother.
   -Do I honor and obey my parents?
   -Have I neglected my duties to my spouse and children?
   -Have I given my family good religious example?
   -Do I try to bring peace into my home life?
   -Do I care for my aged and infirm relatives?
   -Do I respect elders?
   -Do I respect my pastor, bishop, and the Pope?

5. You shall not kill.
   -Have I had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion?
   -Have I physically harmed anyone?
   -Have I abused alcohol or drugs?
   -Did I give scandal to anyone, thereby leading them into sin?
   -Have I been angry or resentful?
   -Have I harbored hatred in my heart?
   -Have I been sterilized for reasons of birth control?
   -Have I encouraged or condoned sterilization?

6. You shall not commit adultery.
   -Have I been faithful to my marriage vows in thought and action?
   -Have I engaged in any sexual activity before marriage or outside of marriage?
   -Have I used any method of contraception or artificial birth control?
   -Has each sexual act in my marriage been open to the transmission of new life?
   -Have I respected all members of the opposite sex, or have I thought of other people as objects?
   -Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?
   -Do I seek to be pure in my thoughts, words, and actions?
   -Am I careful to dress modestly, so as not to tempt others?
   -Have I been guilty of masturbation with myself?

7. You shall not steal.
   -Have I stolen what is not mine?
   -Have I returned or made restitution for what I have stolen?
   -Do I waste time at work, school, or at home?
   -Do I gamble excessively, thereby denying my family of their needs?
   - Do I pay my debts promptly?
   -Do I seek to share what I have with the poor?

8. You shall not bear false witness.
   -Have I lied?
   -Have I gossiped?
   -Have I harmed someone’s reputation?
   -Have I spoken behind someone else’s back?
   -Am I critical, negative, or uncharitable in my thoughts of others?
   -Do I keep secret what should be kept confidential?

9. You shall not desire your neighbor’s wife.
   -Have I consented to impure thoughts?
   -Have I caused them by impure television, movies, books, magazines, or internet?
   -Do I pray at once to banish impure thoughts and temptations?
   -Do I listen to, or engage in, impure conversations or jokes?

10. You shall not desire your neighbor’s goods.
   -Am I jealous of what other people have?
   -Do I envy other people’s families or possessions?
   -Am I greedy or selfish?
   -Are material possessions the purpose of my life?
   -Do I trust that God will take care for all of my material and spiritual need?