A priest told me, I can't keep confessing the same sin

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Obviously it is the issue of masterbation.
And there are ways how to resolve this.

Yes. There is . I have 50 years of praying in tongues. As in Jude 20.
Or in romans.chapter 8… Paul says praying in the spirit produces mortification of the flesh or the carnal body desires.

And your natural mind will argue with you.
 
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Get busy! Volunteer for Hospice or meals on wheels or at the Animal shelter or to read books to the blind or call your parish. Pick up a hobby like woodcarving or knitting or making knotted cord rosaries

Actually, making rosaries is great because you can always have some cord with you. It opens up conversations with others about prayer and the Faith.

 
I might say to the priest, “If God keeps no record of my wrong doings father… how come you are?” Okay so I probably wouldn’t say this, but I might be thinking it!
 
I was talking to a priest about addiction and he said he tells people to try to lengthen the time between sinning daily if you cannot stop all together. He said he has had success with people trying this and then being able to quit an addiction albeit slowly, as he said it wont happen overnight if it’s an addiction.

I would X that priest off my confession list and take his advice with a grain of salt as noted above. Best wishes finding a spiritual director and “kicking the habit.”

God bless.
 
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Don’t stop going to confession. You need to go back, right away. Go to one of the priests who was encouraging to you previously.

Some priests take the attitude that if you repeatedly confess the same sin, you don’t have true repentance or a “firm purpose of amendment”, as in a firm resolve to not commit the sin again. This is unfortunate. If you truly have an addiction, as another priest said, this may be a lifelong struggle for you. But not everybody understands the nature of addiction or accepts that people can be addicted and it’s not just a matter of “will power” overcoming the habit. And some people who can maybe accept alcohol addiction or drug addiction might not accept the idea of sex addiction or porn addiction.

I have also noticed in going to confession to many different priests, a significant cultural difference between how priests from outside the USA from places like Latin America or Africa deal with the confession of certain sins as opposed to native-born USA priests.

You are NOT lost and your sin is NOT unforgivable. You simply encountered a priest who was not helpful to you for whatever reason. It happens. DO NOT use it as a reason to stop going to confession or worse yet leave the Church!
Just go back to one of the understanding priests and have a discussion with him.
 
tmc1957 said:
So, I was taken aback when I made my confession, including my sexual sins, when this newer priest said quite bluntly, “You can’t keep coming in here confessing the same sins”.
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Absolute nonsense! I have struggled with an addiction myself, specifically in a similar matter. I’ve gone to several different priests, for one because I was afraid to go to a priest regularly with the same sins over and over. I figured he’d get annoyed.

But, confessing the same sins over and over is absolutely acceptable. It’s even a good thing, as Father Mike Schmitz from Ascension Presents has said. In learning this myself, I was more confident in going to the same priest, however I did give him a break occasionally. Sometimes I’d go to a different parish nearby.

In short, it doesn’t matter which priest hears your confession. Your confession can be the exact same every time and the priest should not tell you that you can’t come into the confessional with the same sins over and over; this is always necessary in the fight against sin.

In short, what the priest said isn’t true. Don’t be afraid to confess the same sins over and over, because as long as you’re truly sorry for what you’ve done, every confession counts.

God bless!
 
SimonC said:
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tmc1957:
So, I was taken aback when I made my confession, including my sexual sins, when this newer priest said quite bluntly, “You can’t keep coming in here confessing the same sins”.
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…
But, confessing the same sins over and over is absolutely acceptable. It’s even a good thing, as Father Mike Schmitz from Ascension Presents has said. In learning this myself, I was more confident in going to the same priest, however I did give him a break occasionally. Sometimes I’d go to a different parish nearby.

In short, what the priest said isn’t true. Don’t be afraid to confess the same sins over and over, because as long as you’re truly sorry for what you’ve done, every confession counts.

God bless!
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Firm words, but I agree. Several priests have told me the same as you have heard here, and what @tmc1957 has heard - that it is acceptable, even good, to keep confessing the same things over. Weekly, even daily! I have also read it in a guide to the confessional.

