Act Of Contrition

[Churchman25]

One thing I just realized is that when we finish up with confession and say the act of contrition the next time we sin is like lying to the Lord. Now I think that this lie is less or more severe depending on the severity of the partcular sin that was commited. It is lying because as an individual we promised not to sin but we sinned.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

It’s not a lie; consider the intent - we promised not to sin again, and that should certainly be our intention. When we sin, is that sin a deliberate action or unintended misstep?

 

[cominghome1966]

Here is the one I say:

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended me, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.

It is a somewhat older Act of Contrition, and it does not contain a promise not to sin again.

I am not familiar with newer Acts. Do they contain a promise? I doubt it.

I was explicitly taught by a priest that we are not promising not to commit the sin again when we make the Act of Contrition.

If the confession was made sincerely, with a firm purpose of amendment, then committing the sin again and confessing it again does not mean we lied.

 

[angeltime]

One thing I just realized is that when we finish up with confession and say the act of contrition the next time we sin is like lying to the Lord. Now I think that this lie is less or more severe depending on the severity of the partcular sin that was commited. It is lying because as an individual we promised not to sin but we sinned.

Peace…I have always said, “I promise to try not to sin anymore” - I like the older version where one says, “I promise not to sin anymore” and see both as being accepted by God and the Church because we are weak, we are in need of grace and we are searching for God to help us. I think by going to confession, we are aware of the sin and are admitting we need help to overcome it. I knew a priest who would ask how many times this or that sin was done/repeated and I guess from there he could tell the serverity. God bless! God loves you! angeltime

 

[psalm90]

EWTN Radio priest Fr John Riccardo was saying the other day (a program of a talk given some years ago) that repeating a confession of a sin over and over makes us feel bad about it, as you say, as if we were lying to God. But, on the other hand, it shows to God how we are struggling against that sin.

There is no way of telling that the priest KNOWS that we are committing that sin over and over, in general.

We can sin in our thoughts. There are sins of thought described in the Old Testament – the ninth and tenth commandments of coveting (as Catholic enumerate them). And, as Jesus explained, a man can commit adultery in his heart.

It is so easy to sin. I have all kinds of thoughts I have to repress, and that’s not easy.

There’s another thread on confession (12/31/16) and you might want to look at that.

I think what it comes down to, just confess your sins and strive for true repentance (turning away from sin). We don’t read much in these forums about the temptations of satan, but his nickname is “the accuser.” He wants to make you feel lousy about confessing sins and repenting from them. He wants you to feel hopeless and powerless.

Read the first few verses of the letter to the Ephesians. Paul notes that we have received every spiritual gift from God, by our baptism. You have to look into yourself and into your faith and say, I can overcome this. You need faith in Christ and in his gifts to us. Confess it and move on.

and, read the first verse of the letter of James. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…” You need to look at that verse this way: Churchman25, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ…" You have to set a goal to live up to that. “Psalm90, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ…”

we stumble and fall, but we get up again carrying our cross.

 

[Marie5890]

I use the Jesus Prayer for my act of contrition…

I don’t feel like I am lying at all…

 

[angeltime]

EWTN Radio priest Fr John Riccardo was saying the other day (a program of a talk given some years ago) that repeating a confession of a sin over and over makes us feel bad about it, as you say, as if we were lying to God. But, on the other hand, it shows to God how we are struggling against that sin.

There is no way of telling that the priest KNOWS that we are committing that sin over and over, in general.

We can sin in our thoughts. There are sins of thought described in the Old Testament – the ninth and tenth commandments of coveting (as Catholic enumerate them). And, as Jesus explained, a man can commit adultery in his heart.

It is so easy to sin. I have all kinds of thoughts I have to repress, and that’s not easy.

There’s another thread on confession (12/31/16) and you might want to look at that.

I think what it comes down to, just confess your sins and strive for true repentance (turning away from sin). We don’t read much in these forums about the temptations of satan, but his nickname is “the accuser.” He wants to make you feel lousy about confessing sins and repenting from them. He wants you to feel hopeless and powerless.

Read the first few verses of the letter to the Ephesians. Paul notes that we have received every spiritual gift from God, by our baptism. You have to look into yourself and into your faith and say, I can overcome this. You need faith in Christ and in his gifts to us. Confess it and move on.

and, read the first verse of the letter of James. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…” You need to look at that verse this way: Churchman25, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ…" You have to set a goal to live up to that. “Psalm90, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ…”

we stumble and fall, but we get up again carrying our cross.

Pax et Bonum! A priest once told me, “If the devil’s not tempting you, he’s got you!” Interesting, because at that time I didn’t realize temptations increasing meant I was actually getting closer to God - because the closer we get, the more Satan tries to get in the way. Being young, I just didn’t connect it that way I suppose.

The road does get narrower as we drop off more and more that stands in the way of God, however we do need His grace to work at it and endure. A friend told me once she was repeating the same sin in confession for a long time and suddenly it all lifted! She felt she was probably getting on the priest’s nerves, but he never said anything to discourage her - so perhaps there are times we just need a bit more time to make peace with it and receive the grace too…?? angeltime

 

[otjm]

One thing I just realized is that when we finish up with confession and say the act of contrition the next time we sin is like lying to the Lord. Now I think that this lie is less or more severe depending on the severity of the partcular sin that was commited. It is lying because as an individual we promised not to sin but we sinned.

You just realized wrong.

 

[Vico]

One thing I just realized is that when we finish up with confession and say the act of contrition the next time we sin is like lying to the Lord. Now I think that this lie is less or more severe depending on the severity of the partcular sin that was commited. It is lying because as an individual we promised not to sin but we sinned.

A firm resolution with the help of grace. That includes mortal sins. And we should intend to avoid the near occasions of sin. (Does that mean mortal and venial?)

I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.

When I was taught the Catechism is was with the Baltimore Catechism:

Q. 770. What do you mean by a firm purpose of sinning no more?

A. By a firm purpose of sinning no more I mean a fixed resolve not only to avoid all mortal sin, but also its near occasions.

Q. 771. What do you mean by the near occasions of sin?

A. By the near occasions of sin I mean all the persons, places and things that may easily lead us into sin.

Q. 772. Why are we bound to avoid occasions of sin?

A. We are bound to avoid occasions of sin because Our Lord has said: “He who loves the danger will perish in it”; and as we are bound to avoid the loss of our souls, so we are bound to avoid the danger of their loss. The occasion is the cause of sin, and you cannot take away the evil without removing its cause.

Q. 773. Is a person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, rightly disposed for confession?

A. A person who is determined to avoid the sin, but who is unwilling to give up its near occasion when it is possible to do so, is not rightly disposed for confession, and he will not be absolved if he makes known to the priest the true state of his conscience.

Q. 781. Why is it well to confess also the venial sins we remember?

A. It is well to confess also the venial sins we remember: (1) Because it shows our hatred of all sin, and (2) Because it is sometimes difficult to determine just when a sin is venial and when mortal.

Q. 782. What should one do who has only venial sins to confess?

A. One who has only venial sins to confess should tell also some sin already confessed in his past life for which he knows he is truly sorry; because it is not easy to be truly sorry for slight sins and imperfections, and yet we must be sorry for the sins confessed that our confession may be valid – hence we add some past sin for which we are truly sorry to those for which we may not be sufficiently sorry.