Reconcilliation Guide
A reader commenting on my post on Archbishop Wuerl mentioned that the Reconciliation Guide was passed out at all the Masses there and was very impressed with it. I did some quick searching on the Archdiocese website and found that they have developed a website on this topic "The Light is On for You Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation" and found the text for the guide she mentioned.
Stop by any Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of Washington this Lent to experience God's mercy and forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). If you haven't been in a while, this handy guide will help you prepare.
Before entering the Confessional or Reconciliation Room:
Begin with prayer, placing yourself in the presence of God, our loving Father. Seek healing and forgiveness through repentance and a resolve to sin no more.
Review your life since your last confession, searching your thoughts, words and actions that did not conform to God's love, to his law or to the laws of the Church. This is called an examination of conscience. Here are some questions to help you. They are based on the 10 Commandments.
- Do I pray to God every day? Have I thanked God for His gifts to me?
- Did I put my faith in danger through readings hostile to Catholic teachings or involvement in non-Catholic sects? Did I engage in superstitious practices: palm-reading or fortune-telling?
- Did I take the name of God in vain? Did I curse or take a false oath?
- Did I miss Mass on Sundays or holy days of obligation through my own fault? Am I attentive at Mass? Did I keep fast and abstinence on the prescribed days?
- Did I disobey my parents and lawful superiors in important matters?
- Did I hate or quarrel with anyone, or desire revenge? Did I refuse to forgive? Was I disrespectful?
- Did I get drunk? Did I take illicit drugs?
- Did I consent to, recommend, advise or actively take part in an abortion?
- Did I willfully look at pornography, entertain impure thoughts or engage in impure conversations? Did I use artificial means to prevent conception?
- Was I unfaithful to my spouse? Did I engage in sexual activity outside of marriage?
Did I steal or damage another's property? Have I been honest and just in my business relations? - Have I been responsive to the needs of the poor and respected the dignity of others?
- Did I tell lies? Did I sin by calumny, or detraction, of others? Did I judge others rashly in serious matters?
- Have I envied other people?
During the Sacrament:
- The priest gives you a blessing or greeting. He may share a brief Scripture passage.
- Make the Sign of the Cross and say: “Bless me father, for I have sinned. My last confession was…” (give the number of weeks, months, or years).
- Confess all of your sins to the priest. The priest will help you to make a good confession. If you are unsure about how to confess or you feel uneasy, just ask him to help you. Answer his questions without hiding anything out of fear or shame. Nothing that you say to the priest will ever be revealed. Place your trust in God, a merciful Father who wants to forgive you.
- Following your confession of sins, say: “I am sorry for these and all of my sins.”
- The priest assigns you a penance and offers advice to help you be a better Catholic.
- Say an Act of Contrition,* expressing your sorrow for your sins. The priest, acting in the person of Christ, then absolves you from your sins.
After you've left the Confessional or Reconciliation Room:
- Complete the penance you received.
*Act of Contrition (please note this is one option):
God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of your grace to confess my sins, do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
I would love to see guides like this in all parishes
Known as 
Jeff,
Thanks for posting this. I am going to have some made for my parish.
It's really great what is happening in the Archdiocese of Washington (ADW) now. Archbishop Wuerl seems very grounded and geniunely interested in the souls in his care. Not only did he come up with The Light is On For You campaign, he personally has been conducting penance services in each deanery in the ADW, and hearing confessions along with most of the priests in the deanery. BTW - the pamphlet was distributed today at every parish in the ADW.
Our parish already has Adoration and confessions every First Friday, and EVERY Friday during Lent, in addition to the usual Saturday times. Now we have the Wednesday times as well. There is ALWAYS a line for confession at my parish. Offer it, preach it, and they will come. It is true.
Fr. R. - You should take a look at the link Jeff has to the "Light is On For You" website. It has a very well written FAQ section that covers all the usual questions and concerns in the same straightforward manner as the confession guide. You might think about adding this to what you make for your parish!
I praise God for solid leadership here in the ADW (given who he replaced), and I would ask that the Archbishop's detractors give him time to fully implement his vision here. So far I'm impressed. God Bless.
Here in the Philippines, I am able to obtain an accordion-folded leaflet on preparing for confession. It only costs PhP5 (1US$=PhP 48).
