Friday 27 September 2013

到修好所举行和好圣事

1.忏悔者画十字圣号     「因父及子及圣神之名。阿门。」

2.忏悔者告明上次举行和好圣事的时期 「神父,上次我举行和好圣事是……前。」
(如一个月或半年,或一年前......若不记得,就说:「我不记得上灰举行和好圣事是多久前的事。」)

3.忏悔者告明自己的罪过「在自我反省后,我请求天主原谅的是……」
(把自己在省察中所反省到的罪过简明地一一说出)告明自己的罪过后说:
「这是我现在反省到的罪过,也请天主原谅我没有反省到的罪过。」

4.忏悔者聆听神父的规劝,并接受补赎此时神父会先规劝忏悔者。忏悔者努力聆听。其次,神父会要求忏悔者为自己的犯过做补赎。忏悔者仔细聆听神父所给的补赎。忏悔者若不知道神父所给的补赎经文,或不能行神父建议的善工,需告知神父,请神父另给一个补赎。

5.忏悔者念悔罪经神父给了规劝和补赎后,要求忏悔者:「现在请念悔罪经,表明自己的忏悔。」
忏悔者可用以下或类似的祷词说:
「天主,为了我所犯的一切罪过,和我应做而没有尽到的本分,我全心痛悔,因为我得罪了你,极仁慈的天主。现在,依靠你圣宠的助佑,我决心悔改,善作补赎,愿永远生活在您的爱里。阿门。」
(忏悔者此时可以自编一段祷词,只要祷词内容包括①悔罪②求宽恕③决心痛改④谢恩)

6.神父赦罪神父向悔罪者伸出右手(或双手覆在悔罪者头上)说:
「天上的慈父,因祂圣子的死亡和复活,使世界与祂和好,又恩赐圣神赦免罪过。
愿祂借着教会的服务,宽恕你,赐给你平安。现在我因父及子及圣神之名,赦免你的罪过。」
(此时,悔罪者画圣号,接受罪赦。)
悔罪者答:「阿门。」

7.颂谢天主,忏悔者退去神父说:「平安回去吧!天主与你同在!」
忏悔者答:「感谢天主,谢谢神父。」

Friday 20 September 2013

Confess at Confession, Not Gossip

At times, there are some people who come to confession and when they begin, instead of confessing their sins, they start to confess other people's sins, or sometimes, they even start blaming other people for causing them to sin. They talk about what their husband, wife, children, parents, in-laws, out-laws, etc. have done; they talk about their colleagues at work or their boss; but they seem to be unable to talk about the sins they have committed. Some of them even say that they are the victim and others are being mean or unfair. This behaviour and attitude is merely gossip, where one tries to justify oneself and being self-righteous.

Confession is not an avenue for people to complain or grumble about other people but to humbly and repentantly seek forgiveness from God. Perhaps one should look clearly at oneself instead of being so quick to accuse others, as Jesus reminded us:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:1-5 or Luke 6:41-42)."

Are some of us becoming so insensitive to our own sins and take delight in accusing others? Do we value the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or have we become indifferent to its true value?

Thursday 5 September 2013

How to Make A Confession: Some Helpful Steps

Many a times, I find some people coming for confession without having a clue about how to make a confession with a priest. I am not speaking about examination of conscience here, but about the procedure during the confession itself.

Perhaps it would be helpful if we refresh our memory on how it is done, especially if there are among us who have not been regular in going for confession.

1. Begin by making the sign of the cross, then say: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It is (or has been) …………weeks (or months, or years) since my last confession."

Note:  Often I see people coming for confession and omitting this step. Your parish priest or the priest hearing your confession would need to know when was the last time you made a confession so he can later advise you accordingly.

2. Say: "These are my sins." Then confess your sins. Do not hide anything. Let it all out but there is no need to go into too much detail, unless the priest feels it is necessary. For example, if you committed adultery, just say you committed adultery and say how many times it happened (once, twice, etc.). There is no need to go into the nitty gritty details such as how you did it, with whom, location, how you felt, how the other person felt, etc.

3. When you are finished, tell the priest you are sorry for your sins and ask for forgiveness for those sins as well as any you may have forgotten to confess.

4. The priest will then advise you accordingly.

5. The priest will then give you a penance to perform and will ask you to say the Act of Contrition. A simple form of the Act of Contrition is:

O My God, I am very sorry that I have sinned against you; Because you are so good and with your help I will not sin again.

6. The priest will absolve you of your sins through a prayer ending with words similar to this: “I absolve you of your sins in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  Make the sign of the cross as he does this.

7. The priest will then dismiss you by saying some variation of “go in peace.”  Reply, “Thanks be to God” and exit the confessional.

Quotes and Anecdotes Throughout Ministry (The Story of our Lives so far)

Having been a priest for several years, I have from time to time come up with interesting quotes from different sources. Some of these quote...