In the Know with Fr. Joe:
When I go to confession, how should I examine
my conscience?
Well, there
are a few options here. First (and this is my favorite), I look at where
my life is headed and how I came to be headed in that direction. Think
of a pyramid, you are starting at the bottom with your "general sins,"
then moving up the top with the more specific sins.
Another way to do it is to look at the 10 commandments and/or the beatitudes
and see how you stack up. There are many ways to examine your conscience,
but the goal is always the same: we need to take a look at our lives and
see where we need mercy.
The next question should help...
How specific am I supposed to
get when I confess my sins?
That is up to you; how clear do you need to be to adequately confess the
sin and clear your conscience? For example, if you say "I disrespected
my parents," does that cover it?
You will need more detail if that disrespect entailed lying, cursing or
violence of any kind, because that goes beyond simple disrespect and into
other sins.
In short, be detailed enough to cover as many of the sins as you can remember
and as many as you need to satisfy your conscience.
Enjoy another day in God's presence!
By Fr. Joe Krupp
From the Catechism: In this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life. For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin. In converting to Christ through penance and faith, the sinner passes from death to life and "does not come into judgment." (CCC 1470)
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