A Practical Guide to Confession

You know the response. You know the prayers. But there seems to be a problem within yourself where you feel uneasy and anxious. So I found this guide at a nearby church and thought that I could share it to you! 

Note: I don't know the author of this guide so I am asking my sincerest and deepest apology for not being able to give the him/her any credit. I would also like to inform the readers that I have also edited this guide and modified some parts so it won't contradict on what I believe as a follower of Christ. 

Pray for enlightenment, humility, and contrition

Call on our Lord Jesus Christ to enable us -

• to see the wrong that you have done and the good that you have failed to do

• to accept humbly that which will be revealed to you

• to be TRULY and DEEPLY sorry for having offended God and neighbor

• to recognize sin in all its forms

• to resolve and persevere to detest and combat sin and strive for greater holiness

Examine your conscience

Put yourself in the presence of God. In silence and solitude ask yourself the following questions, and answer each with all honesty.

I am the Lord your God, you shall not have strange gods before Me

• Have I refused or neglected to look back at the gifts and graces that God has given me each day?
• Have I failed or refused to acknowledge those blessings each night and thank God for them?
• Have I been content in my spiritual state and hesitant to be purified and perfected by God?
• Have I hated God for forbidding sins?
• Have I been working hard or doing things so that I will remain in power?
• Have I put faith in and observed superstitious beliefs?
• Have I joined seances (called on the dead in order to communicate with them); played the Ouija board and the Spirit of the Glass; consulted and believed in fortune tellers, palm readers, numerologists, feng shui experts, and curses?
• Have I, in my anger or desperation, forced God to show to me His love or power with a sign, miracle, or deed?
• Have I shown disrespect for the Sacraments and the rites of the Mass? Have I belittled or scoffed at them?
• Have I attended the worship services of a cult?
• Have I believed that God's existence can never be proven?

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain

• Have I used God's name loosely and irreverently?
• Have I broken promises which I made invoking God's name?
• Have I cursed God in my anger or sworn to disobey Him?
• Have I used His name to cover up my misdeeds?
• Have I taken God as a witness to what I declare?

Remember to keep Holy the Lord's Day

• Have I missed Mass because of my own fault?
• Have I been inattentive during the Mass or daydreamed, looked around, listened to people's conversations, judged people by their look, and amused myself with thoughts and things?
• have i engaged on Sunday in work or any activity that kept me from attending the Mass, doing works of mercy, and resting my mind and body?

Honor your Father and Mother

• Have I hated my parents, teachers, or superiors?
• Have I been disobedient and disrespectful to them?
• Have I looked down on the advice of my parents?
• Have I neglected to care for my parents when they were sick, visit them in their loneliness, or listen to them and accompany them in their misery and anxiety?
• Have I loved, respected, and cared for them less because they have become older, weaker, sickly, and  difficult to deal with?

You shall not kill

• Have I thought of and carried out the act of killing, kidnapping, hostage taking, terrorism, torture, suicide, abortion, and euthanasia?
• Have I put my life or someone else's in danger?
• Have I been the cause of scandal by encouraging others with my words and examples to do and tolerate evil?
• Have I been neglectful in taking care of my health and the health of others?
• Have I wished evil or grave harm on someone?

You shall not commit adultery

• Have I enjoyed reading pornographic newspapers and magazines, watching R and X movies, and engaging in obscene speech?
• Have I engaged in masturbation, fornication, prostitution, rape, homosexual acts, incest, bestiality, polygamy, and free unions?
• Have I divorced my spouse so I can marry again?

You shall not steal

• Have I cheated in my taxes?
• Have I stolen anything or taken something that is not mine?
• Have I been resistant to or delinquent in paying my debts?
• Have I been giving unjust wages?
• Have I not returned any found or borrowed article?
• Have I been giving unjust measure or weight of merchandise that I sell?
• Have I benefited from and encouraged bribery, graft, or fraud?
• Have I accepted or bought stolen, smuggled, or pirated goods or property in spite of knowing it to be so?
• Have I been giving a dishonest day's work for the wages I receive gallivanting during office hours, not doing expected work, passing on assigned work to someone else, being mediocre and lackadaisical in work?
• Have I engaged in gambling or wagers to the point of depriving someone of the means to provide for his needs?
• Have I caused animals to suffer or die needlessly?
• Have I been spending too much money on pets and giving little or none to the relief of human misery?

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

• Have I lied?
• Have I told someone's secrets to another?
• Have I judged someone on the basis of hearsay (rash judgement)?
• Have I told others of the faults of another for no valid reason (detraction)?
• Have I spread lies about someone and destroyed his reputation (calumny)?
• Have I been hypocritical or duplicitous?
• Have I flattered someone or exaggerated his/her fine qualities?

You shall not covet your neighbors wife

• Have I entertained and enjoyed impure thoughts and desires?

You shall not covet your neighbors goods

• Have I been envious of others or saddened by their good fortune?
• Have I desired to acquire for myself someone's goods?
• Have I intentionally damaged or destroyed someone's property?

Write down your sins

If possible, specify against whom you committed them (parents, siblings, friends, employer), how often (everyday, thrice a day, ten times) or how long (for three months, for a year, since 1990) you committed them, and how intense the effects were.

Confess your sins

Upon entering the confessional, wait for the priest to say something then recite the following:

• Bless me, Father, for i have sinned. My last good confession was (state time - e.g. three days ago, last week, four months ago).
• My sins are the following. (Begin with the most grievous sin or that which is most embarrassing to confess)
• Those are my sins. I am sorry for them and for my past sins.

Listen to the priest

After your confession, the priest will give you advice and your penance. Carefully note his words of guidance and the penance which he will prescribe for you.

Pray sincerely. Sin no more (It is hard but bear with it). Be the seed (mentioned in Matthew 13) that grows on rich soil.

Love God.

God is love.