Do I need to go to confession?

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BigFig1

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Hello all!
For some strange reason Im having a difficult time understanding if the sins I have committed within this past week are Mortal or venial. The only sins I have committed are lie, hold on to resentment and hate the the people of the past that have wronged me. Also 2 or 3 times I was looking at something on either someones twitter, or the internet and might have come across a picture of a partially naked woman. It Could have also been a women with very little clothing on. I looked at it and similar ones like it. I would soon after stop looking at it . But I am curious are these sins I need to go to confession for?
Thank you.
 
Examine your conscience --and go to confession. 🙂 If one is not sure something was a mortal sin --one notes that in confession.

The Priest can help you in examining such too.

Confession can bring you much grace in any case 🙂

I am going in an hour 🙂
 
Compendium issued by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. When does one commit a mortal sin?
1855-1861
1874

One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation.
  1. When does one commit a venial sin?
1862-1864
1875

One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies.

vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html
 
BigFig1 said:
Hello all!
For some strange reason Im having a difficult time understanding if the sins I have committed within this past week are Mortal or venial. The only sins I have committed are lie, hold on to resentment and hate the the people of the past that have wronged me. Also 2 or 3 times I was looking at something on either someones twitter, or the internet and might have come across a picture of a partially naked woman. It Could have also been a women with very little clothing on. I looked at it and similar ones like it. I would soon after stop looking at it . But I am curious are these sins I need to go to confession for?
Thank you.
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If you are unsure, you do well to receive the sacrament of penance (and can mention that you do not know certainly if it is serious sin or a simple fault), because you will receive the help of the Holy Spirit which will help you to resist temptations and to avoid situations leading to the occasions of sin. It may take time to learn how to avoid these situations, not to put ourselves in harm’s way.
 
BigFig1 said:
Hello all!
For some strange reason Im having a difficult time understanding if the sins I have committed within this past week are Mortal or venial. The only sins I have committed are lie, hold on to resentment and hate the the people of the past that have wronged me. Also 2 or 3 times I was looking at something on either someones twitter, or the internet and might have come across a picture of a partially naked woman. It Could have also been a women with very little clothing on. I looked at it and similar ones like it. I would soon after stop looking at it . But I am curious are these sins I need to go to confession for?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Look at it this way; it couldn’t hurt to just go, could it? Just go anyway.

Its a fruitful way to spend a few minutes out of your day, whether you “need” to or not.

I go every week rergardless.
 
Don’t limit going to Confession only when you commit mortal sins. Confession bestows many graces upon the penitent to keep them out of sin and help them to overcome persistent sins and vices. It will also help us develop a more delicate conscience (not to be confused with being scrupulous.)
 
BigFig1 said:
Hello all!
For some strange reason Im having a difficult time understanding if the sins I have committed within this past week are Mortal or venial. The only sins I have committed are lie, hold on to resentment and hate the the people of the past that have wronged me. Also 2 or 3 times I was looking at something on either someones twitter, or the internet and might have come across a picture of a partially naked woman. It Could have also been a women with very little clothing on. I looked at it and similar ones like it. I would soon after stop looking at it . But I am curious are these sins I need to go to confession for?
Thank you.
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Hey brother, first i can’t say i would recommend that you list your sins here on a website.

for a sin to be mortal there are three conditions that must be met, 1) the sin must be a grave matter, 2) You must have knowledge that it is a grave matter, and 3) you must freely make the choice to commit the sin (ie that it is not out of addiction or someone holding a gun to your head etc.) meditate on that properly and you will know that you are in mortal sin or not.

Either way (if you’re in mortal sin or not) it is still a VERY good idea to go to confession frequently. most people say go once a month. Personally, i would say that once every two weeks is better and once a week is ideal.

I would also like to recommend you ask a priest that you trust to be your spiritual director. Spiritual direction will help you with questions like these that come up in the future

In Jesus through Mary,
–Eddie
 
“Might have”? “Could have”? “2 or 3 times”? Would stop looking “soon”? You either looked at pornorgraphy or did not, but none of it sounds like innocent coincidence to me. If you did, then go to confession and speak to a priest; if you did not then don’t worry about it. Only you can honestly answer the question.
 
