Fr. Tom Collins: A MORE DOCILE APPROACH TO AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

Lent begins in a few weeks, so it's a good time to think about confession which always begins with a serious and fruitful examination of conscience. Fr. Tom gives us a how-to approach.

The Rite for the Sacrament of Reconciliation encourages the use of God’s Word, found in Holy Scripture and in Church Tradition, for the examination of one’s conscience.

Fr. Tom Collins: Overcome Evil by Embracing Authentic Repentance

"If you didn't want me to sin, why did you give me that woman, God?"

Editor's note: Fr. Tom raises important issues in this post. Do you have a sincere conscience or a "sin-seared" conscience? How do you form your conscience -- by the opinions on The View and Good Morning America or by the dogmatic teachings of the Church? Unless each of us examines his life with a well-formed, sincere conscience, he can never overcome his evil actions or avoid the appeal of seductive temptations. Rationalization has been man's weakness since  Adam pointed his finger at God and said, "The woman you gave me, she gave me the fruit and so I ate it." We are all tempted to rationalize and imitate Adam saying, "You made me do it, God! It's your fault!" 

Have you been to Confession Lately?

Fr. Tom suggests some important guidelines for examining your conscience. This would be a great article to run off and take with you (along with your Bible) for your next Confession.

A MORE DOCILE APPROACH TO THE EXAMINATION OF ONE’S CONSCIENCE

by Fr. Tom Collins

The Rite for the Sacrament of Reconciliation encourages the use of God’s Word, found in Holy Scripture and in Church Tradition, for the examination of one’s conscience. Just as a diagnosis of a sick person requires many forms of examination (e.g., blood tests, pulse, blood pressure, EEG, X-rays, EKG, urine analysis, CAT scan, etc.), so a thorough examination of conscience should consider the many dimensions of one’s spiritual life in the light of God’s revealed Word. Our need for diverse formats for an examination of conscience can be seen in a simple exercise. Counting the number of times "F" is found in the following sentence:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOLLOWED BY MONTHS OF CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF THE FACTUAL DATA COLLECTED FROM IT.

The correct answer is at the bottom of this page in italics.

Are You in Danger of Becoming Lukewarm?

I went to Confession on Saturday and one fault I accused myself of was arriving late for daily Mass a few times for no good reason. Usually it's because I stayed on the computer too long before starting to get ready. On those occasions I was only a minute or two late and the lector was just starting the readings.

Since I have no obligation to go to daily Mass I know it's not a sin, but what the priest said to me really made me think. He asked if I went to Communion on those occasions. Then he reminded me of how important it is to prepare for Mass and arriving early gives us a chance to do that. It's easy for us to take the Eucharist for granted and to grow cold in our love for Jesus. I thought of that today when I read a post on Terry Nelson's blog. It was talking about the faithful person who begins to fall into sin, but I think lukewarmness comes before that. Soooooo........

From now on, I'm leaving with a planned ten or fifteen minutes to prepare for Mass. If I'm late, I'm going to refrain from going to Communion and will make a spiritual Communion instead apologizing to Jesus for my lukewarmness. I hope this will give me a burning desire for Jesus in the Eucharist. Before he died in 2000, Fr. John Hardon said repeatedly that only heroic Catholic families would survive the attacks on the faith. I want to be one of those survivors and the best guarantee of that is to be on fire with love for Jesus rather than to be a fading ember.

Help me love you more and more every day, Jesus. Set my heart aflame like your Sacred Heart!

First Friday and First Saturday Are Coming Up....

So today is a good day to go to Confession in preparation. We have visiting grandchildren and will all go for a spiritual bath.

"Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee...."

Do you know the promises that come with the First Friday devotion? Check them out here. 

Check out the First Saturday devotion here

God is so generous in offering us many opportunities to grow closer to Himself. Think how much He loves you and rejoice by spending time with Him and with Our Blessed Mother.

A Good Lenten Message to Priests: Hear Confessions!

“Wait for faithful in the confessional,” Apostolic Penitentiary tells priests

Remember St. Jean Vianney who spent most of his day in the confessional:

My children, we cannot comprehend the goodness of God towards us in instituting this great Sacrament of Penance. If we had had a favour to ask of Our Lord, we should never have thought of asking Him that. But He foresaw our frailty and our inconstancy in well-doing, and His love induced Him to do what we should not have dared to ask. If one said to those poor lost souls that have been so long in Hell, "We are going to place a priest at the gate of Hell: all those who wish to confess have only to go out, " do you think, my children, that a single one would remain? The most guilty would not be afraid of telling their sins, nor even of telling them before all the world. Oh, how soon Hell would be a desert, and how Heaven would be peopled! Well, we have the time and the means, which those poor lost souls have not. And I am quite sure that those wretched ones say in Hell, "O accursed priest! if I had never known you, I should not be so guilty!" (Read more from this great saint here.)

Padre Pio was also a prisoner of the confessional:

"God runs after the most stubborn souls. They cost him too much to abandon them." 

"It is a tremendous responsibility to sit in the tribunal of the confessional." (Read more here.)

Thank God for "The light is on for you" initiative. Every Wednesday evening at every church in the Diocese of Arlington and Washington, D.C. a priest waits to hear confessions.

• Find a convenient Confession time in the Diocese of Arlington
• Find a convenient Confession time in the Archdiocese of Washington  

Sunday Meditation

"There is indeed a stubborn protest with all of us faced with the offensive truth that no crime, however despicable, is beyond the scope of our own wickedness. It is only the grace of God that saves us from ourselves and accomplishes the good we do."        
              Fr. J. Anthony Giambrone, O.P.

In view of that unhappy truth, let us be thankful, especially this week when we celebrate our Thanksgiving to God for his blessings, for the wonderful gift of Confession. What better way to say thanks than to receive the sacrament this week.