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 TOPIC 20.4
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION (PART 1):
SINCERE CONTRITION FOR SIN

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1450-1460

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION (Part 1):
SINCERE CONTRITION FOR SIN

Don’t be afraid The Three Acts Steps to make

of the Truth of the Penitent a Good Confession

Necessary Matter Optional Matter Contrition: the most important act of

for Confession for Confession the Penitent

Four Qualities Genuine Contrition

of Genuine Contrition is a gift of God’s grace
 Don’t be afraid
of the Truth
Gen 3:8: Adam and Eve hid themselves
from the presence of God after sinning

◦ Reconciliation with God means not hiding from the truth

◦ “Don’t be afraid of the truth, even though the truth may mean
your death.”
The Way, pt 34

◦ “If you become my disciples, you will come to know the truth,
and the truth will set you free.”
Jn 8:32

◦ Truth: not a philosophy of life, let alone an ideology,

but Christ Crucified, Died, and Risen.
Cf. 1 Cor 1:22-25

◦ “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth

is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just,
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 Jn 1: 8
The Three Acts of the Penitent
Essential parts of Confession

 if any of these 3 acts

are defective or missing,
the Confession
is not only unworthily,
but also invalidly received.

 sincerity with God,

with ourselves,
and with the priest-confessor

On the part of the Priest On the part of the Penitent

the absolution given in persona • Contrition
et nominee Christi. • Confession of sins
“Ego te absolve a peccatis tuis…” • Satisfaction

God gives us His grace so that before, during,

and after the sacrament, we make a good Confession
 Steps To Make
a Good Confession
◦ First, a good examination of conscience
cf. CCC 1454

◦ Ask the Holy Spirit for light to know ourselves

as we really are

◦ “but when anything is exposed by the light

it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. 
Therefore, it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise
from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.”
Eph 5:13-14

◦ the same Spirit who brings sin to light is also the Consoler who gives the
human heart grace for repentance and conversion
CCC 1433
◦ trust in God’s mercy and healing power
Sts. Mary Magdalen, Augustine

“Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future”

Oscar Wilde
 Necessary matter
for Confession
Obligatory matter for Confession: all mortal sins committed after Baptism
not yet forgiven through individual sacramental Confession.

◦ Includes secret inner sins committed against the last 2 precepts

of the Decalogue; for these can wound the soul more grievously
and are more dangerous than those committed openly
CCC 1456

◦ To deliberately conceal a mortal sin, or circumstances which may aggravate

their gravity, invalidates the Confession; none of the sins confessed are forgiven,
and a new mortal sin of sacrilege is committed.

◦ After having attained the age of discretion, the faithful are bound
by an obligation to confess serious sins at least once a year.
CCC 1457
◦ Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Communion without first going to Confession,
even if he feels very sorry.
◦ Children must have their First Confession before First Communion.
 Optional matter
for Confession
Regular confession of our venial sins
(especially our predominant faults) is strongly recommended; for they help form
our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, and make progress in the life of
Christian virtue
CCC 1458

◦ Past sins already confessed may also be mentioned to express abiding contrition and
to obtain grace to atone for them.

◦ Imperfections (like acts of piety or of service to neighbor

or small duties we could have carried out with more diligence, generosity, or
cheerfulness), though not even venial sins,
may be confessed to grow in grace and virtue.

◦ Two kinds of Penitents

◦ those who confess out of necessity
(to recover the life of grace lost through mortal sin);
◦ those who confess out of devotion
(to deepen one’s love for God and neighbor).

Frequent Confession helps

make the most of frequent Communion
 Contrition,
the most important act
of the penitent
(CCC 1451)

Contrition (< L., conterere, “to grind down or pulverize”)

 at first hardened because of sin, the sinful heart is now broken
and remorseful through contrition

◦ The degree of reconciliation with God depends on the quality

of one’s contrition. The Repentant Thief: Lk 23:43.

The Penitent Woman

Lk 7: “44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I
entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet
with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss,
but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my
head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her
sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little,
loves little.’ 48 And he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’”
 Four Qualities of Genuine Contrition
Interior Supernatural
it involves an act of the will turning it is prompted by motives related to
away from sin God and derived from faith
• e.g., fear of God’s just punishments,
• CCC 1451: “sorrow of heart and a
of losing heaven; or filial sorrow for
detestation of sin, with the resolve having offended God’s love
to sin no more”
• vs. merely human motives of regret
• without a firm purpose of for having lost some natural good
amendment, there would be no (one’s reputation, friends,
employment), which don’t involve an
real contrition
inner turning away from sin and a
turning towards God.
Universal
must include at least
all the mortal sins committed
• To be “sorry”
for only some mortal sins
and not others
• the sorrow is either
not supernatural or it lacks
the last property
of genuine contrition,
viz., that it be sovereign.
Sovereign
we are sorry for sin
more than for any other evil
or sorrow that may befall us
• contrition implies regarding God and
His love as the greatest of all goods,
and hence, sin as the only real evil.
• Any circumstance or eventuality
(health, sickness, wealth, poverty,
success, failure) is good or bad
depending on whether it helps us get
closer to God or not. Bl. Queen
Blanche, mother of St. Louie IX of
France.
 Genuine contrition
is a gift of God’s grace
Turning away from sin and conversion to God
is fruit of actual grace

◦ 2 Cor 7:10
◦ “Godly sorrow brings repentance;
the sorrow of the world, death.”
◦ Despair of Judas. Satan < Gr., the accuser:
Rev 12:10.

◦ CCC 1432, 1428

◦ “God must give man a new heart
Ez 36:26-27

◦ Conversion is first of all a work of God

who makes our hearts return to Him: ‘Restore us to thyself, O
Lord, that we may be restored’
Lam 5:21

◦ God gives us the strength to begin anew.

It is not just a human work. It is the movement of a contrite heart,
drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God
who loved us first
cf. Ps 51:17; Jn 6:44; 1 Jn 4:10
 TOPIC 20.4
HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION (PART 1):
SINCERE CONTRITION FOR SIN

Reference: Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 1450-1460