Customer Reviews

How to Make a Good Confession: A Pocket Guide to Reconciliation With God

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I purchased this book for someone new to the Catholic Faith and who wanted a better understanding of Confession--how to do it, the "procedure" of this beautiful Sacrament, points to examine ones conscious. They began reading the book and gave it back to me because the writing style/use of big words was too difficult. So I read the book myself and I wouldn't recommend it for the beginner, but it's very good for one a bit more advanced. This book spends most of it's time helping one to gain a deeper understanding of the gravity of sin. The appendix includes the "process" of Confession and many wonderful questions to examine ones conscious to each of the Ten Commandments. I kept the book and will read it again, but I would not recommend it to someone new to the Faith.

I agree that this isn't a great text for beginning Catholics or those new to the Faith, but better for a Catholic looking for answers on Confession, Penance, Reconcilliation and Sin. The reflections on the 10 commmandments are great. Remember folks, the original publication date was 1943, pre-Vatican II.

Thinking is difficult, and meditation is difficult, and meditative silence over a long period of time is very difficult, because we are in a society which doesn't allow for any of this. Television, movies, sports, all fill our brains and have done so since the 1950s. So to read a book for one's benefit which was written before that time is to enter a privileged world, a deep silence. I highly recommend this to anyone who desires to know God and himself better. I was not upset by either the writing style (which I thought very readable) or the Biblical innacurracies (the Mary things are debatable, and in all else, this was an incredibly Biblical book) but was challanged by the whole premise of repentance. Protestants gave up Confession long ago, and most Catholics only recently. Yet Christ says, "Unless you repent . . ." Maybe that's what's wrong with the world.

I have read many books on "How to make a good confession" and this is absolutely the best I've ever read. Gives a good explanation of the theology of confession which has been very helpful to me both for myself and how to explain to others why it is necessary to make your confession to another person(priest). How to Make a Good Confession: A Pocket Guide to Reconciliation with God

Overall, this pocket sized book on how to make a proper confession is a great idea. Many Catholics don't realise just how important this is rather than to just go through the motions and hence not receive the full benefits of this wonderful sacrament. The typeset and font is of a great size too for easy reading and the compact size makes it very portable too.

However, the one thing that bothers me about this book is the blatant inaccuracy and inadvertent libel of one of our greatest saints, St. Mary Magdalene. In the bible, she is only described as one from whom Jesus expelled 7 demons. She is NOT the woman caught in adultery nor is she the one who cries over the feet of Jesus. CAN WE PLEASE STOP LIBELLING HER?

On page 77 of this book, the author clearly hasn't read his bible clearly as he continues this libel by saying that Mary led a life of sins of the flesh. Unless anyone can prove to me that being possessed by 7 demons is a code word for sins of the flesh, there is no where in the bible that states this.

I hope in future editions they will correct this great injustice and pray to St. Mary Magdalene to apologise for this great libel and injustice.