The first component of a valid confession is examining one’s conscience. But it is just the beginning. We need to do a more serious introspection after confession. Before coming to this second introspection, let us have a quick look at the essential components of a valid confession. They are
- Examination of Conscience
- Feeling contrition
- Firm resolution to avoid sin in the future
- Stating all sins, especially all mortal sins, to the priest
- Fulfilling the penance given by the priest.
A confession becomes valid only when all these five conditions are satisfied. Needless to say, all other confessions are invalid. The purpose of introspection after confession is to know whether our confession was a valid one or an invalid one. Here are a few points to help you.
- Did you spend enough time recollecting all your sins? Or was it a mere ritual of confessing a few sins that came to your mind just before confession? It is a good practice to note down your sins in a paper during your preparation for confession. This will ensure that no sins are omitted.
- True contrition is the most important component of confession and its absence makes a confession invalid. It is better for such people not to go to confession, as its outcome is predestined. True contrition happens when we realize that what we have done is sin, and it offends God, ‘who is all good and deserving of all our love.’ Then, driven by a heartfelt regret for having offended God, it becomes easier to climb the next step to confession.
- Confession becomes a futile exercise when it is done without a firm resolve to amend our lives. A person who confesses his sins with the resolve to repeat the same sins in the future is mocking God’s mercy. What is the benefit of such a ritual when a drunkard, or adulterer, or fornicator, or thief, or one who earns money through illicit ways, merely goes for confession with the full knowledge that once out of the church, he will surely return to his old life? They forget that confession is in essence a process of stating those sins that we detest and avoid. Confession without a firm resolve not to repeat our past sins is again making a mockery of God’s mercy.
Here one thing needs to be understood. Man is weak and there are chances of him falling into the same sin again even after a good confession. It is a different situation where we trust in God’s grace to supplement our efforts to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Confession gives us two graces, first of absolution from our sins, and then the grace not to sin in the future. It is when we utilize this grace in an effective manner that we could avoid sins and its near occasions.
- Stating all sins to the priest is also an equally important component of confession. Deliberately using a low voice so that the priest is not able to hear what we say is to be avoided. Similarly stating the details in an ambiguous manner, skipping certain sins, choosing words to mislead the priest, etc makes the confession invalid. Imagine a person who has committed, say, fifty sins and confesses only forty nine and hides one sin at the time of confession. The result is that none of his fifty sins are forgiven. On the contrary, he is adding another sin to the list; that of mocking the sacrament of confession.
- The penance given by the priest is not a proportionate punishment for the sin that is committed. Instead it is an expression of our submission to the Lord who has forgiven all our sins and blessed us with the grace to avoid future sins. Since there is a possibility of forgetting to fulfill the penance as time passes, it is always advisable to do it immediately after the confession.
Keeping all these in mind let us do an introspection after every confession. This will help us to realize our flaws. More importantly, this will help us not to fall in the trap of believing that all our sins are already absolved in such confessions. The greatest risk is that we could continue our life with this thought and may have to face death with many unreprented and unforgiven sins still remaining.
So it is best to prepare for confession by analyzing our conduct in the light of ten commandments, seven capital sins (pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth) and five precepts of the Church. If possible, note down your sins in a paper before going to confession. And do not forget the most important condition to ask forgiveness from God; that you must forgive those who have sinned against you, for Jesus himself said that a person who does not show mercy to others has no right to ask God’s mercy.
If you really want to avoid an introspection after confession, there is only one way left, and it is going through all five steps needed for a valid confession, with a contrite heart. May the merciful Lord grant all of us the grace to do it.
