Did you know...?

I heard something on the radio yesterday that I found fascinating and thought that I would share it.  I wish I could give credit to whomever was speaking but I was in the car and just heard it by chance so I can't.  

The person speaking was teaching that Psalm 23 is the Psalm that the early Christians would recite on the way to the Easter Vigil (and probably during) when new members were welcomed into the Church.  

Being welcomed into Holy Mother Church means receiving the three Sacraments of Initiation; Baptism, the Eucharist and Confirmation.  

Let's go through the Psalm and break it down:

"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul." (Psalm 23: 1-3)

The quiet waters are the waters of Baptism, which remove our original sin as infants and all sins up to that point as adults, and bring us into God's family.

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"You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies." (Psalm 23:5)

The table He spreads for us is the table of the Eucharist where Jesus feeds us with His own Precious Body and Blood.

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"You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows." (Psalm 23:5)


The oil used at Confirmation is called Holy Chrism and "is a mixture of olive oil and balsam," and is used to signify favor and strength from the Lord. (Catholic Education Resource.)

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"And I will dwell in the house of the Lord, forever." (Psalm 23:6) 

All of these Sacraments bring us into the Church which leads us to our final resting place with Jesus in heaven.


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On Confession Part 3

Now that I've discussed why we need Sacramental Confession,  I need to talk about how to prepare for it.

The first part of preparation is knowledge of and sorrow for your sins and contrition. There are two types of contrition and I am going to let the Catechism speak here:

CCC 1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.

CCC 1453 The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be brought to completion by sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.

In order to know your sins you must have knowledge of what God expects of us.  God has given us a blueprint to follow in the Ten Commandments.  Knowing the Commandments is a good way start to living them.  For a list of the Ten Commandments and how to memorize them with relative ease see my post, "Quick, What's the Sixth Commandment?"  (7/26/11)

There are many, many ways to examine your conscience.  Since you can Google search that information I won't list it here.

Find an examination that you like and go through it slowly and carefully.  Get out a piece of paper and write down what you come up with.

Once you've examined your conscience and are contrite you are ready to seek out a priest.

To be continued. . .