i was wondering, in confession, do u ever feel extremely embarrassed to reveal a sin you commited and tell your foc?? how do u actually tell him if ur so embarrased about saying it. any help?? thanks
Hi mazza, Actually if you don't have this feeling of embarrassment, then there should be something wrong! If you look deeper on that feeling of embarrassment you will find out that it is your self ego that is trying to fight back. It doesn't want to be hurt. One of the most painful things for the self ego is to expose its weakness. So it will brings these ideas in your mind: how will my foc look at me when I tell him so and so and so...? I will lose his respect...
Some other times, these thoughts come from satan. BUT you have to fight it! And remember that the reward from confession is priceless: it is remission of your sins.
One more thing I wanted to mention is that the more honest you are in your confession, the more respect you will get from your FOC. And this will help him to guide you in the right way.
umm....the more you are honest in ur confession...the more truly you love God....and the resolved you are in not repeating these things that make God sad again....
it's ur eternity...fight for it, and by God's grace, in the end, you will win....
Look at it objectively; if you can't tell your father of confession (who is a mere mortal) your sins then how will be able to confess your sins before your Father in Heaven on Judgement Day.
Your FOC is a sinner as well, don't hesitate to confess. Shame is natural, its what drives us to want forgiveness. You can be slightly vague when confessing to feel minimum shame rather than dwell on an embarassing segment for a long time.
In the opening prayer during confession in the Russian Orthodox Tradition it says that if you hide any sins, then you are guilty of a greater sin. We should be ashamed of our sins but it has to come out in confession; everything has to be said. When you are ashamed of the sin, just say it since after you have confessed it, it is off of your soul. You father of confession will not look at you any differently after you have confessed it. Some people say that priests are given a special gift where they forget the sins they hear in confession. The best thing to to is say the worst and most embarrassing sins first and get them out of the way so you can clearly confess your other sins.
i heard a priest say this once and it gave me great comfort
He mentioned the verse "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15:7) then he said that this is what a father feels when he sees that a person has repented and is coming to confess, nothing but joy.
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Actually if you don't have this feeling of embarrassment, then there should be something wrong! If you look deeper on that feeling of embarrassment you will find out that it is your self ego that is trying to fight back. It doesn't want to be hurt. One of the most painful things for the self ego is to expose its weakness. So it will brings these ideas in your mind: how will my foc look at me when I tell him so and so and so...? I will lose his respect...
Some other times, these thoughts come from satan. BUT you have to fight it! And remember that the reward from confession is priceless: it is remission of your sins.
One more thing I wanted to mention is that the more honest you are in your confession, the more respect you will get from your FOC. And this will help him to guide you in the right way.
GOD BLESS U!
miena
umm....the more you are honest in ur confession...the more truly you love God....and the resolved you are in not repeating these things that make God sad again....
it's ur eternity...fight for it, and by God's grace, in the end, you will win....
In HIS NAME,
rfz
Your FOC is a sinner as well, don't hesitate to confess. Shame is natural, its what drives us to want forgiveness. You can be slightly vague when confessing to feel minimum shame rather than dwell on an embarassing segment for a long time.
He mentioned the verse "there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance" (Luke 15:7) then he said that this is what a father feels when he sees that a person has repented and is coming to confess, nothing but joy.