How do you prepare for Confession?

Yesterday I left work early to go to Confession.  I arrived early, so I knelt down with a little notebook to do an examination of my conscience and write things down before I got in line.

As the minutes ticked by, I realized that no priests were coming, so I decided to just continue my cataloging of personal sins…adding impatience and end-of-the-day irritation to the list. 

I figured God knew Confession had been cancelled (even though it wasn’t updated on the parish website), so He probably had really sent me to the church to examine my conscience instead of “getting more work done.” 

We try to encourage our family members to always do a thorough exam and to help that effort we have various aids we’ve picked up in parishes, at conferences, and elsewhere.  Most have a short overview of the Sacrament followed by a page or two of questions to review. I’m always finding them stuffed into compartments in the cars, under papers on my desk, and so on. 

However, yesterday to the parish I brought “How to Make a Good Confession“ by Fr John Kane, which has a whopping 17 pages of questions for the examination of conscience — so I ended up spending a good 15-20 minutes going page-by-page.  It opened my eyes to things I hadn’t thought of before, and I’m more ready now…for Saturday Confession time.

Here’s just a small sampling of questions in Fr Kane’s list which I had not seen in other lists:

• Do I trouble others with my grievances?
• Have I grumbled against God’s Will?
• Have I attended or taken part in the marriage of a Catholic in a wedding not approved by the Church?
• Have I willingly entertained distractions [during prayer]?
• Am I disrespectful, impolite, or discourteous to my family?
• Have I neglected the duties of my state in life?
• Do I eat too much or sleep too much?
• Do I fail to wish my neighbor all the good things that I wish for myself?
• Have I attributed bad motives to others, when I could not be certain of their motives?
• Have I failed prudently to make an effort to prevent the sins of my spouse?
• Have I spread gloom by giving way to morose and sullen moods?

I think I’ll give my kids a copy of the book to add to their examination resources.  The first 100 pages of the book are also a wonderfully insightful explanation of the Sacrament of Confession (which I last read during the 2 hours I was waiting in the Confession line on Good Friday…).  Excellent in all respects.

Anyway, thought I’d share some of that with you, but here’s the real reason for this post:

We at Holy Heroes would like to know how YOU do such an examination of conscience.  

What works for you and your family?  

1. When do you do the examination–just before Confession, on the drive, in the line?  Daily? Weekly? When?
2. How do you do it? Do you use a brochure or booklet or book? Scripture?
3. Do you help your children–if so, how?
4. And beyond the examination of conscience–how frequently do you go to Confession? Is there anything else you do after your examinations?  Personally or as a family?