Advent is a great time to go to confession. It’s a perfect gift to give to the Lord; after all, He is the one who should be getting the gifts because, frankly, it’s His birthday we are celebrating. Why not give Him the gift of a pure heart this Christmas?
How should one prepare oneself for going to this sacrament? By doing a little bit of self examination beforehand. Here is a good set of things to think about ahead of time:
- What has most bothered my conscience since my last confession? When have I acted in a way that embarrasses me even to this day?
- What might I have done that I really wanted to do, even though my mind said it was wrong, but my feelings overcame the right judgment of my mind, and I did it anyway?
- When have I failed to cooperate with God’s grace? When did I allow a chance to act or speak out for righteousness to pass by? What was the good that I could have done and did not do? Have I fallen silent when others made disparaging comments about the Church?
- Would I say that my life has been exemplary in adhering to the teachings of the Church? If not, in what specific ways have I not been a good example?
- What habit of sin have I embraced and accepted as the norm for me? What compromises have I made in following the Lord?
- Have I always “thought with the Church” or have I thought that I know better on this topic or that, or have I thought that worldly opinion is more reliable than the Church? (This would be a failure in humility and quite possibly complicity in the advance of evil. Remember that Jesus said to the Church, “Whoever hears you, hears me.”)
- Have I taken a stance that I can criticize other people for their behaviors and attitudes and that I, I alone, am free from such evaluation?
- Have I allowed myself to have an idol in being busy, or in leisure, or in something else that minimizes the primacy of God in my worship, prayer, and devotion?
- Have I contributed to the wellbeing of the Church by my involvement, by my giving and by my thinking about my church as “us” rather than as “them”?
- In my family life, have I turned my back on my own? Have I let go of injustices done to me?
- As an employer or as an employee, have I acted justly in my work ethics?
- Am I a hypocrite by professing noble things but acting sometimes in an ignoble way?
- Do I see myself accurately, or do I believe my own “PR”?
- Have I given in to being overly harsh in regard to my view of myself; and has that harshness spread into my view of others?
I hope this helps. And if you just don’t what to say, just ask the priest to help you. He will.