BigFig1 said:
Hello all!
For some strange reason Im having a difficult time understanding if the sins I have committed within this past week are Mortal or venial. The only sins I have committed are lie, hold on to resentment and hate the the people of the past that have wronged me. Also 2 or 3 times I was looking at something on either someones twitter, or the internet and might have come across a picture of a partially naked woman. It Could have also been a women with very little clothing on. I looked at it and similar ones like it. I would soon after stop looking at it . But I am curious are these sins I need to go to confession for?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
St. Ignatius of Loyola writes that we are tempted on this matter in a very personal way: some of us are tempted to believe that even trivial matters are mortal sins, others to disregard even mortal sins as trivial matter.

If you are properly disposed - have confessed, have no knowledge of mortal sin - but have doubts, you should not abstain from Holy Communion. However you need not confess only when in knowledge of mortal sins. Many saints - who were neither born saints, nor became such by their own merits - would confess weekly.

Let’s take your example: a mortal sin requires grave matter (that’s there), full knowledge, deliberate consent. Where you looking for something lustful? Did you know that those pictures would come up or was it an accident? Did you simply move away or did you indulge? Only a confessor can tell you if it was mortal sin, I just mention a few questions that may help.
The only sins I have committed are lie, hold on to resentment and hate the the people of the past
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Depending on a myriad of factors, these could be anything from no sin at all to mortal sin… However when you say “only” it seems that they were not - from your viewpoint - on grave matter. To bear false witness is a complex thing, but not to be taken lightly. To hold on resentment is to not forgive, which is contrary to the Lord’s commandments, and it is even worse when you let anger grow to the extent of becoming hatred. God told us to forgive our enemies, which does not mean to forget what they have done wrong or anything unfair. Even St. Paul wrote in one specific occasion:
Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
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Did St. Paul not forgive that person? Of course he did. Was he not justified in holding resentment, or even hating someone who did him much harm? Yet he forgives him and moves on, being rightful in the Lord’s eyes, because he knows that nobody escapes Divine Justice.

To be able not to hate, and to be able to forgive, we must grow in trust to Christ, who will console the innocents and repay them a hundredfold of what was taken from them, and call everyone to respond of their evil actions, with mercy, yes, but with perfect and irreproachable justice.

Perhaps the Holy Spirit is moving you to understand that some of those feelings you harbor and of which, perhaps, you do not or are unable to repent, are not pleasing to our Beloved who forgave not only in peace and joy among enthusiastic crowds, but also when nailed on the cross, abandoned by his friends and despised by his people.
 
CatholcCrusader said:
Look at it this way; it couldn’t hurt to just go, could it? Just go anyway.

Its a fruitful way to spend a few minutes out of your day, whether you “need” to or not.

I go every week rergardless.
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Exactly, so, if you think you might have sinned, regardless of whether it is venial or mortal, you should go to confession. Make it a habit.
 
Early on as a catholic I had similar issues. I told my priest I had difficulty in determining if my sin was mortal. He told me something that has held true over time. He said when in doubt it never hurts to confess, but that I would find if I were not in a state of grace due to mortal sin I would know it because it would bother my conscience. And that priestly advice has served me well.
 
Don_Jackson said:
Early on as a catholic I had similar issues. I told my priest I had difficulty in determining if my sin was mortal. He told me something that has held true over time. He said when in doubt it never hurts to confess, but that I would find if I were not in a state of grace due to mortal sin I would know it because it would bother my conscience. And that priestly advice has served me well.
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Good advice. I would only add that one needs to ensure that they know their faith well enough to have a properly formed conscience. God Bless.
 
Hi all thank you for your feedback!
I appreciate the feedback. The reason I asked this question is because I started going to confession weekly, about 4 to 5 months ago and loved to. One week I went, and one of the Ushers that was there said to me something along the lines of “Again!”. He then said, “Are you doing the same thing every week! Is that why you are coming?”. And I thought about why he would say that to me. Then I also started to think unless I commit the mortal sins then I don’t have to go to confession. That is why I asked this question. But I would like to let all of you know I appreciate you information. Reading what most of you said, lets me realize that it is a good thing if I like to go to confession every week. So thank you for all your answer and I’m going to look over them again to better understand mortal and venial sins.
God Bless!
 
