Easy resolution of the biggest abuse

[laszlo]

I don’t go to Confession every time before I receive because I don’t have any mortal sins to confess…I haven’t for more than a year.

The precepts of the Church oblige us under the pain of mortal sin

The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year.") ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P75.HTM#-25L

 

[frenchbeatle]

The precepts of the Church oblige us under the pain of mortal sin

The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year.") ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P75.HTM#-25L

What I mean by that was that I haven’t had any mortal sins to confess for over a year. I try to go to confession every month or so. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

The precepts of the Church oblige us under the pain of mortal sin

The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year.") ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P75.HTM#-25L

The precept to which you refer is based on CIC Canon 989, which states that those in mortal sin must confess at least once per year. frenchbeatle states that he/she hasn’t committed any mortal sin, thus he/she has no obligation to go to confession.

 

[AnneTeresa]

The priests should stamp the hands of each person that comes to confession. They could use ink that lasts up to a month. Anyone with a hand stamp can go to communion. Simple solution.

 

[Elizabeth502]

The precept to which you refer is based on CIC Canon 989, which states that those in mortal sin must confess at least once per year. frenchbeatle states that he/she hasn’t committed any mortal sin, thus he/she has no obligation to go to confession.

…and note that frenchbeatle states that he/she goes to confession “every month or so,” which undoubtedly helps him/her avoid mortal sin.

One thing I want to say, though, speaking not of any particular person on this thread – making no assumptions.

(1) As we grow in the spiritual life, we begin to see both our venial sins and our sins of omission as far more serious than we once thought. The saints & mystics describe this phenomenon as being repelled, horrified, by the tiniest divergence from virtue. Recall how, for example, Faustyna became acutely aware of how significant each omission of kindness could be – how when we want passionately not to offend God, we see our behavior in better proportion.

(2) There has been a tremendous trivializing of sin in the modern day, including in the Church. That is separate from the corresponding and reinforcing situation of so few confession opportunities announced, realized, acted upon. When sin in general is reduced to pathology (out of our control) or stupidity (errors in judgment), then specific sin has much less weight, and consequently the gravity of any particular sin is also reduced, by derivation.

(3) Many Catholics believe that for sin to be mortal (grave), it practically has to rise to the level of criminality (murder, assault, battery, domestic abuse, drunk driving), or acts mentioned by name in The Commandments (adultery, idolatry, etc.). But causing significant scandal to dependents, or others over which one has authority, is grave. So is detraction (which is a far more frequent sin in the modern day than most people recognize). So is verbal violence. So is harboring hatred. So are so many everyday, habitual behaviors that people, including Catholics, regularly engage in.

(4) If you’re sincerely trying to live in harmony with all of God’s laws – the virtues as well as the avoidances – you (we) will be less and less inclined to view your sins as categories of ‘mortal’ and ‘venial.’ You will begin to see almost all sin as “serious.” That is, unless you are in a state of lukewarmness/indifference/ingratitude such as Jesus described to Faustyna (which “wounds his heart the most”); in that case you’ll be looking at your sins legalistically instead of relationally.

 

[Wowbagger]

The earlier point about Jansenism is a salient one. The Jansenist heresy infected France very badly. It did even more damage, however, to Ireland, because Irish priests were educated in French universities under Jansenist sway at that time. Ireland never really got out from under that. Even today, there’s a lot of very serious scrupulosity in the Irish Church. Lots of people who won’t go to communion if they didn’t go to confession the very day before, regardless of whether they’ve committed a mortal sin, or indeed any sin at all.

And the backbone of the American Catholic Church is the Irish Catholic Church – so Jansenism had (and, in many ways, still has) a powerful grip on the heart of the American Church.

