Am I being Scrupulos?

[Treybor]

Hello All,

I have read through these forums several times and they have helped me to overcome a struggle that I have waged with masturbation / pornography. I recently confessed these sins along with others to my confessor this last week. Before confessing my sins, I meditated long and hard about exactly what I did wrong, and made sure I knew what I was going to confess. After confessing, I fear that I forgot to confess the sin of impure thoughts. At first I did not think much of this. But after a few hours, this thought started to drive me insane. I then discovered that impure thoughts can be mortal sins. This only made me feel worse about forgetting to confess it.

I tried to assure myself that without the full knowledge, I did not commit a mortal sin, and that it was only venial. I received communion today with doubt and fear clouding my mind. I kept and keep praying for guidance about this and to find more answers, I read through some forum topics, and other websites, and now I feel that this feeling of fear and doubt is from scrupulosity.

I think I struggled with this before and never really realized what was wrong. Throughout my teenage years, I struggled with what I believed to be an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This has now subsided; however, now I believe it is manifesting itself more in my spiritual life.

Was it bad that I forgot to confess a sin even though I meditated about it a minute before the actual confession?

Is this fear too irrational, and is it a manifestation of scrupulosity?

I love God so much, I only wish to please him. I thank all of you who take your time and read this. I am suffering a lot from confusion right now.

 

[Luke65]

Rest easy, friend, you did NOT commit a sin - not even a venial sin. The priest undoubtedly knew that impure thoughts were part of what you were confessing. But even if you forgot something that the priest couldn’t know about, it still is not a sin. You’re just supposed to confess it the next time you go to confession. But you don’t need to worry about that, because you already made a complete confession. You are in a state of grace - stay there!

 

[Treybor]

Rest easy, friend, you did NOT commit a sin - not even a venial sin. The priest undoubtedly knew that impure thoughts were part of what you were confessing. But even if you forgot something that the priest couldn’t know about, it still is not a sin. You’re just supposed to confess it the next time you go to confession. But you don’t need to worry about that, because you already made a complete confession. You are in a state of grace - stay there!

Thank you for your reply. That really helps to ease my mind about this matter.

Just for curiosity’s sake, If one did forget to confess a sin to their confessor, and it was mortal, would that sin cause them to receive communion unworthily?

 

[Monica4316]

If you FORGET to confess a sin, it is still forgiven in Confession if you intentionally CHOOSE to leave it out, then it is not.

So don’t worry

in your next Confession, you might want to mention it, and just say you forgot to confess it last time. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong, if you just forgot to say something, then God forgave you for that too.

I know sort of what you’re going through cause I can be scrupulous too and sometimes I really worry that I messed up my confession. Try to trust in God’s mercy, and just do the best you can.

When I was coming into the Church and had my first Confession, I told the priest that I’m sure I forgot many things - it’s been years!! and probably there were mortal sins that I forgot too. The priest told me, it’s alright, cause if you forget it, it’s not the same as intentionally withholding the sin… God understands and will still forgive you, because you would have said it if you had remembered.

God bless

 

[ahollars]

Hello All,

I have read through these forums several times and they have helped me to overcome a struggle that I have waged with masturbation / pornography. I recently confessed these sins along with others to my confessor this last week. Before confessing my sins, I meditated long and hard about exactly what I did wrong, and made sure I knew what I was going to confess. After confessing, I fear that I forgot to confess the sin of impure thoughts. At first I did not think much of this. But after a few hours, this thought started to drive me insane. I then discovered that impure thoughts can be mortal sins. This only made me feel worse about forgetting to confess it.

I tried to assure myself that without the full knowledge, I did not commit a mortal sin, and that it was only venial. I received communion today with doubt and fear clouding my mind. I kept and keep praying for guidance about this and to find more answers, I read through some forum topics, and other websites, and now I feel that this feeling of fear and doubt is from scrupulosity.

I think I struggled with this before and never really realized what was wrong. Throughout my teenage years, I struggled with what I believed to be an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This has now subsided; however, now I believe it is manifesting itself more in my spiritual life.

Was it bad that I forgot to confess a sin even though I meditated about it a minute before the actual confession?

Is this fear too irrational, and is it a manifestation of scrupulosity?

I love God so much, I only wish to please him. I thank all of you who take your time and read this. I am suffering a lot from confusion right now.

One thing to remember: thoughts by themselves are not sins, if they are not willfully manifested by the person. People cannot help what impulsively pops into their minds during their everyday lives. Better yet, if you’re like me, you can have a vivid dream that you can remember clearly when you awake, but then you have to purge it from your mind while you’re still tired and trying to wake up. What is important is that if we make an earnest effort to clear our thoughts, and refuse to act on our thoughts through word or deed, we will be fine. Do not get discouraged. It can take a long time for some men to overcome that particular habit, and all that time you’ll think that you’re repeating yourself in confession, but keep going, even every week if you have to.

In the end, as long as you never give up, God will free you. Guess I gave myself away there.

 

[Treybor]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I feel I have a much better understanding of all of this.

One thing to remember: thoughts by themselves are not sins, if they are not willfully manifested by the person. People cannot help what impulsively pops into their minds during their everyday lives. Better yet, if you’re like me, you can have a vivid dream that you can remember clearly when you awake, but then you have to purge it from your mind while you’re still tired and trying to wake up. What is important is that if we make an earnest effort to clear our thoughts, and refuse to act on our thoughts through word or deed, we will be fine. Do not get discouraged. It can take a long time for some men to overcome that particular habit, and all that time you’ll think that you’re repeating yourself in confession, but keep going, even every week if you have to.

In the end, as long as you never give up, God will free you. Guess I gave myself away there.

I try and make sure that now I never will act out of my sinful thoughts. I pray every time I feel an impure thought coming on. I think that as long as I stay steadfast, along with the support of God, I can conquer my sins.