H
hurst
Guest
If you confess anything with the express intention of doing it again, your confession is invalid. For confession to be worthy, you must be sorry and try to avoid it in the future.If I went to Confession with the intention of later saying these slight fibs to my (what I believe to be) mentally disturbed mother, would my Confession be valid? I’ve never gotten a solid answer about this.
In your case with the fib, contrary to what others may have said, it is clearly a sin of false witness. Whether or not it is mortal in itself is an issue for the priest to judge. But even if it is deemed venial, you indicate that you are doing it deliberately. It is possible that you are motivated by another more serious sin… but again, that is for you to examine your conscience about and for the priest to judge the gravity thereof.
Here are some Catechism Q&A that might be of some help:
Q. 753. What is contrition, or sorrow for sin?
A. Contrition, or sorrow for sin, is a hatred of sin and a true grief of the soul for having offended God, with a firm purpose of sinning no more.
Q. 754. Give an example of how we should hate and avoid sin.
A. We should hate and avoid sin as one hates and avoids a poison that almost caused his death. We may not grieve over the death of our soul as we do over the death of a friend, and yet our sorrow may be true; because the sorrow for sin comes more from our reason than from our feelings.
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. 774. How many kinds of occasions of sin are there?
A. There are four kinds of occasions of sin:
1.(1) Near occasions, through which we always fall;
2.(2) Remote occasions, through which we sometimes fall;
3.(3) Voluntary occasions or those we can avoid; and
4.(4) Involuntary occasions or those we cannot avoid.
A person who lives in a near and voluntary occasion of sin need not expect forgiveness while he continues in that state.
Q. 775. What persons, places and things are usually occasions of sin?
A.
1.(1) The persons who are occasions of sin are all those in whose company we sin, whether they be bad of themselves or bad only while in our company, in which case we also become occasions of sin for them;
2.(2) The places are usually liquor saloons, low theaters, indecent dances, entertainments, amusements, exhibitions, and all immoral resorts of any kind, whether we sin in them or not;
3.(3) The things are all bad books, indecent pictures, songs, jokes and the like, even when they are tolerated by public opinion and found in public places.
Baltimore Catechism #3
hurst