Confession yearly or not?

[lablover]

It seems like there always are conflicting answers about whether a person must go to confession once a year. The new CCC says yes, but in question/answer columns, I’ve seen responses that say confession is required only if there has been a mortal sin. The CCC doesn’t seem to make such a stipulation. This is important to me, because someone close to me finally went to confession after about 15 years when it appeared, from the CCC, that he had to, mortal sin or not. Before that, he’d been using that “only if there’s a mortal sin” clause as an excuse not to have to go. So, finally and forever, which is it?

 

[_veritas]

Canon Law says:

Can. 988 §1 The faithful are bound to confess, in kind and in number, all grave sins committed after baptism, of which after careful examination of conscience they are aware, which have not yet been directly pardoned by the keys of the Church, and which have not been confessed in an individual confession.

§2 The faithful are recommended to confess also venial sins.

Can. 989 All the faithful who have reached the age of discretion are bound faithfully to confess their grave sins at least once a year.

ourcatholicfaith.org/canonlaw/CANON840-1165.html

“Grave sins” seems to be the only requirement… if a person can honestly look at themselves and say they have not committed a mortal sin in the past year then I suppose they are not bound to go to confession.

The law was effected because of the prior law that all Catholics must receive Holy Communion worthily at least once a year, during the Easter season:

Can. 920 §1 Once admitted to the blessed Eucharist, each of the faithful is obliged to receive holy communion at least once a year.

§2 This precept must be fulfilled during paschal time, unless for a good reason it is fulfilled at another time during the year.

ourcatholicfaith.org/canonlaw/CANON840-1165.html

And, yes, we are required to attend Mass every Sunday and Holy Day, but we are not required to receive Holy Communion every time we go to Mass:

Can. 915 Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion.
%between%
Can. 916 Anyone who is conscious of grave sin may not celebrate Mass or receive the Body of the Lord without previously having been to sacramental confession, unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.

ourcatholicfaith.org/canonlaw/CANON840-1165.html

Bottom line is, from Canon Law, it would appear that if one can truly examine their conscience and find no mortal sin unconfessed, they are not bound to the yearly confession.

At the same time, I would find it very hard to believe that there are people out there who are able to refrain from committing at least one mortal sin a year–much less the 15 years given as the example!!

And, apart from the forgiveness of mortal sins, do not forget the graces that come to a person who goes to more frequent confession, and/or the confession of venial sins… Why in the world would anyone deny themself the graces of confession for so long? It shows a lack of understanding about the merits and purpose of the sacrament itself.

Remember, our Holy Father, a person whom the world looks to as a model of holiness, goes to confession once a week.

I figure if once a week is good for the Holy Father, it’s definitely good for me!!

See you in the confession line,

+veritas+

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I explain to my students that they are obliged to go to the dentist only when they need a rotten tooth extracted. If, however, they go to him for frequent checkups they may avoid having a rotten tooth that needs to be extracted.

Now read Confession for Dentist and mortal sin for rotten tooth and you have it.

 

[system]

The Precepts of The Church…
Read Paragraph 2041 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church…
See Paragraph 2042, second precept—You shall confess your sins at least once a year…Does not distinguish mortal from venial sin. As paragraph 2041 gives emphisis, this and the other precepts are for the faithful, indispensable minimums.

 

[Mijoy2]

This concept gets into such a philisophical discussion. The concept of mortal sin is very loosly defined.

Gave matter - could mean any relation to the ten commandments.

Knowledge — this one is a no-brainer. if we didn’t know it was a sin the discussion would be over

Full consent – if we knew it was a sin, by default, we consented when we commited it.

This makes ALL sin mortal. I don’t know how it can be arguesd other wise.

i.e. – We are a scuba diver and we kept a slightly undersized lobster for diver. We drove ver the spped limit. We didn’t fess up when a cashier made a mistake in our favor. We told out parents we saw a PG movie when in fact it is R. We looked to long at our new neighbor’s pretty wife sunning herself in her back yard.

How does these meet all three criterea?

Grave matter – It can be argued that these are against more then one commandment each.

Knowledge of – We all know these are sins against the CCC.

Full consent – come on now, of course we consented or there would be no discussion.

My question would be this;

1. How can we possibly wait a year. I’m lucky to make it through a lunch hour.
2. what if we die before we get a chancce to confess?

