Bad confession = sacrilege?

[ResoluteSheep]

**I often despair of my sins, not really because of their evil; but because I am afraid of hell. I try to go to confession as much as possible if I committed a mortal sin because I’m always paranoid that I would die with mortal sin on my soul. However, I’m not really vigilant in avoiding the same sins and changing my life.

Like, before confession, I have the purpose to avoid my sin same at all cost, but after confession the need just diminishes, though I try to disagree with it. It’s sorta like the voice in my head ringing ‘‘well you’re in a state of grace now, do what you want but just avoid mortal sin’’ and I keep falling into that trap. I sense that this is a sign of lukewarmness.

Does this mean I did a bad confession? And is it just another mortal sin? **

 

[Oneofthewomen]

You really need to discuss this with your confessor.
On the surface, I would say No, it is not a bad confession, therefore no sacrilege.
What it does sound like is that you are just struggling with being human, happens to the best of us!

Please, talk with your priest about this, he is the only one who can guide you correctly.

Peace be with you on your journey.

 

[PraiseChrist]

You really need to discuss this with your confessor.
On the surface, I would say No, it is not a bad confession, therefore no sacrilege.
What it does sound like is that you are just struggling with being human, happens to the best of us!

Please, talk with your priest about this, he is the only one who can guide you correctly.

Peace be with you on your journey.

This is a good answer.

You can’t control thoughts that enter which you don’t want. From what I can tell, you don’t want these thoughts at all. Thus, your confessions would be valid.
Scrupulous people like you and I have trouble with distinguishing between feelings and the choice of the will.
Just because our emotions tempt us to commit a sin, doesn’t mean that we committed it.
As long as your freedom of your will says no to a temptation you are innocent.

Just because you feel guilty doesn’t mean you are

All the best!

 

[gambling88]

Just remember that your sins are very bad when you are in temptation and that your sins are just as bad as anyone else’s and that they are not some thing you can sweep aside and think I can just go to confession afterwards; they are very bad. And think about when someone has offended you and you were hurt/upset about what someone said to you. This is what you are doing to Jesus each time you commit that sin. It is like saying f-you to Jesus, I’m gonna do what I want and ignore what you are telling me I should do and what is good for me.

 

[Nigel7]

It is like saying f-you to Jesus.

You oughta be ashamed of yourself speaking in those terms.

 

[e_c]

Attrition - the fear of Hell on account of sins - is a GOOD THING. You are doing something GOOD by feeling this.

Confession takes our attrition, and through grace, helps us to have contrition, which we then express formally in a verbal act… It is good to use a standard formula for the act of contrition for that reason - it lays out our motivation.

As long as you are not intentionally making a mockery of the sacrament (like pretending to be someone you’re not, for instance), you are not committing sacrilege. Since you are clearly concerned about it, enough to make a post here, then it seems highly unlikely that you are doing any such thing.

Also distinguish between the EXPECTATION that you will sin again (even the same sins you are confessing) and the INTENTION to commit those sins again. They are different. You must not have the latter but rather its opposite, and it is foolish not to have the former in many cases.

 

[brad90956]

I often despair of my sins, not really because of their evil; but because I am afraid of hell.

You have what we Catholics call “imperfect contrition”. This contrition is sorrow for your sins because you fear the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell. **But, and this is a big “but”…imperfect contrition still makes your confession valid. **

The other contrition is “prefect contrition” where you are sorry for your sins because you offended God and the love that you have for Him. This should be everyone’s contrition in the confessional but that is not always the case. For myself, when I returned to the Church my contrition was always imperfect but slowly, day by day, I started to have perfect contrition. It’s not something you can attain overnight. You have to work at it and cooperate with the grace of God.

Read the Bible daily, attend Adoration and pray for perfect contrition. And remember, this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon…strive to finish the race.

God Bless

 

[Reuben_J]

**I often despair of my sins, not really because of their evil; but because I am afraid of hell. I try to go to confession as much as possible if I committed a mortal sin because I’m always paranoid that I would die with mortal sin on my soul. However, I’m not really vigilant in avoiding the same sins and changing my life.

Like, before confession, I have the purpose to avoid my sin same at all cost, but after confession the need just diminishes, though I try to disagree with it. It’s sorta like the voice in my head ringing ‘‘well you’re in a state of grace now, do what you want but just avoid mortal sin’’ and I keep falling into that trap. I sense that this is a sign of lukewarmness.

Does this mean I did a bad confession? And is it just another mortal sin? **

In my opinion, you did not have a bad Confession. You had confessed your sin and was contrite of it. That is what the Sacrament of Reconciliation is for, to forgive sin being confessed.

Keep doing the same sin is more due to the present state of your life which you may want to examine. You may want to find its root cause, and if you know it is, then deal with it.

Some habitual sins are difficult to erase completely in our life; that’s why we have this Sacrament. And Jesus - who came for people such as us.

The important thing is you are aware of it and want to work on it.

God bless.