An item in the July 26 weekly bulletin from the Immaculate Conception Catholic Parish in Cottonwood provides "Practical Suggestions to Make Your Confession Easier and More Profitable," as the title states.

“Go to the same priest,” the article names as the first suggestion. “In time, he comes to know your soul better perhaps than you know it yourself. He can tell, perhaps if you are making progress or sinking deeper into the mire of sin. With fuller knowledge, he can give you the proper advice and remedies.”

The article goes on to advise that a “bad confession” is one in which we hold back our most revealing sins.

“If the individual deliberately keeps back a mortal sin in confession, he makes a bad confession,” the article stated. “Let him by all means clear his conscious at the first opportunity. I can assure you the priest will be just as happy as the penitent. “

Confession is “like throwing a stone down a deep well,” the article said. “The stone is gone. No one knows it’s there except God, the priest and you.”