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A few years ago, I cheated on one question in a competition. I didn’t think about it for a while, but then I felt guilty later. I confessed to “cheating in school” however, it wasn’t a competition in school, I was on a team that represented my school though. After that, I felt better about it. However, a little over a week ago, I started feeling very guilty again. I told myself that I had confessed, and that I was forgiven, so I recieved holy communion. It kept bugging me, so I went to confession and confessed to “cheating.” However, I did not say that I recieved communion the week before because I told myself that I hadn’t committed a mortal sin, and that I was fine. Is it bad that I didn’t say that? I just want to stop worrying about all of this. Since it wasn’t in school, was I not forgiven? Did I committ another mortal sin by receiving communion? and then anothe one by not saying that in confession? I think I know deep down that God has forgiven me, but I can’t forget about it.
 
Your sin was forgiven the first time you confessed. As for the burden of guilt you feel, pray to God that He take that from you. As an example, although it isn’t exactly the same thing, My dad died several years ago. We didn’t get along at all. It took me a long time after his death to finally pray, “Ok, God, you take this because I can’t carry it anymore.”

Satan will always try to get you to stumble over anything he can. Including stuff like this. You feel guilty, so you feel that you haven’t confessed properly. But you have confessed properly and are forgiven. Cling to that promise, ok?
 
I don’t know what other people will say, but I’m going to say this … God isn’t a forgiveness machine, as if you stick a bent coin in it he’s going to tilt. He’s a person. He loves you and he’s closer to you than you are to yourself.

You can drive yourself nuts rehashing your past sins, and if you really blow it and do something majorly wrong (and what you did, well, you could have done a whole lot worse), imagine how you spend the rest of your life just wallowing in it. And if you think about it, once you have felt remorse, and you have committed yourself to change, and you have done that fearless moral inventory, and you have gone to confession, and you have done penance, and you have reformed - to continue to revisit and doubt is to doubt God’s sincerity. And then what about people like me who have really blown it - if you’re right in your doubts and fears, how could we ever make it back?

Sooner or later you give yourself a break and say yeah, it’s over, I’m forgiven and I’m going on. If you remember that God is your friend and he is desperate to forgive and forget, he’s just waiting for you to crack the door open and he’ll take it from there. He knows what you mean.
 
It’s good that you care so much, but I think you have nothing to worry about. I think “cheating in school” was an accurate enough way to put it, since it was through school. Either way, even if you didn’t articulate your sin properly, you sought forgiveness for it, so God has forgiven it. You commited no mortal sin. As Christy Beth said, Satan will try to trip you up over anything. If you still feel restless about this though, go to your priest and explain the whole thing.
 
I may have heard this in a song or read it somewhere, but it is a way to look at the sins from our past when Satan tries to throw them in our face:
I asked God what the biggest sin is that I committed.
He responded, “What sin? I forgot the moment you confessed. It is not that I don’t remember, but that I choose to forget.”
You have been forgiven. Claim that forgiveness and tell Satan to go sit on a tack.
 
DebChris said:
I may have heard this in a song or read it somewhere, but it is a way to look at the sins from our past when Satan tries to throw them in our face:
I asked God what the biggest sin is that I committed.
He responded, “What sin? I forgot the moment you confessed. It is not that I don’t remember, but that I choose to forget.”
You have been forgiven. Claim that forgiveness and tell Satan to go sit on a tack.
Click to expand...
Love it!:clapping:
 
need_help said:
A few years ago, I cheated on one question in a competition. I didn’t think about it for a while, but then I felt guilty later. I confessed to “cheating in school” however, it wasn’t a competition in school, I was on a team that represented my school though. After that, I felt better about it. However, a little over a week ago, I started feeling very guilty again. I told myself that I had confessed, and that I was forgiven, so I recieved holy communion. It kept bugging me, so I went to confession and confessed to “cheating.” However, I did not say that I recieved communion the week before because I told myself that I hadn’t committed a mortal sin, and that I was fine. Is it bad that I didn’t say that? I just want to stop worrying about all of this. Since it wasn’t in school, was I not forgiven? Did I committ another mortal sin by receiving communion? and then anothe one by not saying that in confession? I think I know deep down that God has forgiven me, but I can’t forget about it.
Click to expand...
Recently on EWTN, Father Corapi pointed out that it isn’t God who keeps bringing to mind our past and forgiven sins. Realize the power you have access to in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and don’t allow the Enemy to start making you question whether forgiven is really forgiven. Let it go; God has.
 
Awesome answers, all! Yes- you are forgiven! Rest easy and praise God! 👍
 
It sounds like what’s bugging you is that (the first time) you fudged a little bit in the confessional.

If you just got flustered and got mixed up when you were speaking, then there’s nothing wrong.

If you think that you outright lied in the first confession, you were right to re-confess. In that case (if you lied), it’s possible that you received unworthily. But you didn’t do it deliberately, so it would not be a mortal sin.

What I would do is take it to confession again. Be clear about the circumstances, and ask Father if you received unworthily. If he says yes, confess it, and walk out a free man!

Ruthie
 
I don’t really remember if I intended to say “I cheated in school” or if I just got frazzled, this was a few years ago.
 
also, is it bad that I never made restitution for it? I think it may be a little late now…I don’t know what to do. I feel so lost.
 
If this is troubling you so, I believe it would be appropriate to discuss this matter with your priest!
 
MYLORDANDMYGOD1 said:
If this is troubling you so, I believe it would be appropriate to discuss this matter with your priest!
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Good advice, it sounds to me that you are getting borderline scrupulous here and it would be good to work this through with a priest before you start having doubts about all kinds of potential sins. To start with, not knowing more of the circumstances, I am not even certain that cheating as you did would rise to the level of mortal sin, although you apparently thought so.
 
I can’t see any way to make restitution for it, either.

What I do in that situation, when I feel that I want to do more than just the penance Father gives me, is stick some money in the poor box. If God doesn’t require that of me, then I’m building treasure in Heaven!

But do be aware of scrupulosity, as other posters have said. I’m not scrupulous, thanks be to God.

Ruthie
 
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