BigFig1 said:
Hi all thank you for your feedback!
I appreciate the feedback. The reason I asked this question is because I started going to confession weekly, about 4 to 5 months ago and loved to. One week I went, and one of the Ushers that was there said to me something along the lines of “Again!”. He then said, “Are you doing the same thing every week! Is that why you are coming?”. And I thought about why he would say that to me. Then I also started to think unless I commit the mortal sins then I don’t have to go to confession. That is why I asked this question. But I would like to let all of you know I appreciate you information. Reading what most of you said, lets me realize that it is a good thing if I like to go to confession every week. So thank you for all your answer and I’m going to look over them again to better understand mortal and venial sins.
God Bless!
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I would report that usher to your confessor (outside of the confessional, so he can actually do something about it). What he is doing is absolutely unacceptable and there needs to be a halt put to it immediately. There is absolutely nothing abnormal about going to confession weekly, and no one should be thinking about what kinds of sins a person committed, or even that the person committed any sins (some people no longer sin and confess imperfections and a sin from their past life so the priest has sufficient matter for absolution.). Keep going weekly, and if that usher gives you any problems politely offer to let him go ahead of you so that he can get to work on rooting out being judgmental. :rolleyes:
 
Deo_Gratias42 said:
I would report that usher to your confessor (outside of the confessional, so he can actually do something about it). What he is doing is absolutely unacceptable and there needs to be a halt put to it immediately. There is absolutely nothing abnormal about going to confession weekly, and no one should be thinking about what kinds of sins a person committed, or even that the person committed any sins (some people no longer sin and confess imperfections and a sin from their past life so the priest has sufficient matter for absolution.). Keep going weekly, and if that usher gives you any problems politely offer to let him go ahead of you so that he can get to work on rooting out being judgmental. :rolleyes:
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Whoa, there. Who’s being judgmental? We don’t know the usher’s tone of voice, we weren’t there. It could have just been a clumsy attempt at humour.
 
paperwight66 said:
Whoa, there. Who’s being judgmental? We don’t know the usher’s tone of voice, we weren’t there. It could have just been a clumsy attempt at humour.
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Objectively speaking, the usher’s behaviour is not acceptable. Confession is a serious matter, and it’s unacceptable to even joke with a penitent about their frequency of going to Confession or their sinning. Obviously the OP took issue with what the usher said and is now questioning whether or not to go to Confession.
 
paperwight66 said:
Whoa, there. Who’s being judgmental? We don’t know the usher’s tone of voice, we weren’t there. It could have just been a clumsy attempt at humour.
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It did come off as as sort of a nice way of stating the question but he was in a way serious when he said, “Are you doing the same thing?”/ asking why it is that I would come every week. But it did lead me to question if it is okay to go every week.
Deo_Gratias42 said:
Objectively speaking, the usher’s behaviour is not acceptable. Confession is a serious matter, and it’s unacceptable to even joke with a penitent about their frequency of going to Confession or their sinning. Obviously the OP took issue with what the usher said and is now questioning whether or not to go to Confession.
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Thanks for your (name removed by moderator)ut. I agree with what your saying, and I am going to go whenever I will even question if I need to. I do appreciate you helpful and supportive advice.
 
Well, changing the subject a bit, every Saturday I see 5 or 6 people at confession but I see hundreds at Mass. Now THAT is something to ask about.
 
BigFig1 said:
Hello all!
For some strange reason Im having a difficult time understanding if the sins I have committed within this past week are Mortal or venial. The only sins I have committed are lie, hold on to resentment and hate the the people of the past that have wronged me. Also 2 or 3 times I was looking at something on either someones twitter, or the internet and might have come across a picture of a partially naked woman. It Could have also been a women with very little clothing on. I looked at it and similar ones like it. I would soon after stop looking at it . But I am curious are these sins I need to go to confession for?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Yes, go to confession. Jesus spoke these very issues (hatred and lust) and taught against them, plus the commandment not to lie. These are all things that need to be brought to confession. My general rule of thumb is that if it is bothering you (especially enough to post on this forum asking if you should confess it), then you should take it confession.
 
Go to confession as often as you like, but remember to not make it something habitual, like brushing your teeth. Or develop scruples. Remember to be true to the sincerity of your contrition.

If you’re going to the same priest every week or two with the same sins, you might be making a habit out of it. I’ve even been called “overly-scrupulous” in confession because I had gone recently before.
 
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