Broken promises

[juan753]

Hi,

Look, I made a promise to God a while ago, but I just broke it. Should I go to Confession? Because what I promised not to do wasn’t bad at all, it was just that it lead me to sin before (which it didn’t this time). But I feel like I’ve sinned by breaking the promise I made to Him.

Have I sinned? And if I have, is it a mortal sin?

Thank you.

 

[TheMc]

Hello Juan,

I don’t think it’s possible to say if it was a mortal sin or not. It would depend on the nature of the promise. If it it “wasn’t that bad”, then it probably wasn’t.

Would it be possible to inform us of the nature of the promise? You could always ask a priest about it too if you’d rather not “go public” with it.

 

[TheMc]

Hello Juan,

I don’t think it’s possible to say if it was a grave sin or not. It would depend on the nature of the promise. If it it “wasn’t that bad”, then it probably wasn’t.

Notice I said grave sin. For a sin to be mortal, the following things must all be true:

• It was grave matter
• You knew it was grave
• You freely committed it

Would it be possible to inform us of the nature of the promise? You could always ask a priest about it too if you’d rather not “go public” with it.

I hope this is helpful to you. Feel free to PM me if you need anything more, even if it does not relate to this.

God Bless!

 

[teachccd]

Hi,

Look, I made a promise to God a while ago, but I just broke it. Should I go to Confession? Because what I promised not to do wasn’t bad at all, it was just that it lead me to sin before (which it didn’t this time). But I feel like I’ve sinned by breaking the promise I made to Him.

Have I sinned? And if I have, is it a mortal sin?

Thank you.

A broken promise in and of itself is not grave matter. But it depends on what that promise is and then it is not about the promise but rather about the act. If you promised not to look at pornography, for example, and you broke that promise then the grave matter is there for mortal sin. If you promised to pray the rosary everyday and chose not to for one day the act is not grave and so no mortal sin is committed.

If you really think about it we all promise God things that we do not keep. We promise Him that we will love our neighbors as He commands. We promise to love Him always. We promise to not sin every time we leave the confessional. We break promises all of the time and that is why we need the sacraments. The sacraments strengthen us so that we can keep these promises or covenants as I refer to them.

So, try and keep the promise that you made. But then discern the act that you promised to do or not do and then you will know if you sinned mortally or even at all…teachccd

 

[laszlo]

Hi,

Look, I made a promise to God a while ago, but I just broke it. Should I go to Confession? Because what I promised not to do wasn’t bad at all, it was just that it lead me to sin before (which it didn’t this time). But I feel like I’ve sinned by breaking the promise I made to Him.

Have I sinned? And if I have, is it a mortal sin?

Thank you.

Go to a priest, tell the details, and ask for release from your promise if necessary