Can a priest give a penance such as this?

[coachkfan1]

Ok, so I went to Confession at an out of town Parrish which boasts in it’s bulletin that it is “guided by the Spirit of Vatican ll”. Now, I am sorry to say that I had to confess to driving while impaired. I was not falling down drunk but I am sure that I was over the limit and that I made a horrible decision to drive home. So confession was embarrassing and difficult.

Now to the penance I received, which I fully intend to perform. The priest said that my penance would be to not have a drink for a week. I’m not an alcoholic and as I said I am in the middle of doing the penance. My question is can a priest give a penance like this? I guess he can (he did). Also, I received Communiom before I could complete the week long penance. Is that ok? Thanks for the help and please don’t jump my case about the driving while impaired. I already feel terrible about it.

 

[JimG]

Ok, so I went to Confession at an out of town Parrish which boasts in it’s bulletin that it is “guided by the Spirit of Vatican ll”. Now, I am sorry to say that I had to confess to driving while impaired. I was not falling down drunk but I am sure that I was over the limit and that I made a horrible decision to drive home. So confession was embarrassing and difficult.

Now to the penance I received, which I fully intend to perform. The priest said that my penance would be to not have a drink for a week. I’m not an alcoholic and as I said I am in the middle of doing the penance. My question is can a priest give a penance like this? I guess he can (he did). Also, I received Communiom before I could complete the week long penance. Is that ok? Thanks for the help and please don’t jump my case about the driving while impaired. I already feel terrible about it.

You don’t have to complete the penance before receiving communion. Your sins are forgiven when absolution is given. It’s an unusual penance by not outrageously so. Back in college, a friend of mine was given a penance of no dating for two weeks. Personally, I think prayers are a safer penance.

 

[cajun_rose]

While different, I wouldn’t say the penance is totally out of the norm. In one of my recent confessions, I mentioned how I’m still struggling with my use of profanity (I used to swear like a sailor). The priest suggested as my penance that I have a swear jar for two weeks and donate anything I collect to the charity/church of my choice.

Prayers are most definitely the safer/easier route, but sometimes, I think we may need some of these ‘unusual’ penances. If anything, having the swear jar helped me to become more mindful of when I did curse, and even after the fact, I have continued to make a stronger effort in my speech. It’s silly that I needed a priest to suggest a swear jar for me to actually do it, but that’s what there they’re for.

I doubt the priest thinks you’re an alcoholic, and I, by no means, am saying you are either, but maybe this penance will be similar to my experience. Maybe it will help you to be more mindful about the decisions you make.

God bless!

 

[Catholic4Christ]

I’m not a priest but I do think that a penance usually ought to be something that can be completed in the church after confession. Or at the very least later that night or before you attend Mass next. Generally when a priest has told me to do anything more it was a strong suggestion in addition penance. Yours seems almost like a kind of fasting as a penance, which is fine I suppose.

I’m not necessarily against the more “active” penances like the one you received - especially ones like yours that are very cut-and-dry and the expectations are clear. I once got a penance that amounted to “Do something nice for your dad.” The thought is nice but I basically didn’t have a chance to see my dad for any length of time before my next confession.

Next time, when I confessed (to a different priest) that I had not completed my previous penance, he asked if I wouldn’t mind telling him what the penance was and why I hadn’t completed it. I told him, and though he didn’t say anything I could tell he had heard this kind of thing and wasn’t a fan, because when he gave me my penance he said, “and this penance will also cover your previous penance.”

I think the difference between the two priests was that the first one wanted me to do something practical and outward to make up for my sin against my dad, while the other one (who knows me personally) wanted me to be sure I had completed my obligation. Both laudable but at the time only one was doable.

Regarding the impaired driving, don’t feel terrible. God knows you’re sorry and you confessed to him. We all have bad habits and make bad choices sometimes. I do constantly. We’re all just trying our best, but divine grace takes away the need for extended guilt if we seek out the sacrament of penance as you did. You’ve got my prayers.

 

[Tomdstone]

I am somewhat surprised that Catholics are revealing what their confession was and what their penance was. I thought it was a mortal sin of sacrilege to do so?

 

[bardegaulois]

I’m not a priest but I do think that a penance usually ought to be something that can be completed in the church after confession. Or at the very least later that night or before you attend Mass next. Generally when a priest has told me to do anything more it was a strong suggestion in addition penance. Yours seems almost like a kind of fasting as a penance, which is fine I suppose.

