T
TommyQ
Guest
I’ve never made a post here, so I hope I did this right.
I read in this article that the Eucharist is an appropriate way of being reconciled to our Lord (see point 9 “Experience reconciliation in a variety of ways”) The article carries an imprimatur from the Archbishop of Cincinnati, so it ought to be trustworthy, but I’m really confused.
Before I learned better I got myself into a habit of regularly committing serious sin. I’m much more aware now and do what I can to avoid all sin, but I still stumble every now and then when I’m upset or under stress. I have made it a point to go to confession once or twice a month, whenever I need to.
Thing is, I am distressed by having to confess this same sin over and over. I know it’s wrong, and I am getting better at avoiding it. God knows I’m trying.
Once when I confessed the priest was visibly disappointed. It just made me feel awful for coming to the priest because despite his advice and his blessings, I still screw up. And not just me, but a lot of people. Now I go to a new church for every confession because I’m afraid of discouraging the priest. I felt even more guilty about that, and also for letting down Jesus. I feel abusive of the sacrament and manipulative, because I know that Jesus always takes me back, and maybe I’m less vigilant about avoiding sin for that reason.
**So my question is:
**If I’m sincere and sorry for my sins, may I be reconciled by receiving the Eucharist like the article said, or would that be a sacrilege? On a few occasions I have received the Eucharist without confession and felt good about it, whereas other times my conscience troubled me.
There seem to be conflicting opinions on this and when I’ve asked the priest in confession, he was vague. This has been bothering me for a long time, so I really want to get this cleared up.
I’d appreciate anybody’s response, but if it’s not too much trouble, Fr. Serpa, I’d like to get a priest’s perspective. Thanks so much!
I read in this article that the Eucharist is an appropriate way of being reconciled to our Lord (see point 9 “Experience reconciliation in a variety of ways”) The article carries an imprimatur from the Archbishop of Cincinnati, so it ought to be trustworthy, but I’m really confused.
Before I learned better I got myself into a habit of regularly committing serious sin. I’m much more aware now and do what I can to avoid all sin, but I still stumble every now and then when I’m upset or under stress. I have made it a point to go to confession once or twice a month, whenever I need to.
Thing is, I am distressed by having to confess this same sin over and over. I know it’s wrong, and I am getting better at avoiding it. God knows I’m trying.
Once when I confessed the priest was visibly disappointed. It just made me feel awful for coming to the priest because despite his advice and his blessings, I still screw up. And not just me, but a lot of people. Now I go to a new church for every confession because I’m afraid of discouraging the priest. I felt even more guilty about that, and also for letting down Jesus. I feel abusive of the sacrament and manipulative, because I know that Jesus always takes me back, and maybe I’m less vigilant about avoiding sin for that reason.
**So my question is:
**If I’m sincere and sorry for my sins, may I be reconciled by receiving the Eucharist like the article said, or would that be a sacrilege? On a few occasions I have received the Eucharist without confession and felt good about it, whereas other times my conscience troubled me.
There seem to be conflicting opinions on this and when I’ve asked the priest in confession, he was vague. This has been bothering me for a long time, so I really want to get this cleared up.
I’d appreciate anybody’s response, but if it’s not too much trouble, Fr. Serpa, I’d like to get a priest’s perspective. Thanks so much!