I suggest the OP simply go to another priest, either anonymously or one he is familiar with. The parish pastor himself seems to be a good choice. Tell him exactly what happened. You are not doing this to accuse the first priest, but in a spirit of respect to his judgement yet appealing for a second opinion. Obviously you are not to ask to priest after priest until you get a different opinion, but I suspect it will only take one. Be forthright and ask for some explanation, so you can feel confident that you are following the better judgement.

If a priest had given you advice which you felt was too lax would you accept that on authority? You are similarly entitled to get a second opinion on advice which may be too harsh.
 
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That priest is likely out of line. As long as you truly repent, and try as hard as you can, you should go to confession as often as needed. It would help you if after you commit a grave sin, make an act of perfect contrtition, and then go to confession ASAP.
 
tmc1957 said:
since they don’t require face to face confession.
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The Catholic Church does not require face to face confession. You always have the choice of being anonymous and behind the screen.

You should definitely keep going to confession.

Perhaps he phrased it badly and didn’t mean it literally. At any rate he shouldn’t have said that.

If he did actually mean it, yes you need to talk to the pastor about it.
 
If I had a priest complain about me confessing the same sins and started taking issue with it, I’d find a different confessor if possible. I mean, isn’t that part of the human condition and one of the biggest aggravations that any practicing Catholic has? I’m always having to confess the same sins over and over again. 😒 They may be the same kinds of sins, but they’re still new sins.

The only time when an admonishment about confessing a sin over and over again makes any sense is if it’s a past sin or specific incident where you’ve done something wrong and you can’t seem to forgive yourself and you want to confess it over and over again, even though it’s in the past. New sins are still new sins.
 
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tmc1957 said:
So, I was taken aback when I made my confession, including my sexual sins, when this newer priest said quite bluntly, “You can’t keep coming in here confessing the same sins”.
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Perhaps his comments implied a plea that you work harder not to repeat the sin?
 
tmc1957 said:
So, I stopped going to confession. Which led to me to not going to Mass. The addiction is gaining ground again, and I don’t know what to do.
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Yep. But you do know what to do. Do the things which were helping you before, confession and Mass.
tmc1957 said:
I’ve even considered going back to non-denominational churches, since they don’t require face to face confession. I simply confess to the Lord directly. But, I know that isn’t the right way to do it. I’m afraid the Devil has found a foothold and my faith may be in jeopardy!
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That definitely isn’t going to help you. But you should always confess to the Lord directly. You should also confess to a priest to receive grace to overcome your sin and forgiveness if you sin is mortal.

I don’t know what the priest meant. He may have just been trying to spur you to step up you effort to give up this sin. An addiction lessens our freedom, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t still consent each and every time we sin.

I’ve confessed the same sins over and over myself. I’ve had priests be extra gentle when I thought I wasn’t deserving of it and I’ve had them be harsh when I thought I was particularly in need of mercy. In a sense none of that matters. What matters is each time I received absolution and grace.

Part of confession is humility. It is extra humiliating to have a priest seem to get on you. Your ego is pricked. But that doesn’t mean the priest is wrong. It is an opportunity for you to really consider your life and in the case of a habitual sin make sure you are really doing everything you can to stop it. We sin because it is pleasurable in some way. So it would be a mistake to think you absolutely hate your sin. But the goal is precisely to grow so that we do thoroughly hate our sin.

You need to go to confession. Go to another priest. But I’d go back to the same priest if not this time but in the future. He didn’t say he wouldn’t absolve you. He merely stated the truth that you should be growing in holiness and move past (or at least further away) this sin. That doesn’t mean you stop forever tomorrow or even a year from now. Don’t give up because becoming holy is difficult.
 
Your priest is right. You have a problem, an addiction as you said. You have to overcome that, one way or the other. At least try to improve so that not in the frequency that you have committed the sins, and thus your confession.

I don’t believe he was saying you stop confessing but rather you have to do something about it.

You have to surrender your sin and this requires lot and lot of prayers. You have to make that decision and then be determined to do it. Perhaps if it become less and less, and every time you able to overcome the urge, give thanks to God because of the grace of overcoming.

Remember, we are more than conquerors in Him who loves us. Jesus is higher that all, even the spirit of sinning. You can do it, for with the Lord, nothing is impossible.

God bless.
 
If you wish to debate non-Catholic ideas, please, post in the “Apologetics” area.
 
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