Confession and conscience

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Grayton

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Some acts may be a mortal sin, or a venial sin, or no sin at all, if some element is lacking.

For example, it is sinful to do unnecessary work on Sunday. But who decides if it is unnecessary? We can think of examples that are clearly necessary (doctor in the ER) and some that are not (volunteering to work Sundays so you can have weekdays off from work) but there would be situations in the middle. Some would judge one way and some another.

If you have a well formed conscience, and decide the work is necessary, do you need to bring it up in confession just in case the priest might judge that you were wrong? I have had one confessor tell me this is the better practice, but I wonder if this is the general view.
 
If you have doubts about anything the best place to resolve them would be during the Sacrament. Nothing prevents you and I would actualy encourage you to confess venial sin in Confession.
 
If you have any doubts that an action or inaction is sinful or not, ask during confession. It is a good place to bring it up and examine it. The priest might have to research it for you and let you know.
 
T.A.Stobie:
If you have any doubts that an action or inaction is sinful or not, ask during confession. It is a good place to bring it up and examine it. The priest might have to research it for you and let you know.
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Definitely. I would rather have my priest tell me it is unnecessary to mention something than to find out later that I had failed to confess something that might have been mortal.

I have also asked my priest for guidance in situations where I was 85% sure of the answer, but wanted to be sure before I went ahead.

(BTW, is replying to these Forums considered unnecessary work? 😃 )

John
 
Br. Rich SFO:
If you have doubts about anything the best place to resolve them would be during the Sacrament. Nothing prevents you and I would actualy encourage you to confess venial sin in Confession.
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Are you saying that there is no need to confess an act that touches upon a grave matter, as long as a person with a well formed conscience has no doubt that his action was not sinful?

Let me propose an example. Suppose I wake up at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning and have the chills, and feel nauseous. I experience gastro-intestinal problems periodically for the next twelve hours and do not attend Mass. By 6:00 p.m., I say to myself, “Thank God, I haven’t felt my G.I. problem for three hours now, maybe its over. There is a Mass at 7:30 p.m. a half hour drive away from my home. Maybe I should assume that my illness is past and get over there. No, I think it’s too soon to take a chance that my problem will return. It is better that I get bed rest to restore my health completely.”

Now, when I make that decision, I have no doubt that I am acting appropriately. On Monday, I still believe that I did the right thing, even though I can now look back and see that I did truly turn the corner on my G. I. problem by 3 p.m. Sunday.

Would you say that I should still tell the priest about it, and let him judge whether I rationalized myself into a bad excuse for missing Mass? It seems to me that this would trivialize the sacrament.
 
If you truly have doubt about your actions the best place to resolve them would be in the Sacrament.
 
I’m with Bro. Rich and DrKat on this one.

Better safe than sorry.

Of course, I tend toward scrupulosity.(I’m sure I’ve bored a confessor or two to tears) The Confessional is the place to make sure and GET CLEAN!!!. I feel as though if you have any doubt at all about the condition of your soul, it’s best to allay one’s fears and just ask.
 
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