H
HJ3822
Guest
The title is the most succinct title I can think of. The more lengthy title would be: “Does a cradle Catholic have to confess every sin since birth or every sin since the day of Confirmation?” This question can also be extended to prospective Catholic converts: “Does a prospective Catholic convert have to confess every sin since birth or just merely every sin since the day of conversion or the day of his or her Confirmation/Baptism?”
Now, you may wonder why I am asking this question. Here is the backstory. Recently, I re-visited Isaac Newton’s list of 48 sins he had committed by the time he turned 19 or 20. Then, it occurred to me that I had committed the same kind of wrongs in my relatively short life of two decades and four years, and for that reason, I felt very empathetic toward Isaac Newton. The list of sins made him very human. Likewise, I have been thinking of recording every single moral wrong in my life, but I don’t know where to start. The number of wrongs that I have greatly exceeds 48, and upon retrospection, I think the majority of them is tied to my lack of good social graces in real life and on the Internet. On the Internet, I believe that I step the social boundaries far too often because of my lack of emotional maturity and social intelligence. In real life, I believe that the same applies. There is one moment in my life that I remember very vividly. I was behaving very immaturely next to my classmate, bordering on teasing. I think I was a junior in high school at the time, and I had known the classmate since my freshman year. The classmate did not seem to be offended, and I took the lack of offense as a license to continue my teasing behavior. However, what makes in-person interactions different from online interactions is that, in my experience, in-person interactions allows people to express annoyance immediately. I usually take the hint and stop what I am doing. On the Internet, experience tells me that people generally don’t express any annoyance at all. Hence, it is extremely easy to offend people without realizing it, and when I do realize it, it’s already too late. Additionally, I tend to control my temper very well in in-person interactions, but in online interactions, the perception of anonymity is likely the cause for my bold, angry behavior. I think of myself as a “Jekyll and Hyde” type of person as a result.
In contrast to Isaac Newton, who may have been baptized and raised in the Church of England, I have never been baptized or raised by whatever church. In the realm of theology, I admire both the Lutheran school of thought and Catholic school of thought, and I am fascinated by the order, discipline, and intricacy of high-church liturgy, which is characteristic of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and high-church Protestant churches. Now, if I choose to convert officially to the Roman Catholic Church, then I may have to take on some Catholic responsibilities, like attending Mass, tithing, or honoring the sacraments, including the sacrament of penance. And if I were to do the sacrament of penance, I may have to confess all my sins to God by means of the priest. There are some serious, practical concerns that I have about that type of scenario:
Now, you may wonder why I am asking this question. Here is the backstory. Recently, I re-visited Isaac Newton’s list of 48 sins he had committed by the time he turned 19 or 20. Then, it occurred to me that I had committed the same kind of wrongs in my relatively short life of two decades and four years, and for that reason, I felt very empathetic toward Isaac Newton. The list of sins made him very human. Likewise, I have been thinking of recording every single moral wrong in my life, but I don’t know where to start. The number of wrongs that I have greatly exceeds 48, and upon retrospection, I think the majority of them is tied to my lack of good social graces in real life and on the Internet. On the Internet, I believe that I step the social boundaries far too often because of my lack of emotional maturity and social intelligence. In real life, I believe that the same applies. There is one moment in my life that I remember very vividly. I was behaving very immaturely next to my classmate, bordering on teasing. I think I was a junior in high school at the time, and I had known the classmate since my freshman year. The classmate did not seem to be offended, and I took the lack of offense as a license to continue my teasing behavior. However, what makes in-person interactions different from online interactions is that, in my experience, in-person interactions allows people to express annoyance immediately. I usually take the hint and stop what I am doing. On the Internet, experience tells me that people generally don’t express any annoyance at all. Hence, it is extremely easy to offend people without realizing it, and when I do realize it, it’s already too late. Additionally, I tend to control my temper very well in in-person interactions, but in online interactions, the perception of anonymity is likely the cause for my bold, angry behavior. I think of myself as a “Jekyll and Hyde” type of person as a result.
In contrast to Isaac Newton, who may have been baptized and raised in the Church of England, I have never been baptized or raised by whatever church. In the realm of theology, I admire both the Lutheran school of thought and Catholic school of thought, and I am fascinated by the order, discipline, and intricacy of high-church liturgy, which is characteristic of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and high-church Protestant churches. Now, if I choose to convert officially to the Roman Catholic Church, then I may have to take on some Catholic responsibilities, like attending Mass, tithing, or honoring the sacraments, including the sacrament of penance. And if I were to do the sacrament of penance, I may have to confess all my sins to God by means of the priest. There are some serious, practical concerns that I have about that type of scenario:
- Does one have to confess ALL sins since birth or since the day of Confirmation?
- If the confessions are directed at God, and only God can forgive sins, then what is the purpose of having a priest to hear your shameful thoughts and actions? Is the priest only there to judge your sincerity? What if the priest perceives that you are not being sincere? Can the priest refuse to absolve?
- How detailed does a confession have to be? Do people generally confess the overarching themes behind the sinful behaviors or thoughts, which may be the root of the problem, or do they confess the individual thoughts and behaviors?
- James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” How should a Catholic behave in light of this verse? Is prayer and confession of one’s sins to God directly and to the wronged person enough to be forgiven? Or perhaps, the priest is there to realize godly forgiveness?
What’s that supposed to mean?