If we are discussing whether we should we go to confession every year or every time we commit a mortal sin, I am in the wrong group.

PLEASE TELL ME I AM NOT ALONE!!!

 

[Brown10985]

Mijoy, thank you for your honesty. The catechism cites some things as grave in matter and St.Paul lists sins that if those who commit them will not enter the kingdom of heaven though where the line is drawn between a venial and grave sin I don’t know. I agree with you, the criteria for mortal sin is very broad. You’re not alone. Can somebody help us?

 

[JimG]

–keeping an undersized lobster: not a grave matter
–not repaying cashier, small amount, not grave; large amount, grave matter.
–driving over the speed limit: 5mph not grave; 50mpg grave matter
–lied to parents. small lie, not grave matter;
–ogling neighbor’s wife, I’ll leave that one up to you.

JimG

 

[Catholic2003]

Here is the commentary on canon 989 from The Canon Law: Letter and Spirit, emphasis added:

On reaching the age of discretion, which is presumed to be at the age of seven (see Can. 97 §2), all the faithful are bound to confess their grave sins at least once a year. This is a minimal requirement rather than a desired norm; it had its origin at the Fourth Lateran Council. There is no obligation to confess even once a year if the person has committed only venial sins. Although in the past this obligation has been traditionally associated with the obligation to receive the Eucharist once a year at Paschal time (see Can. 920), there is in fact no necessary connection between the two, nor is there any specified or preferred time for fulfilling the obligation of annual confession.

 

[baltobetsy]

Mijoy2:

Grave matter - could mean any relation to the ten commandments.

Knowledge — this one is a no-brainer. if we didn’t know it was a sin the discussion would be over

Full consent – if we knew it was a sin, by default, we consented when we commited it.

This makes ALL sin mortal. I don’t know how it can be arguesd other wise.

Hold it there! There is a clear distinction between mortal and venial sin. First, let me say that all sin, even venial, is a terrible catastrophe, but to confuse mortal and venial is not helpful at all.

Three things are necessary for a sin to be mortal, as you have correctly stated. But it is necessary to reflect on what these things mean.

Grave matter: JimG gave you some good distinctions. Everything that refers to the Ten Commandments MAY be grave matter, but not everything necessarily is. Take for example, the 7th Commandment, Thou shalt not steal. If you steal a valuable item, or if there are circumstances that make the stealing worse than it ordinarily would be, like sacrilege, it is grave matter. If you steal an insignificant, inexpensive item, say, a Bic pen, it is not grave matter. It’s a matter of common sense. You shouldn’t steal anything, but some stealing is worse than other stealing.

Full knowledge: You must know at the time you commit the sin that the act is sinful. If you find out later, you have not committed a sin. Many people are confused on this. Now, if you commit the same act again, after you’ve learned that it is sinful, you do have full knowledge and are responsible.

Full consent of the will: Here’s where you have a bit of an error. We don’t consent “by default.” Many things can diminish one’s consent - habit, fear, coercion, not being fully conscious or awake. Now, in ordinary circumstances, with ordinary people who have no psychological problems and don’t have somebody holding a gun to their heads, full consent is the usual thing. But you can never assume that someone has fully consented to a sinful act. This is the essence of God’s command, “Judge not, lest you yourself be judged.” You can, of course, determine for yourself whether you have consented, and that’s the essence of your examination of conscience.

Some people have trouble because they see mortal sin everywhere, where it really is not. This is called being scrupulous. Here is a link to the Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous which may be helpful to someone in this situation. Bear in mind that not all these things will apply to the person who is not scrupulous, but they’re all good to think about.

Betsy

 

[Mike_C]

"Remember, our Holy Father, a person whom the world looks to as a model of holiness, goes to confession once a week. "

No, you are incorrect. Our Holy Father confesses EVERY DAY.

 

[Mijoy2]

baltobetsy:

Hold it there! There is a clear distinction between mortal and venial sin. First, let me say that all sin, even venial, is a terrible catastrophe, but to confuse mortal and venial is not helpful at all.

Betsy

I appreciate this and the rest of your post. However whenever a term such as “grave matter” is used it carries with it a sense of subjectivity. What is grave to one is not grave to another.

Of course I realize that we can’t literally outline every potential sin, list them in a book and catagorize them as either mortal or venial.