I’m not necessarily against the more “active” penances like the one you received - especially ones like yours that are very cut-and-dry and the expectations are clear. I once got a penance that amounted to “Do something nice for your dad.” The thought is nice but I basically didn’t have a chance to see my dad for any length of time before my next confession.

Next time, when I confessed (to a different priest) that I had not completed my previous penance, he asked if I wouldn’t mind telling him what the penance was and why I hadn’t completed it. I told him, and though he didn’t say anything I could tell he had heard this kind of thing and wasn’t a fan, because when he gave me my penance he said, “and this penance will also cover your previous penance.”

I think the difference between the two priests was that the first one wanted me to do something practical and outward to make up for my sin against my dad, while the other one (who knows me personally) wanted me to be sure I had completed my obligation. Both laudable but at the time only one was doable.

Regarding the impaired driving, don’t feel terrible. God knows you’re sorry and you confessed to him. We all have bad habits and make bad choices sometimes. I do constantly. We’re all just trying our best, but divine grace takes away the need for extended guilt if we seek out the sacrament of penance as you did. You’ve got my prayers.

I’m very much with you on the matter of penances. Though medicinal penances, usually abstinences of some sort, can be good at times (and very necessary as personally initiated penances additionally to those received in the sacrament), “do something nice for someone” is so vague that you really cannot know if you’ve done it appropriately. Preferably, it should be something that could be completed soon after the confession.

The OP, however, needn’t worry. After the absolution, one is free from sin and able to receive communion. It is not contingent upon the penance being complete. Nonetheless, the penance must be completed either in this world or the next, and it is a lot easier in this world. If it be a period of abstinence of some sort, these, although better when personally undertaken, can have great benefit to the soul.

 

[bardegaulois]

I am somewhat surprised that Catholics are revealing what their confession was and what their penance was. I thought it was a mortal sin of sacrilege to do so?

It is sacrilege, and a grave offense punishable by excommunication under canon law, to reveal the confession of another. You are not bound to keep your own strictly secret, though most do.

 

[Tomdstone]

It is sacrilege, and a grave offense punishable by excommunication under canon law, to reveal the confession of another. You are not bound to keep your own strictly secret, though most do.

That differs from what they taught me in catechism.

 

[bardegaulois]

That differs from what they taught me in catechism.

Then you either remember wrongly or your were taught wrongly. To acknowledge one’s sins in a public forum is no sin, though on particular occasions it may be indiscreet.

The seal, and thus the penalty for breaking it, does not apply to the penitent, but only to the confessor and whoever might overhear the confession, whether by design (such as a translator) or by accident.

 

[babochka]

I’m not a priest but I do think that a penance usually ought to be something that can be completed in the church after confession. Or at the very least later that night or before you attend Mass next. Generally when a priest has told me to do anything more it was a strong suggestion in addition penance. Yours seems almost like a kind of fasting as a penance, which is fine I suppose.

I’ve been giving fasting as a penance. It was appropriate, medicinal, and difficult. I had a couple of starts before I managed to complete it; in fact, I did not manage to complete it before my next confession, but I did eventually complete it. I appreciated the penance very much.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

The short answer to the question originally posted is: yes, a confessor can impose a penance such as this since it is a form of fasting. The wisdom of doing so is another question – and a penance that takes days to accomplish becomes increasingly problematic as the number of consecutive days increases.

While you are perfectly free to receive Holy Communion before completing the penance, one would not expect (normally) to receive the sacrament of reconciliation without having completed the penance imposed from the previous confession – and if you have not been able to complete the penance because of the length of days required or the quantity of what was imposed, that should certainly be mentioned to the priest who is hearing the subsequent confession…i.e. “Father, I have not yet been able to complete the penance imposed when I last confessed.”

As one of the posters indicated in his or her comment, when they were told that the penance they were given in a current confession would cover both the current confession and the previous confession, a confessor does have the power to commute a penance previously imposed to something else, in case of necessity. Sadly, that power does have to be used on occasion.

An important point that many laity do not know is that you are free at the moment you receive the penance to ask the confessor for a different penance, especially if one’s life circumstance would make the penance inordinately burdensome or the penance cannot be accomplished due to, for example, being asked to fast when you are medically unable. If the original poster were a sommelier, for example, it might have been impossible to fulfill this penance – unless you happened to be on a week-long vacation.

 

[Nigel7]

The danger in giving such a penance is if over the course of the week one fails to complete it they’re then questioning the state of their soul, about whether they’ve committed yet another sin by falling short in the penance, and so ending up right back where they started; back in the confessional getting yet another penance for stumbling in the first. It creates anxiety and can keep one from moving on and getting on with the business of living life in a state of grace.

