Confession & Communion - did I do the right thing?

[DL82]

I was at lunchtime mass today, though went in not intending to receive as I think I may be in a state of mortal sin. (can’t get to confession until tomorrow) Anyway, I was sitting there and felt all my previously confessed sins were flooding back into me, and that by taking communion Christ would be inside me to stand in the breach and prevent this. The thought really started to get to me.

Anyway, I took this as being a temptation from the evil one to receive communion irreverently (in a state of mortal sin), and tried to ignore those thoughts. Did I do the right thing?

On a connected point, when we find ourselves back in a state of mortal sin, are all our previously confessed sins once again clinging to us? In other words, is one mortal sinner as bad as another? If I were to live the most perfect saintly life for 50 years then lapse and commit one mortal sin, would my soul be in the exact same state as if I’d never done anything good in my whole life? Would those 50 years be wasted, or would their merit be restored to me with repentance?

 

[thetags3]

Think about this… why did Christ die? He died for our sins. He said as He drew His last breath - “It is finished.” The debt was paid – in full. You are cleansed of your sin by the sacrifice of His blood. Think of it this way… lets say you’re making payments on a car and I come along and say, I’ll take care of that for you and I pay off your loan – I paid the debt in full as a gift from me to you… would you keep making payments to the loan company? By the same token if someone gives you a gift and you try to give them some of the money for that gift, is it a gift any longer? Would the person giving you the gift be offended? God gave us the gift of His Son. All we need to do is open our hearts to him and put our complete trust in Him. I hope this helped. In His Name…

 

[TheDoctor]

… lets say you’re making payments on a car and I come along and say, I’ll take care of that for you and I pay off your loan – I paid the debt in full as a gift from me to you… would you keep making payments to the loan company?..

DL82: thetags3 is correct in his analogy above. This is the saving grace we first get at baptism, where God gives us the grace of salvation. If we never sin again, that the debt we owe for original sin (the original loan) is paid.

If we do sin again, it is like getting another loan (to try to keep with the above example). God stands ready to take that burden from us during the sacrament of reconciliation but we have to go to him (Hey Dad, guess what? I got another loan…)

If you think you are in a state of mortal sin the prudent and strong thing to do is to not receive until you speak to a Priest in reconciliation.

Speaking for myself, even though my past confessions have removed the guilt of my mortal sins the shame I still feel for committing them does not leave me for I know I have disappointed God. (These previously forgiven sins do not re-attach at the next mortal sin). This is a good thing! It helps to give me the strength to try to resist the temptation to sin again.

As to your last point - recall that even though reconciliation removes the guilt of sin we still owe for the temporal effects of our sins. The good that we do for others here in this life along with any indulgences we may earn, helps to lessen this temporal punishment. Anything left over is cleansed in Purgatory.

My $0.02? Live that saintly life for the next 50 years and then ask that question again. Have a happy day.