Between mortal sin and reconciliation

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LordNecro

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What [edited] do you guys do?
My chaplain says that I don’t need to confess immediately, as long as I am repentant. But… it just feels kind of odd. What if the period of time between the two is really long?
 
if you commit a mortal sin, find a priest at soon at possible. its not just a matter of life and death; but of true life and the second death.

if you were truly repentent, you would find a priest and confess the way the Church teaches and the way our Lord wanted.
 
If guilty of a mortal sin - I would waste no time finding a priest and going to confession. As already noted - the state of your immortal soul can depend on it.
 
You can try to make a Perfect Act of Contrition–being sorry not because of the fear of hell but solely for offending God, without thinking of yourself at all (and this is very difficult)–while you are trying your best to get to reconciliation ASAP.
At this time of year you’re in luck because so many places have extended hours for reconciliation. Also, you can call your priest and schedule a time. If he says it is not important, say a prayer to yourself for him as he is genuinely mistaken on this point, and keep calling around until you find a priest who WILL hear your confession as soon as possible.
You’re in my prayers and I’m sure in the prayers of many reading this thread, and may God bless you and help you to be able to get to confession very, very soon.
 
Hi Tantum ergo,
Tantum_ergo said:
You can try to make a Perfect Act of Contrition–
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Exactly, because perfect contrition forgives sin immediately (so long as you have the desire, explicit or implicit, for sacramental confession)

But. . .
Tantum ergo:
being sorry not because of the fear of hell but solely for offending God, without thinking of yourself at all
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I think you might have inadvertently overstated? While it is true that perfect contrition means contrition which proceeds from love of God who is loved above all things, and for Himself, it does not mean that it MUST be the only contrition present. In other words, perfect contrition and imperfect contrition can coexist in the same individual.

So, yes, you do need to rise to the level of perfect contrition for extra-sacramental forgiveness of sin, BUT, you don’t need to exclude imperfect contrition (or attrition) while doing so.

What do you think?
VC
 
Hi Verbum Caro:

Yes, I think I agree with you, but I was trying to emphasize the difference between perfect and imperfect. I’m not sure that perfect and imperfect could coexist SIMULTANEOUSLY, though they could ‘interchange’. I mean, to be perfect, there could be no imperfection. But it might not ‘stay’ perfect for more than a brief time without ‘sliding’ into an imperfect contrition, or it might start out ‘imperfect’ but with prayer and grace achieve ‘perfect’ contrition briefly. So in that sense I’d agree.

And of course the other difficulty is in ‘knowing’ whether we had achieved perfect contrition. We might think we had but be wrong.

Can’t imagine a 'long time" though to wait to confession. As long as there is weekly Sunday Mass, the longest POSSIBLE time between mortal sin and reconciliation would be to sin right after Sunday Mass, and to be ‘reconciled’ right before next Sunday’s Mass… . .IOW, just about 7 days. One week. Most would not consider that a long time, far less ‘excessively long.’ And since many places have Friday or Saturday confession times scheduled, could even be 5 days from Sunday to Friday.
I wish the OP the very best and hope he/she can get to confession as soon as possible.
 
Hi Tantum ergo,

Thanks for the reply. I want to leave aside, just for the moment, the other issues related to forgiveness outside of the sacrament of penance, and discuss the issue regarding what perfect contrition entails.
Tantum_ergo said:
Yes, I think I agree with you, but I was trying to emphasize the difference between perfect and imperfect. I’m not sure that perfect and imperfect could coexist SIMULTANEOUSLY, though they could ‘interchange’. I mean, to be perfect, there could be no imperfection.
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I understand your point, I think. But I believe they actually can exist simultaneously. The assumption that they can’t often seems to come from the idea (which is perfectly understandably and reasonable) that perfect contrition means perfection without imperfection. But that is not what perfect means in this sense. It means perfect, as in completed. (Like the “perfect” tense in grammar).

As long as you have the completed form of contrition, perfect contrition, you have perfect contrition. The incomplete form can remain, lesser though it is, just like the base of mountain under the summit.

See here in This Rock magazine:
There are two kinds of sorrow for sin: contrition and attrition, which are also called and imperfect contrition, respectively. Perfect contrition is sorrow for sins based on charity or supernatural love of God. Imperfect contrition is sorrow for sin based on anything else, such as being scared of going to hell. . . . Both kinds of contrition, which are not mutually exclusive, assume the resolve to sin no more.
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Incidentally, this is why in the traditional Act of Contrition (which is an act of Perfect Contrition) we say “because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all, because they offend you, my God. . .” It expresses both imperfect and perfect contrition a the same time.

Think of it this way as well: If you love God above all things would that mean you don’t love your mom, or dad, or the Blessed Mother, or the Church, etc.? No, of course not. Lesser loves can coexist with greater loves – and lesser motives can coexist with greater ones. 👍

What do you think?

VC
 
I think that’s an excellent way of putting it and gives me a better insight, for which I’m very grateful to you. Thank you very much. I hope it helps the OP, too, as I think you are clearer and more complete in your reply than I was.
 