One tiny problem..."Bless me, Father, for I have sinned...it has been a week since my last confession" is no longer part of the rite. Everybody still says it, but it's not officially part of the rite.
Fr. Philip, OP
Fr Philip, I didn't know that "Bless me father..." is no longer part of the rite; what is the appropriate way to begin a confession?
Thanks.
The leaflet Missal Company puts out the best guide to confession I have ever seen. It includes an explanation of the sacrament, answers common questions (why go to a priest), a thorough examination of conscience, and the "steps" of the sacrament itself. I givew one to anyone who has questions about going to confession.
I love what they are doing in Washington. My only complaint is that the short examination of conscience includes nothing about contraception.
This was the exact pamphlet they had at the National Shrine when I went to CUA, and their confessionals were packed every day.
Amy, the examination of conscience does include contraception.
"Did I willfully look at pornography, entertain impure thoughts or engage in impure conversations? Did I use artificial means to prevent conception?"
Yes, wouldn't it be great if every diocese took the cue from the ADW regarding such a thoughtful and sincere invitation to confession?
I would raise one objection and that would be to the following:
" Did I put my faith in danger through readings hostile to Catholic teachings or involvement in non-Catholic sects?"
In order to understand one's faith and the correctness of said faith it is important to understand what other's objections and the arguements against it is. Like any muscle when one learns about the faith and practices refuting the arguements against it one grows stronger. This is acomplished by study, reason and prayer. A faith that can't handle any challenge is no faith at all. Such a statement implies that one should run with fear from such a challenge this is the providence of the Cafeteria not of the faithful.
Personally as a Catholic I believe there is only one reason to remain a Catholic:
Because it is true.
If it were not true then it would not be religion, it would be a hobby or a club. I believe that as truth it can stand up to any error or calumny that is put up against it. But any faith that would be shattered by the reading of a book or the attendance of a say a Lutheran service is a very weak one. If one own ability to study or reason is weak then one should seek the help and advice of somebody with such gifts to give them strength not flee.
This in my opinion is the weakness of Islam, when one can't defend one's faith with reason and truth , it is defended by violence, beheading and fatawas. We are much stronger than that, for we have the truth of Christ, and that truth is the reason why the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, that being the case how much less shall the incorrect writings and actions of man?
Wow, I didn't know that "Bless me Father, for I have sinned..." wasn't part of the rite, either. I say it, and I'm even a neophyte.
This is a good examination of conscience. There's a very similar one in the back of my St. Joseph missal.
Peter--studying non-Catholic ideas or running into them in literature probably isn't what the examination is getting at. It really is possible to read stuff that is potentially damaging to a person's faith if the person is poorly catechized, spiritually unprepared, reading for rebellious reasons, or what-not. It's a good idea to ask yourself, "Why am I reading this?" If you don't have a really good reason, you probably shouldn't be reading it. As an sf writer (and therefore reader), I have to ask myself this all the time and take the cautions against reading potentially damaging books very seriously.
Fascinating how commenters on other blogs are really hostile to Abp. Wuerl, calling him a phony (among other things) and dismissing this outstanding pastoral initiative as meaningless, all because he won't publicly rebuke Nancy Pelosi.
I say God bless Abp. Wuerl and any bishop who preaches the sacraments and encourages the faithful to partake of them.
I would raise one objection and that would be to the following:
" Did I put my faith in danger through readings hostile to Catholic teachings or involvement in non-Catholic sects?"
There is a difference between reading something from a different viewpoint, and reading something overtly hostile to Catholic faith. Also, in other confessions I've seen the above with the addition "without good reason" or something to that effect.
The upshot is Catholics should not engage with things hostile to the faith without a good reason AND if they do, it should be with the approval and guidance of a priest or spiritual advisor.
Fr. Oscar Lukefahr (Catholic Home Study Service) distributes this exact examination of conscience whenever he leads a penance service at a parish mission. Tomorrow evening, in fact, he will lead a penance service (followed by individual confessions being heard by 8 available priests) at my home parish, St. Mary's Church, Rome, GA. See my blog (http://romancatholicbychoice.com) for my daily posts on the content of his talks during our parish mission.
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