Part 2 of Fr. Bill's discussion on how to go to Confession in which he addresses: How should you confess your sins? What should you NOT Confess? What is the Purpose of the Penance? ABSOLUTION
Perhaps the best advice I recall that given to me was that " Don't let your shame prevent you from coming back to Jesus. That shame is proof that your heart still belongs with Jesus and He wants you back very much."
I too got back into the church this year, it's been transformational through the grace of God to say the least. There's a ton of good resources online regarding sins (especially those that list out mortal sins, which we must confess!) if you still need some guidance. God bless and I'm happy you are back at confession!
Went to confession yesterday after 16 yrs of being away. First thing the priest said was, "Welcome back." Thank you for this video, Father. It helped me a great deal. God bless you.
Confession takes a load of your soul. Don’t go to a therapist go to confession. It will save you money and it’s free. Just go. Your find a priest as a gentle lamb. And the joy Of being back in God good graces. Just go.
I disagree on one point. Psychotherapy is not always the best (or only) solution for problems. The focus is exactly the opposite of where faith would take you. God urges us to look towards him, ignore self, and let his will rule our lives. Psychotherapy puts the focus entirely on self. People become obsessed with themselves as the most important thing in the universe. There is no thought whatsoever of God or the beneficial role God has in fixing life’s problems. I’ve heard that Catholics who regularly go to confession tend to be psychologically healthier than most people. I think it’s because so much of what people struggle with is directly related to sin. Ultimately, sin is something that causes a lot of damage (both personal and throughout society). So, while I’m not trying to say that people should avoid psychotherapy, I do think there’s an over reliance on it as the best solution to big problems. It’s not wrong to seek psychological help, but it should at least be balanced with reliance on God.
Agreed! Literally, I feel so full of joy and light and at peace, words don't describe it. I use to never go now I go anywhere from every two weeks to twice a year. it would appear the world has created band-aides for not going to church. Therapists Iv gotten the best advice from priests Ill sneak my question in at the end of confession. The best therapist I saw said what a priest said is take control of your thoughts and think and speak of what you want in your life. I see people do these accountability coaches or weight watchers. The church was the accountability coach having to face your congregation makes it harder to sin. Kinda like now that smoking is illegal in most places and not accepted makes it much harder to smoke. If you smoke the fear of ridicule or backlash make it less desirable to do.
How grateful I am for your guidance on what not to confess. I can’t count the number of times I have confessed what I thought is the sin of anger and being judgmental, or critical of others. Thanks so much!
Amen to that! I’m sitting better than I thought! I didn’t have to pack a lunch after all! Ha! With seriousness, what an amazing gift! So grateful! God is Brilliant! Cathleen
@Cathy, since listening to Fr. Nicholas' video, it sounds like, 'just the facts, ma'am', but I don't want him to say, 'really? that's all you've got after 35 years?' I would be speechless!
I have found confession to be one of the greatest gifts. Not only can we receive forgiveness for sins committed, we can also receive the grace to avoid sin in the first place.
Wow. I have learned something new. I usually confess my anger because it is a direct cause for my failure to forgive. Thank you father Nicholas. God bless you as you continue to impart your knowledge.
I was on the verge of leaving the Catholic Church because of the cruelty I encountered in the parish priest. I couldn't stand it anymore. He did everything possible to humiliate people, including me. I hated him, and I hated the church because of him ( and I was a convert who clearly decided to become Catholic). This has restored my faith, and my sense of well-being. Thank you, Father William.
Skylark Don’t ever hesitate to reach out to the Bishop if a Priest is causing any kind of harm. Also don’t hesitate to go to another parish - the priest are human and far from perfect- I’ve had my fair share of run ins with them. I use to feel “little” next to them- now I feel I do have the right to say something if they are doing something harmful.
Thank you father for the video. There are lots of things you said I confess every time. Like anger, impatient. This helped me so much to avoid those areas.
Thanks Padre.Pretty straight forward info I wish it was explained like this at catechsim back in the 80s. Confession is my favorite part of being a Catholic just after The Holy Eucharist.
I love that clarification on Judging people. So many people are confused by that as the Bible talks about judging people in some parts and later it talks about not judging people elsewhere. People don't realize languages didn't have so many words to use as we have today in the English language. When the Bible talks about judging, you have to look at the context of the scripture as it could potentially mean several different things as Fr Nicholas mentions.
Thank you Fr; this was very helpful especially on the judgemental one. It’s always a thin line between calling someone out for erring and judging them but I like that it’s actually an act of charity when you tell someone they are being Unfair to others
Undoubtedly a good and sincere Priest an assett to the Catholic Church.Just wonder Father don't Priests get sick of listening to the repeditive often boring sins of the congregation not to mention the halitosis in such an often small and confined place?I would've thought telling them" yes go confess you sins to God"would be a relief after awhile . God has vast breathing space! *smile*.
This was so helpful! I have been examining my conscience for the past 24 hours and more as I prepare to go to confession after over a decade of not going. This answered a lot of my questions and relieved many of my preconceived "hang-ups".
Amen Fr William! Always good to be back after 1 year, and listen to your Holy videos. And this one is from 2016! I wasn't on YT yet. Thank you Fr Bill. 3 Hail Mary's as everyday.
My sincerest thanks to you Father for making these videos. As a long time Catholic, I was neglectful about going to confession because I felt it wasn't as necessary as the Church always encouraged it would be for all of us. I am trying to be a better Catholic and person on a day by day basis and these explanations help me tremendously in that regard. These kinds of calm, well thought out explanations are easy to understand and truly do clear up possible confusions in my mind and I'm sure in the minds of many Catholics over the years. Thank you for your efforts and please keep up the great work. It's very much appreciated by those of us who seek a stronger level of faith and hopefully, for those out there who may have little or no hope in a better way of life, or who may be in search of that path through life. God Bless you for your devoted work.
Thank you, Father!! I'm often confused and even scrupulous about my confessions, and I tend to get "flowery" about them too. I hope confession will be easier for me after this. God bless you.
I sometimes confess my temptations, but not as my main reason for going to confession. If i have to go to confession, and if I’ve also been battling intense temptations, I will mention it as well.
Maybe when people confess to "being judgemental", what they mean is a prideful attitude. Setting themselves higher than the other person as if they were superior or "better than you."
Fr. William, I just happened to scroll your videos. I'm thankful seen this. May God forgive me, I never go confession since 2009 After I left the Convent after that last confession I had with our spiritual director. Father, After how many years I'm engaging PMS and pray God for forgiveness in adoration chapels and sometimes I received communion. And as of this time I almost a year never go to Mass because of my job with occasional day off and never received communion too. Yeah I watched live mass online sometimes. I feel myself guilty when I go to mass because of PMS I had with different partners before until this February. Pray For me Father, please include in your prayer.. God Bless.
We must continue to pray to the Lord to help with this temptation. The Rosary has helped me from falling into this sinful act. Never forget His Grace is sufficient. Let's us pray 1 our Father And 3 Hail Marys. Good luck. God Bless us.
Yes, Father Williams is very helpful... I agree that often out of sheer ignorance, I too confessed those "what not to confess"... Thank you for giving to us this gem of the teaching of Christ, now bestowed on us through His Holy Church... pray for priests... they need our prayers....
a priest that was temporarily assigned in the parish, gave An interest Penance that was to review the the explanation of either the readings or Gospel of the previous week that was in the Church bulletin (or the up coming readings if the previous week bulletin was not available )
Father I love you for teaching me this...everyone says don't commit sin ,and go to confession..but they never gives homilies on how to confess or what is sin except on the occasion before holy communion that happened in the long past
Father Nicholas, thank you so much for your wonderful videos. I was welcomed into the Church in 1998 after four years of searching and study for the Church Jesus began. I felt like I was finally home, and the Eucharist was the most awesome experience in my spiritual life. I'm ashamed to say that after a few years, I stopped attending the Catholic Church. My wife didn't like the Church as we both grew up in a non-denominational church. Her brother had become a minister and pastor in a church similar to the one we used to attend, and our daughter and her family are also going there. I started attending this church for family reasons I guess, and it's a good church.... but, it will never be able to replace what I experienced in the Catholic Church. I've never been as close to God in my life as I was in the Church which has the Body and Blood of Christ, that has the successor of Peter as it's overseer in the office of the Pope. The communion of Saints, the Blessed Mother...etc... I just don't know how to get back without causing a major traumatic rift in my family. I pray God will lead me in the right direction and hopefully He can deal with their hearts ahead of time, before I let them know how I feel. Thank you Father and God bless you.
Thank you - I understood a lot However - I like to go to confession at least every 2-3 weeks and finding sins to confess is often a problem. Am I being arrogant ? Is that a sin
Thank you, Father for these statements of how to express our sins and what not to express. I found this very helpful. I am a woman religious and I wonder if you would have suggestions For a religious sister. Blessings and Peace on your teachings of this sacrament. Sr. Brigid
Thank you for explaining that the priest is bound by the seal of the confessional and he must keep what is said in the confessional in absolute confidentiality and the importance of not confessing the sins of other people. I cannot unspeak the words that I have spoken but I have had to eat them on many occasions. A day at a time..
I just went today after 2 years. It felt so relieving after and I want to start going more. How often should I go to confession. Is once a month too soon or not soon enough?
Thank you, father! I gotta question. What if you were trying and they died? I have a number of people I have both tried to bring back to church, the catholic church, and or from sinning and just get them praying and back to God. One sadly died but was starting to read a devotional. Another gal was raised Christian so she came to my catholic church a few times did ok but then went back to her old family Christian church and started practicing Christian faith and started singing again from what I know. I ask cause I heard that God is fair and just for example if you were trying to get to confession or were trying to get to mass the intention was there?
Great video, Father - thank you! I'll try to watch part one and the remainder of part 2 asap. But I have heard that confessing one's temptations (which, sure enough, aren't sins) can lead to growing in humility. (Unfortunately I can't remember the source, but it may have been advice by a saint who practiced that.)
Thanks for this video father, my problem with confessing is that when one includes sins of thought, especially lustful thoughts, it seems to me that i commit these sins literally every minute of every day, and the thought is indeed deliberate and with knowledge of how bad it is, therefore coming under the category of a mortal sin, and were I to confess properly i would have to go every single day and stay in the confessional for an hour at least. I resist these thoughts probably one out of every thousand times that they are in my mind. The reasons for entertaining them are many, but mainly bcuz they are extremely difficult, even physically exhausting, to resist, and the mind is such a difficult thing to control, i literally wish i could take my brain out of my head so i wouldnt have to carry this temptation-producing machine around with me all day. What should I do as far as confession?
I always feel great after confession...! exorcist say that the devil hates when people ares going to confession, so I go! . I love out Catholic church the only church that Jesus Christ made.
AlexA- Look two verses back so you can see the context-Matt. 16:16=" Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Those WORDS are what Jesus will build His church on-the belief that Jesus is Messiah, not build the church on Peter. All churches that believe this are His church.
@@vgil1278 He said:"I will build my Church", in singular, not "my churches". It was perfectly clear for 1,500 years that His Church is one. The Lord has only one Bride.
11:13 Father I’ve been to multiple Confessions at my home Church where more than one Priest has failed to pray this Absolution upon finishing my confession. They’ll just say God has forgiven your sins or a variation thereof and sometimes not even given me a penance unless I specifically requested it. I brought it up the first time it happened and was basically told he was the Priest and knew it was still a valid confession so be on my way.
Alas, some priests can grow a bit lax after years of hearing confessions. Just thank God they do not grow that lax in saying Mass (wait a minute!). Don't have any doubt about the validity of the Sacrament, however, if they don't even do the blessing in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit, then I would ask them to please utter the Prayer of Absolution, because it is through the words of the minister that the Church bestows forgiveness according to Christ's command (ergo "through the ministry of the Church, may God grant you pardon and peace, etc., etc."). But, when all is said and done, there is great benefit to multiple priests out there and one does not have to return to the same priest the next time they go to Confession.