Tantum Ergo,

Thank you. I just added my own little part. You gave an excellent reply addressing the more practical issues, and I think much more helpful to the OP. Thank you for the discussion! :tiphat:

VC
 
Since saving your soul is of utmost importance to you and your conscience is bothering you, my opinion is to get to confession at the soonest opportunity.😉
 
stuart12 said:
if you commit a mortal sin, find a priest at soon at possible. its not just a matter of life and death; but of true life and the second death.

if you were truly repentent, you would find a priest and confess the way the Church teaches and the way our Lord wanted.
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Now sometimes, this just isn’t possible. There is one particular mortal sin that would require most male teenagers to go insane running back and forth to church at all hours of the night if things worked this way. I would imagine, in that particular case, that confessing the sin weekly is good enough, as long as there is a sufficient intention to overcome it (which would come close to an Act of Perfect Contrition).
 
Lujack said:
Now sometimes, this just isn’t possible. There is one particular mortal sin that would require most male teenagers to go insane running back and forth to church at all hours of the night if things worked this way. I would imagine, in that particular case, that confessing the sin weekly is good enough, as long as there is a sufficient intention to overcome it (which would come close to an Act of Perfect Contrition).
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Lol. Lujack, you’ve hit the nail on the head here mate. Gahhhhhhhhhhhh, it’s so annoying.
 
Lujack said:
Now sometimes, this just isn’t possible. There is one particular mortal sin that would require most male teenagers to go insane running back and forth to church at all hours of the night if things worked this way. I would imagine, in that particular case, that confessing the sin weekly is good enough, as long as there is a sufficient intention to overcome it (which would come close to an Act of Perfect Contrition).
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Why wait? If you get shot in your leg you go see the doctor about it immediately. If you get shot again the next day you go again the next day.

Just because you might get shot repeatedly every day for the next week doesn’t mean you aren’t bleeding dangerously right now and needing treatment for that bullet wound right now, does it? Mortal sin is deadlier than any bullet wound - it doesn’t do to stay mired in it longer than you can avoid.

If nothing else, having to go to the doc every day will teach you very quickly that you need to stop playing with loaded guns! Same with frequent confession teaching you to avoid the occasion of sin!
 
LilyM said:
Why wait? If you get shot in your leg you go see the doctor about it immediately. If you get shot again the next day you go again the next day.

Just because you might get shot repeatedly every day for the next week doesn’t mean you aren’t bleeding dangerously right now and needing treatment for that bullet wound right now, does it? Mortal sin is deadlier than any bullet wound - it doesn’t do to stay mired in it longer than you can avoid.

If nothing else, having to go to the doc every day will teach you very quickly that you need to stop playing with loaded guns! Same with frequent confession teaching you to avoid the occasion of sin!
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I’m just coming out my teenage years myself, and I live twenty-five minutes from a church. This particular sin is mostly committed in the middle of the night, which makes confessing immediately a virtual impossibility. Its embarrassing enough to confess to a priest, but I can’t imagine someone waking up their mother at two o’clock in the morning and explaining why they need to go to confession.

Its an addiction, one that’s very difficult to break, and if this sort of burden was taught, most people would just give up on trying to confess it. Teaching people that its bad is one thing, but actually breaking it is very, very difficult.
 
Lujack said:
I’m just coming out my teenage years myself, and I live twenty-five minutes from a church. This particular sin is mostly committed in the middle of the night, which makes confessing immediately a virtual impossibility. Its embarrassing enough to confess to a priest, but I can’t imagine someone waking up their mother at two o’clock in the morning and explaining why they need to go to confession.

Its an addiction, one that’s very difficult to break, and if this sort of burden was taught, most people would just give up on trying to confess it. Teaching people that its bad is one thing, but actually breaking it is very, very difficult.
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Lujack, I’m just coming out of them too. I was speaking to a priest today, and he said that when things become habitual like that, it perhaps isn’t mortal, because of it decreases one’s freedom to not do it. But I think we both agree that frequent confession is the best route!
 
i know it is not possible to get to confession straight away if you commit these sins in the middle of the night. but is it to much to ask to go to confession once you wake up?

its the state of your soul thats important, forget the embarrassment, you mention it, the priest gives absolution; then you can walk out forgiven and the priest will never ask you about it again later outside the box.
 
Lujack said:
I’m just coming out my teenage years myself, and I live twenty-five minutes from a church. This particular sin is mostly committed in the middle of the night, which makes confessing immediately a virtual impossibility. Its embarrassing enough to confess to a priest, but I can’t imagine someone waking up their mother at two o’clock in the morning and explaining why they need to go to confession.

Its an addiction, one that’s very difficult to break, and if this sort of burden was taught, most people would just give up on trying to confess it. Teaching people that its bad is one thing, but actually breaking it is very, very difficult.
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I don’t mean two o’clock in the morning urgent, I mean next day or two, or s soon as you can practicably arrange an appointment, urgent.

I’ve absolutely been there (and as a more mature adult when deep-rooted habitual sins such as masturbation are if anything more difficult to get over having been part of your life for so much longer) and there were numerous times that I had to bite the bullet and go to confession two days in a row.

Bottom line - it worked, and while I’ll never claim to be completely free of this sin, I’ve made SO much more progress than I could ever dream possible, and I firmly believe that the grace of more frequent confession helped.
 
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