Welcome -

Begin at home. Talk to Jesus before you come. Ask him to help you to be open and honest, and when you come talk to the Priest as you talk to Jesus. When you get to the church, give yourself some time to become quiet and still. Don’t just rush in to the confessional, take time to prepare – a little prayer, think about anything in particular that you want to say. Don’t worry too much how it sounds to you, the Priest will understand, and Jesus will know what you want to say.

As an aid to recognising and acknowledging our sins, we often use something called an ‘examination of conscience’. Not everything in the list will apply to us, but there will be some points that will and we can spend some time thinking about those and how we might be able to change. During Lent in particular we might be trying harder to turn from sin, in that case coming to confession will help us in overcoming the temptations, as the grace of the Sacrament will strengthen us. We might sometimes forget that aspect of the Sacrament – that grace is given to us and that this helps us in endeavouring to avoid sin.  

At the moment the Parish has 33 children preparing for their First Confession and First Holy Communion. When they come to the time of their First Confession it will be really helpful to them if they see their parents going to confession as well, and this is something that will continue – they need the encouragement, support and example of their parents to know that this is something that is special in their lives.

One other thing about Confession, when we sin, even if no-one sees us, we affect the whole ‘body’. We are members of One Body and, just as a broken arm or splitting headache are painful to our individual bodies, sin is painful to the Body of Christ that is the Church. Because of that, we go to confession as it is an open way of expressing our sorrow for our sins.

The following examination of conscience is based on the Litany of the Dust and is based around the premise that most of us are not burdened with huge, great sinfulness, but with the dust of paltry, petty, everyday shortcomings that quite weary our souls and cry out for healing – the love we find it hard to show, the people we didn’t visit, the apologies withheld, the friendships left to wither, the children neglected as we pursued the better life, the moral lapses, the little lies, the face-saving untruths, the off-colour jokes.

We begin by looking at where we need forgiveness:

For my own self-pity

for my luke-warmness

for my times of despair and distrust

for my refusals to be hugged and embraces ungiven

for my disbelief in your love

for my searchings everywhere but in your heart

for apologies frozen on my lips

for my words of love unspoken

for my compliments never offered

for a heart closed in self-centredness

for my own unforgiving postures

for not believing in your forgiveness

Father forgive me

Now we think where we need to forgive others: