A General Confession is the confession of all the mortal sins of one's past life, or if it is not a person's first General Confession, then all the mortal sins of ones life since their last General Confession. In making a General Confession, it is also good to include our bad habits, omissions and failings to help the confessor to form a correct idea of the overall direction of one's spiritual life.
Sometimes it is desirable to call the rectory and make an appointment with a priest if you think you need extra time to talk, but it can also be done easily at the regular confession times.
General Confession is not something one does often. If you are already doing the best you can in living your spiritual life and making sincere confessions, then that is sufficient. General confession is advisable only if there is serious doubt about the validity of former confessions. It is permissible if it is thought the penitent would derive profit from it; or before a person enters a new state of life, entering marriage, the religious life or priesthood; or before one takes on a major new office. It is wise to discuss it with a priest before planning a General Confession.
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There are some sins that can be very injurious to our spirit. The Church gives us a list of seven things to avoid because they can be deadly to the life of the soul. They are called Capital Sins.
Pride is an inordinate love of one's own excellence. It can lead to presumption, ambition, hypocrisy or disobedience. Pride is complete when one holds himself in such high regard that he refuses to submit to God.
Covetousness is any wrongful desire for what one does not possess. Wrongful desires can be sinful.
Lust is an inordinate appetite for sexual pleasure. In the sermon on the Mount, Christ said that to lust with the eyes and the heart is already a sin.
Anger is an emotion of displeasure coupled with a desire for the punishment of the offender. The sin of anger is committed when the anger greatly exceeds the offense or when the punishment desired is motivated by revenge.
Gluttony is an inordinate longing for food and drink or taking food and drink to excess in such a way that it is harmful to the body.
Envy is a sense of extreme discontent or jealousy with regard to another's advantages, success, or possessions. Resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another with a desire to possess the same advantage
Sloth or laziness is that which causes a person to neglect serious duties. It leads to tepidity in keeping God's commandments It becomes a grave sin when when it results in the breaking of a serious law.
We must confess our most secret sins. Sins against the ninth and tenth commandments, sins of desire, can wound the soul greviously and could be more dangerous than those committed openly.
Relativists teach that there is no fixed moral code given to human beings by their Creator. On the contrary, the Catholic Church teaches that there are moral absolutes, things that are always wrong, whatever one's motive for doing them, for example: voluntary murder, abortion, sodomy, taking advantage of the poor or defrauding the workingman of his wages.
Sins against the Holy Spirit
Despair is a complete and willful abandonment of hope and assurance that God will bring one to eternal life.
Presumption is a rash confidence of obtaining eternal happiness without using the proper means to obtain it,
for example, resisting revealed truth, obstinacy in one's sin and choosing to die in our sins.
When should one go to Confession?
All the faithful who have reached the age of reason are bound to confess their grave sins at least once a year. It is necessary to go to confession as soon as possible if we have committed a mortal sin. We have to confess all the mortal sins we can remember after an examination of conscience. We should make devotional confession frequently.
Do Sins have Punishment?
Are we punished for our sins? Yes, our sins deserve to receive a punishment. There are two kinds of punishment due to sin: the eternal punishment of hell, due to unforgiven mortal sins, and temporal punishment, lasting only for a time, due to venial sin and also due to mortal sins after they have been forgiven. Christ, on the Cross, made adequate Satisfaction to atone for all the sins of all. But God wants us to perform acts of penance in order to pay our debt of temporal punishment in union with Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross.The unpaid debt is paid in Purgatory.
The Sacrament of Penance Takes Away Punishment
The Sacrament of Penance, when worthily received, takes away eternal punishment; but it does not always take away all temporal punishment. God requires temporal punishment for sin to satisfy His justice, to teach us the great evil of sin, and to warn us not to sin again. We pay our debt of eternal punishment either in this life or in Purgatory. The chief means to satisfy our debt of temporal punishment, besides the penance imposed at confession, are: prayer, attending Mass, fasting, almsgiving, works of mercy, patient endurance of sufferings and indulgences.
What is an Indulgence?
An indulgence is the remission in whole or part of the temporal punishment due to sins which have been forgiven. Indulgences are granted by the Church in virtue of the power of binding and loosing sins given her by Christ. An Indulgence opens for us the treasury of Christ and the Saints. The Church grants indulgences to encourage us to perform works of devotion, penance and charity. A plenary indulgence remits all the punishment due to forgiven sins. To gain such an indulgence,one must be in the state of grace, perform the good work that's required, have the intention of gaining it and the intention to avoid all sin.The Church has specified the works to which a plenary indulgence is attached. Among these are, praying the Stations of the Cross, saying the Rosary in public, reading the Scriptures for thirty minutes or praying for fifteen minutes before the tabernacle. For the gaining of the indulgence, the work has to be accompanied by receiving the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion and praying for the Pope's intentions. This is refer to as "the usual conditions."