confession, struggling with this

[Merrick]

I am struggling knowing if I have confessed all elements affecting gravity of sin since I made my first confession which was long.

For a couple of confessions I was dragging up already confessed sins to make sure I covered all elements of gravity. I’d cover another element in the next confession but then forget another element I had already mentioned in the last confession. So I keep saying the same sins over and over.

So I went to my priest today and he told me the main part of gravity is whether it is mortal or not and the number and that if the confessor needs more information he will ask. The main thing he said is that the sins were confessed and God knows what I meant. So he didn’t think I needed to bring anything up again from the first confession.

So I didn’t bring up anything I had already confessed this time to cover in more detail because he seemed to think the priest would ask for more information if needed, the main thing is whether it is mortal or veniel.

I am still not sure. Is this priest right? I have been tormented for over 24 hours including in dreams. Now I can’t even remember if I DIDN’T cover the gravity of the sins in the first confession. Now I think I probably did and maybe I shouldn’t worry about it since I don’t KNOW for sure. If I can’t take this priest’s advice and stop worrying about this then I’m not going to become a Catholic. I can’t handle this. This isn’t clear enough to me.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Don’t be scrupulous. Trust your confessor’s advice. If he needs more detail, he will ask.

 

[Wahoowa92]

Paul is right. When you have already confessed a sin, to confess the exact same sin again (and again) shows a lack of faith in the Lord and his mercy. In fact, it could rightly be considered sinful to not forgive YOURSELF after you have confessed. After all, if God can forgive you, certainly you can forgive yourself. Now, if you commit the same sinful act a second time – and it happens to all of us – then you confess that sin the next time. In that case, it’s not the same sin, it’s another one.

The whole key to a good confession is to confess with a genuinely contrite, sorrowful heart, and just do your best. The Ten Commandments form the template for a good confession. God already knows ALL your sins. He just wants you to come to Him with them, lay them on the powerful shoulders of His Son, and as long as you confess completely, as best you can and with the intention to “sin no more,” He forgives you through the priest. Remember the part of confession where you say something similar to, “For these sins and any others I do not immediately call to mind, I am deeply sorry”? This is the catch-all, if you will. But that’s why it’s so important to do a contemplative examination of conscience before entering the confessional so you can make as complete a confession as possible and TRY HARD not to leave anything out.

As a convert to the Faith, I find confession to be the most liberating, grace-filled experience. When I have done my best to lay all my burdens of sin upon the Lord, as He wants me to do, I genuinely feel renewed in Him. The same should be true for you. Letting your sins go after a good confession is a powerful expression of faith in Jesus. To do otherwise is to show weakness of faith.

 

[ChibiViolet]

The details of mortal sins matter or else we would not be required to confess them–that is, those details that make a mortal sin more sinful, for example stealing a great amount of money from a friend verses someone you don’t know. I couldn’t find any official teaching on the subject of confessing such details you forgot to confess before, but there may be one. If I were you, I’d keep searching for an answer. If you cannot find one, you should go with your conscience and or logical conclusion of your own thought process of the subject. From what you have said, you do not seem to be scrupulous, but confused, as I often get. The term “scrupulous” is thrown around way too much and without a great deal of thought it seems.

 

[Merrick]

Paul is right. When you have already confessed a sin, to confess the exact same sin again (and again) shows a lack of faith in the Lord and his mercy. In fact, it could rightly be considered sinful to not forgive YOURSELF after you have confessed. After all, if God can forgive you, certainly you can forgive yourself. Now, if you commit the same sinful act a second time – and it happens to all of us – then you confess that sin the next time. In that case, it’s not the same sin, it’s another one.

The whole key to a good confession is to confess with a genuinely contrite, sorrowful heart, and just do your best. The Ten Commandments form the template for a good confession. God already knows ALL your sins. He just wants you to come to Him with them, lay them on the powerful shoulders of His Son, and as long as you confess completely, as best you can and with the intention to “sin no more,” He forgives you through the priest. Remember the part of confession where you say something similar to, “For these sins and any others I do not immediately call to mind, I am deeply sorry”? This is the catch-all, if you will. But that’s why it’s so important to do a contemplative examination of conscience before entering the confessional so you can make as complete a confession as possible and TRY HARD not to leave anything out.

As a convert to the Faith, I find confession to be the most liberating, grace-filled experience. When I have done my best to lay all my burdens of sin upon the Lord, as He wants me to do, I genuinely feel renewed in Him. The same should be true for you. Letting your sins go after a good confession is a powerful expression of faith in Jesus. To do otherwise is to show weakness of faith.

I know they were forgiven, but I keep bringing things up not knowing if I covered all the details of gravity in my next confessions. I did this two or three times. Now I’m not even sure I forgot anything in the first confession. My priest told me not to worry about it unless the priest asks for more information. So in my last confession I let it go and didn’t bring anything up from previous confessions after having a discussion with him about it. He studies canon law. But now I’m worried about that, too, even though I am not even sure I forgot anything now that hasn’t already been covered. I don’t think this should be so hard.

 

[z_0101]

Don’t be scrupulous. Trust your confessor’s advice. If he needs more detail, he will ask.

PaulfromIowa - use this form:

**Father it has been _____ **(days/weeks/months/years) since my last confession and these are my sins (you need give only the type and number of each mortal sins, confessing venial sin is encouraged but not required) for these sins and all of the sins of my past life I am sorry. I ask pardon of God and penance and absolution from you Father

Now unless you have willing omitted a mortal sin, do not worry yourself.
If you happen to remember a mortal sin and you are sure that you did not confess it, then bring it to your next confession.