Confused about confession and getting to Heaven

  • Thread starter Thread starter legaleagle
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

legaleagle

Guest
Hi, in my self-study of Catholicism (I am not a Catholic - - yet), I thought I was getting everything figured out until I started really studying confession. If a person must confess their mortal sins to a priest in order to be absolved and thus get into Heaven, then what would happen to me if I died today and never got a chance to confess to a priest (because I’m not Catholic)?

I’ve always confessed my sins to God in prayer and I am truly sorry for them and have aimed to do better, but now I’m starting to panic on two issues: (1) I assume that I’m guilty of mortal sin since I’m an adult and throughout my life I’ve gotten angry, I’ve held grudges willingly, I’ve broken some of the 10 Commandments, etc. (2) What happens to the millions of Protestants who truly love the Lord and serve Him? If they are considered separated brethern, I can’t see them being hell-bound simply because they didn’t participate in the sacrement of confession. I’m worried for my own soul and that of my family members.

Thanks for your help. I’m hoping that maybe I’ve misunderstood some aspect about confession.
 
legaleagle said:
If a person must confess their mortal sins to a priest in order to be absolved and thus get into Heaven, then what would happen to me if I died today and never got a chance to confess to a priest (because I’m not Catholic)?.
Click to expand...
Confession is the *ordinary *way in which we receive forgiveness for our sins and have sanctifying grace restored after sinning mortally-- the way Christ himself established for us.

It is not the *only *way in which God can make his grace available. God knows when we have true contrition and can give a person grace in an *extraordinary *manner, outside the Sacraments, for various reasons including those you pose in this thread.
 
Thanks for explaining that.

Also, my apologies for misspelling Sacrament above.
 
In order for a sin to be mortal three things must occur
  1. it must be of grave matter
  2. it must be committed with full knowledge
  3. it must be committed with full consent
You are not guilty of mortal sin because you don’t have the knowledge.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top