People can justify to themselves virtually anything depending on the circumstance. An adulterer may justify thier actions because of neglect or abuse on the part of thier spouse. A murderer can justify thier action for many reasons. Thier are to this day some celebrity figures (who will go unmentioned) that appear to have no remorse what so ever for thier crime. I’d suspect they possibly have come to resolution that the crime was justified. Does this self-justification remove the criterea for “full-consent”? It may be argued that it can.

I may feel more guilt over stealing a bic pen then a murderer feels over his/her murder simply because they have fully justified the crime in thier minds.

I don’t dwell on this, because I have full faith God has this all resolved in the most just of ways. However I do get troubled by the concept of not knowing where I stand with my justification from confession to confession.

 

[jrabs]

I’m with ya 100%, Mijoy2.
How do we grow in our love for God and detest sin if we are going to start being selective about the severity of the sin?

For me, sin robs my joy and peace - even if it is the sin of thinking unkind thoughts about someone or the harsh words I used on a cashier who over-charged me. I still feel that separation from God and need to repair it. How could I wait a year? My life seems to flow more peacefully when I have visited confession more frequently - versus when I stayed away for loooooong periods.

Would you wait a year to tell your spouse, your best friend, family member you were sorry for something?

I think fear keeps people away. People are fearful of confession because they do not want to verbalize their sins - especially those that may be a bit more “humiliating” to them (for those are the sins that really need purging - sins like fornication, adultery, etc.)
No one wants to say out load that they committed adultery, but once it’s confessed, it’s gone!

Remember who the father of fear is…and of course he wants us to stay away from confession.

God Bless

 

[jmm08]

baltobetsy:

This is called being scrupulous. Here is a link to the Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous which may be helpful to someone in this situation.

Thanks for the link. I’m saving it.

I am soon going to start RCIA classes and I haven’t been to confession yet. I am probably a scrupulous person. I have often seen God as angry at me or likely to punish me. I want to go to confession and confess my sins (and I know in CCC it says that since I intend to confess my sins when I am able to go to confession that I am already forgiven – if I have perfect contrition – or something like that).

 

[baltobetsy]

Mijoy2:

I appreciate this and the rest of your post. However whenever a term such as “grave matter” is used it carries with it a sense of subjectivity. What is grave to one is not grave to another. …

People can justify to themselves virtually anything depending on the circumstance. … Does this self-justification remove the criterea for “full-consent”? It may be argued that it can.

I may feel more guilt over stealing a bic pen then a murderer feels over his/her murder simply because they have fully justified the crime in thier minds.

I don’t dwell on this, because I have full faith God has this all resolved in the most just of ways. However I do get troubled by the concept of not knowing where I stand with my justification from confession to confession.

Mijoy, you’ve put your finger on part of the “grave matter” requirement that I left out. The requirement for mortal sin is that the act actually be seriously sinful or be thought to be seriously sinful. What this means to me is that there are things that are, in themselves, seriously sinful, and that there are things that are not, in themselves, seriously sinful, but become so because of a person’s misinformed conscience. That is why it is so important for us to form our consciences according to the mind of the Church, both to avoid committing serious sin and to have peace of mind when we really have not committed a serious sin. As I said before, all sin is a catastrophe, but knowing where you stand, as you know, is very important. There is no point in thinking you’ve committed a mortal sin, when the act is not grave matter.

“Self-justification” does not, I believe, diminish consent. This error of conscience was, at one point, early on, a conscious decision to ignore the dictates of conscience. When this becomes a habit of mind, we are still responsible for having deformed our consciences. Lack of consent only excuses people of good will, not those who deliberately deform their consciences.

On the final point above, it’s a common error of our time to base the judgement of one’s objective guilt on the subjective feeling of guilt. You may feel worse about stealing the Bic than the hardened criminal does about another murder, but that does not make it a mortal sin for you. It just means you have a sensitive conscience and a great love of God.

Betsy

 

[_veritas]

Here is a really really detailed examination of conscience that may help you figure out what qualifies as grave matter or not, as well as an overview of the differences between venial sin and “imperfections” (which are not inherently sinful, and may not need to be confessed if one did not knowingly accept them and choose to sin)…

There is a certain amount of subjectivity inherent in trying to distinguish between mortal and venial sin, however, it is indisputable that there are differences in gravity of sin. (See 1 John 5:16-17)

catholicparents.org/oxcart/examination.html

+veritas+