A more reasonable penance, in my opinion, is something that can be done relatively quickly. Prayers, reading a chapter of the bible, random act of charity, etc…

That being said, the priest was within his boundaries to give you such a penance. I’ve had similar from a particular priest.

 

[pianistclare]

I think it was a wise penance. It’s certainly going to make you stop and think about your actions.
People should take the advice AND penance of their confessor seriously. We don’t go to confession for an easy fix. We go to repent.
Stop questioning this priest and just do it.

 

[Memaw]

Then you either remember wrongly or your were taught wrongly. To acknowledge one’s sins in a public forum is no sin, though on particular occasions it may be indiscreet.

The seal, and thus the penalty for breaking it, does not apply to the penitent, but only to the confessor and whoever might overhear the confession, whether by design (such as a translator) or by accident.

AMEN, God Bless, Memaw

 

[Memaw]

I think it was a wise penance. It’s certainly going to make you stop and think about your actions.
People should take the advice AND penance of their confessor seriously. We don’t go to confession for an easy fix. We go to repent.
Stop questioning this priest and just do it.

I agree! He could have told you to stop drinking for a month. Maybe you could add the extra time on yourself to show yourself that life is better without it, especially if you have the tendency to overindulge in drinking. Prayers can be easily said with little effect. I like the unusual penance given at times. Food for thought. God Bless, Memaw

 

[Phemie]

That differs from what they taught me in catechism.

Canon Law binds anyone who “hears” another’s sacramental confession to secrecy (if you accidentally overhear someone’s confession you are bound by law to keep secret what you overheard). It doesn’t bind the person who confesses to secrecy.
Can. 983 §1. The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.
§2. The interpreter, if there is one, and all others who in any way have knowledge of sins from confession are also obliged to observe secrecy.

 

[Vic_Taltrees_UK]

The danger in giving such a penance is if over the course of the week one fails to complete it they’re then questioning the state of their soul, about whether they’ve committed yet another sin by falling short in the penance, and so ending up right back where they started; back in the confessional getting yet another penance for stumbling in the first. It creates anxiety and can keep one from moving on and getting on with the business of living life in a state of grace.

A more reasonable penance, in my opinion, is something that can be done relatively quickly. Prayers, reading a chapter of the bible, random act of charity, etc…

That being said, the priest was within his boundaries to give you such a penance. I’ve had similar from a particular priest.

The hazard you mention may afflict some. Maybe he was meaning it in the spirit of “try to keep it up for a week at least if you possibly can”. The OP will always turn up again if he has the problem you mention.

I was once given the open-ended penance of a certain Bible study. I decided to stop after 3 weeks. Those were the best three weeks of my life (so far).

 

[tawny]

I think it was a wise penance. It’s certainly going to make you stop and think about your actions.
People should take the advice AND penance of their confessor seriously. We don’t go to confession for an easy fix. We go to repent.
Stop questioning this priest and just do it.

Amen.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

A confessor cannot be capricious in the imposition of penances; rather, he is instructed in formation to be judicious in celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation, taking into account the age and condition of the penitent.

There is a distinct difference between making a suggestion of a spiritual practice that the confessor judges maybe helpful to the penitent and the imposition of a penance. A penance that is imposed should never be “open-ended” as though it has no terminus…the elements of a penance have to be defined such that the penitent can accomplish what is imposed in a reasonably defined manner and period of time. An imposed penance assuredly should not involve weeks or a month to complete. Penances of that sort should be reported to the Bishop of the diocese, directly or through the Vicar for Clergy.

A penitent, such as the original poster, certainly has every right to ask about the legitimacy of an imposed penance. The better forum for doing so, frankly, is directly to another confessor – hopefully one who is both knowledgeable as well as experienced.

 

[Vic_Taltrees_UK]

… A penance that is imposed should never be “open-ended” as though it has no terminus…the elements of a penance have to be defined such that the penitent can accomplish what is imposed in a reasonably defined manner and period of time. An imposed penance assuredly should not involve weeks or a month to complete. Penances of that sort should be reported to the Bishop of the diocese, directly or through the Vicar for Clergy …QUOTE]

I took it that he understood that I would be stopping at some stage. He had suggested a starting point and recommended I use the marginal references.

However your point is valuable that he should have been a little clearer as to quantity or time frame.

The effect on me at the time was good. Maybe I should have carried on but without calling it penance.

That priest wasn’t one I was seeing regularly. I was going to confession irregularly at different places at that period.