How Do Converts Deal With Their Past?

[Annie12]

I have always been curious how converts deal with their past. Upon becoming catholic they make their first confession and I would think that it would be hard to remember everything you have ever done wrong. Is scrupulosity a problem for converts or are they simply to put their past in the merciful hands of Jesus and move on?

[PhuturePriest]

I'm not so much a convert than a revert, but I dealt with scrupulosity at first. It took about six months, but I became hopelessly scrupulous. I confessed everything I could possibly remember, a lot of them more than once because I was certain I didn't confess them right (Even though I did), and it was terrible. But after a few months, my scrupulosity went away. I really am grateful I was only scrupulous for a few months. I know many people that have struggled with it for years, and I'm fortunate that it finally got under control somehow.

[beatitude]

When you convert you don't need to confess every single thing you've ever done wrong in your life. Imagine the poor priest, stuck in the confessional for about seven months while the penitent began with the time they made a face at their teacher at the age of eight. If converts were expected to do this then the priest would have to start scheduling snack and toilet breaks for their confessions. Also, no one needs to confess things that they don't remember. It's not expected. As I am often telling Jesus when I forget where I've put something, not everyone has got his memory, and could he find my stuff for me please?

 

The point to remember here is that confession is meant to be a help. It's a gift from God to us, not  some horrible test that we have to get exactly right. Converts do what the rest of us do - ask the Holy Spirit for help, maybe read a Bible passage or two, and then go and say whatever is on their heart. Keep it sincere and keep it simple. There is no need for anything more. :)

[Kayte Postle]

For my first confession it was extremely hard to come up with what I needed to confess, I had 21 years of confessing to do. I remembered the big mortal sins, and from there I downloaded several examinations of consciences, and took time to think through my past sins. I prepared for about a week beforehand, and walked into the confessional with a three page typed document and a box of tissues.

 

Right now, yes I think am I struggling with scrupulosity. I am so very worried about weather or not I'm making a good confession, and if I confessed everything. I am also terribly worried about being in a state of mortal sin and receiving the Eucharist. Even though I know I haven't committed any mortal sins, I still worry about "oh maybe I missed something". As a recent convert, confession is hard for me. Right now I feel as if I'm doing it completely wrong, and I'm still learning on what it means to make a good confession (which makes getting my butt into the confessional even harder). I know through the grace of God, I will learn. The more I go, the more I encounter Christ in the sacrament, I think the more I will learn about what makes a good confession. From that (I hope) the scrupulosity will fade.

 

Beatitude put it wonderfully. Confession is there to help us. It's a powerful sacrament, where you hear literally hear Christ say "Your sins are forgiven". That's an amazing thing for us converts, (especially coming from protestant denominations), because we have never experienced that before. I know for me, I did ask for forgiveness in my heart when I was a non-denom, but there were very few times where I felt the forgiveness of Christ. This caused me to hold onto a lot of my sins, and a lot of the hurt caused from them. During my first confession, I poured out the darkest parts of my heart that I had been holding onto, and for the first time I felt truly ultimately forgiven for what I had done. Confession was, and is, a beautiful liberating event. It frees us from sin and returns us to the arms of Christ.

 

........I know this post is kinda jumbled, but I hope that helped answer your question.

 

[Winchester]

Most just go completely insane.

[brianthephysicist]

Most just go completely insane.

 

Is this before or after they go completely inane?

[Winchester]

Is this before or after they go completely inane?

 

It varies.
 

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I have always been curious how converts deal with their past. Upon becoming catholic they make their first confession and I would think that it would be hard to remember everything you have ever done wrong. Is scrupulosity a problem for converts or are they simply to put their past in the merciful hands of Jesus and move on?

 

I'm not a convert, strictly speaking, but I had a conversion in my teens and I struggle periodically to frequently with scrupulosity.  I find that it attacks most when I am looking inward too much. If I'm too busy going around living my faith actively, I don't notice my venial sins as much, which is probably right.

[CatholicsAreKewl]

If converts were expected to do this then the priest would have to start scheduling snack and toilet breaks for their confessions. 

Another good reason for video conference confessions. 

[BG45]

You list what you remember.  Then add "for these and any other sins I have forgotten, I am truly sorry".  :)  

 

That phrase isn't just some throw away line for people who want to be done with their Confession quickly.  It's an honest answer to what the Lord asks; He knows what we have forgotten and knows that we wish we recalled it.  He knows why we are in Confession and that we approach it with a heart intent on repentance. 

 

As a convert (Tiber Swim Team 2009), there is one thing that I try to remember in the Confessional.  God's love is beyond anything we can imagine.  I can screw up, I can sin mortally, I can set myself away from God.  However, in that Confessional, talking out those sins with the priest, asking for God's forgiveness, I didn't "earn" anything that has resulted from that Confession, like absolution.  It is a gift, freely given, to those who would come and ask for it with a heart prepared, contrite, and ready to do penance.