Am I just being scrupulous?

[Eman_resu]

I have a couple of worries which I would like some opinions on.

Firstly a month or so ago my confessor told me something like 'it doesn’t matter if we’ve done something 1,2,3 times or whatever and confession is more of a time to say sorry, rather than it just being a ‘shoping list’. I thought I understood what we meant but I still have trouble with the shopping list part. I’ve struggled with scrupulosity the past few months, so I tend to think I need to confess everything in number and type. I want to take hos advice, but how can I confess without the shopping list?

Also last Saturday night my sister was doing homework. I asked her to come watch tv, knowing that she would have to continue her homework on Sunday. Did I make her sin by asking her to watch tv, making her work on Sunday? I don’t think it is, but was this sinful on my part?

 

[Oumashta]

I have a couple of worries which I would like some opinions on.

Firstly a month or so ago my confessor told me something like 'it doesn’t matter if we’ve done something 1,2,3 times or whatever and confession is more of a time to say sorry, rather than it just being a ‘shoping list’. I thought I understood what we meant but I still have trouble with the shopping list part. I’ve struggled with scrupulosity the past few months, so I tend to think I need to confess everything in number and type. I want to take hos advice, but how can I confess without the shopping list?

Also last Saturday night my sister was doing homework. I asked her to come watch tv, knowing that she would have to continue her homework on Sunday. Did I make her sin by asking her to watch tv, making her work on Sunday? I don’t think it is, but was this sinful on my part?

My, my, you are scrupulous I completely understand how you feel. I remember I thought it was a sin that I stepped over a nun who was kneeling in a pew, and even though I didn’t even touch her, I felt that I was being rude and it made me feel terribly guilty. Now that I look back on it, I laugh that I was so scrupulous.

Oh please, you’re intention wasn’t to make your sister work on Sunday; you only wanted her to watch a funny/ interesting show. Doing homework on Sunday isn’t a sin. Remember: The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. We should take rest on Sunday, but I’m sure that the amount of work your sister did didn’t take her ALL DAY to do right? If doing a little bit of homework on Sunday is a sin, then all students are probably Hell-bound… HAHA JK… I would just call it an act of carelessness Please, STOP WORRYING It’s not that big of a deal, just don’t bug your sister when she’s doing homework.

 

[Joe_5859]

If you are struggling with scrupulosity, then follow your Confessor’s advice. If you need help figuring out how to follow his advice, then ask him for help with that.

Most every priest or theologian I have ever met has said that homework is not the type of work that we must avoid on Sunday. I agree that it’s a good practice to try to avoid it if possible, but it’s not a sin to do homework on Sunday.

 

[mountee]

When you go to confession the idea is to reflect and repent and receive absolution. If you spend time considering your sins you have to admit that if you spend more time trying to count how many times you did a particular sin as opposed to why you repeat the sin and how to stop it, you are not spending your time productively. The shopping list analogy is a great concept and I have heard it used before, it helped me to refocus my conscience examination so that I truly spent time considering the sin and how to prevent it recurring. Rather than say I was angry 5 times I saw that anger was an issue for me and I began to deal with why and when rather than how many times I was angry. The advice you received to talk it over with the priest is a good idea, he can help you through this.

 

[sweetpetunia]

I have a couple of worries which I would like some opinions on.

Firstly a month or so ago my confessor told me something like 'it doesn’t matter if we’ve done something 1,2,3 times or whatever and confession is more of a time to say sorry, rather than it just being a ‘shoping list’. I thought I understood what we meant but I still have trouble with the shopping list part. I’ve struggled with scrupulosity the past few months, so I tend to think I need to confess everything in number and type. I want to take hos advice, but how can I confess without the shopping list?

Also last Saturday night my sister was doing homework. I asked her to come watch tv, knowing that she would have to continue her homework on Sunday. Did I make her sin by asking her to watch tv, making her work on Sunday? I don’t think it is, but was this sinful on my part?

Only grave (mortal sins) need be confessed in number and kind. God bless you.