he future: in
like manner, the sinner, after having escaped the danger of eternal
death by the pardon of his sins, should never again risk his salvation.

217 Q. What must he do who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in
confession?
A. He who has willfully concealed a mortal sin in confession must not
only confess it, but must also repeat all the sins he has committed
since his last worthy confession.

"Willfully." Remember, forgetting is not the same as concealing; but if
you should willfully neglect to examine your conscience or make any
effort to know your sins before going to confession, then forgetting
would be equivalent to concealing. Without any preparation your
confession could hardly be a good one. When you are in doubt whether an
action is sinful or not, or whether you have confessed it before, you
should not leave the confessional with the doubt upon your mind.

It is a foolish practice, however, to be always disturbing your
conscience by thinking of past sins, especially of those that occurred
very early in your life. Sometimes it is dangerous; because if, while
thinking of your past sins, you should take pleasure in them, you would
commit a new sin similar to the past sins in which you take delight.

It is best, therefore, not to dwell in thought upon any particular past
sin with the time, place, and circumstances of its commission; but
simply to remember in general that you have in the past sinned against
this or that Commandment or virtue.

The past is no longer under our control, while the future is, and
becomes for us, therefore, the all-important portion of our lives. Not
unfrequently it may be an artifice of the devil to keep us so occupied
with past deeds that we may not attend to the dangers of the future. Do
not, then, after your confession spend your time in thinking of the sins
you confessed, but of how you will avoid them in the future. When a
wound is healed up, nobody thinks of opening it again to see if it has
healed properly; so when the wounds made in our souls by sin are healed
up by the absolution, we should not open them again.

This is the rule with regard to our ordinary confessions; but we should
sometimes make a general confession. What is a general confession? It is
the confession of the sins of our whole life or of a portion--say one,
two or five, etc., years--of our life. A general confession may be
necessary, useful, or hurtful. It is necessary, as you know, when our
pas