Today’s very widespread reception of the Sacrament, however, and the treatment of sin as a trivial concern, is no better. Graces are more widespread… but so is sacrilege. All of us know people who are, as a simple and publicly known matter of moral fact, in a state of grave sin and yet consider themselves Catholics In Good Standing. These are the (unrepentent) contraceptors and the masturbators and the heretics and the schismatics and… I’m sure you can fill out the rest of the Top Ten List of Most Common Sins 1980 - 2010. They are doing serious damage to themselves and to the rest of us (fellow members of the Body of Christ are always harmed by sin) through their actions.

We do need to educate. We do need to make kids aware that they shouldn’t always receive communion, and we need to make them feel good about doing the right thing in those situations, even though we discourage the mortal sins that put them in those situations. We need more opportunities for reconciliation, we need to make it easier for a person to not receive and not be noticed, and expanding the fast would actually be pretty helpful in accomplishing that.

And we should constantly bear in mind the specter of Jansenism so we don’t go too far and overcorrect back into the opposite extreme.

 

[laszlo]

What I mean by that was that I haven’t had any mortal sins to confess for over a year.** I try to go to confession every month **or so. Sorry for the confusion.

Yes. This is the correct thing. The priest is the judge

 

[kalel76]

I agree that catechesis on the importance of confession is the best approach along with a follow through.

It would be refreshing for a priest to give a talk on confession, emphasizing its importance, and announce that he will be dedicating two hours on Saturday to accommodate for an increase (instead of the 1/2 hour). After about a month of this, if the results are dismal, he can give out some statistics. For example, the conversation could go like:

“Just this past week, 6 people showed up for confession and over last weekend 1500 people received communion. Are we really doing that good of a job that 99 percent of you didn’t need confession? 99 percent of you didn’t steal money/time/ resources from your employer, insult someone, gossiped, look at pornography, lusted after someone, gambled your paycheck away…”

The longer the list of sins, the better, and the more the people squirm in their seats the better.

 

[Joannm]

I agree that catechesis on the importance of confession is the best approach along with a follow through.

It would be refreshing for a priest to give a talk on confession, emphasizing its importance, and announce that he will be dedicating two hours on Saturday to accommodate for an increase (instead of the 1/2 hour). After about a month of this, if the results are dismal, he can give out some statistics. For example, the conversation could go like:

“Just this past week, 6 people showed up for confession and over last weekend 1500 people received communion. Are we really doing that good of a job that 99 percent of you didn’t need confession? 99 percent of you didn’t steal money/time/ resources from your employer, insult someone, gossiped, look at pornography, lusted after someone, gambled your paycheck away…”

The longer the list of sins, the better, and the more the people squirm in their seats the better.

The thing is that not all of those things are mortal sins and require sacramental confession. There are also degrees of culpability.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

…and note that frenchbeatle states that he/she goes to confession “every month or so,” which undoubtedly helps him/her avoid mortal sin.

One thing I want to say, though, speaking not of any particular person on this thread – making no assumptions.

(1) As we grow in the spiritual life, we begin to see both our venial sins and our sins of omission as far more serious than we once thought. The saints & mystics describe this phenomenon as being repelled, horrified, by the tiniest divergence from virtue. Recall how, for example, Faustyna became acutely aware of how significant each omission of kindness could be – how when we want passionately not to offend God, we see our behavior in better proportion.

(2) There has been a tremendous trivializing of sin in the modern day, including in the Church. That is separate from the corresponding and reinforcing situation of so few confession opportunities announced, realized, acted upon. When sin in general is reduced to pathology (out of our control) or stupidity (errors in judgment), then specific sin has much less weight, and consequently the gravity of any particular sin is also reduced, by derivation.

(3) Many Catholics believe that for sin to be mortal (grave), it practically has to rise to the level of criminality (murder, assault, battery, domestic abuse, drunk driving), or acts mentioned by name in The Commandments (adultery, idolatry, etc.). But causing significant scandal to dependents, or others over which one has authority, is grave. So is detraction (which is a far more frequent sin in the modern day than most people recognize). So is verbal violence. So is harboring hatred. So are so many everyday, habitual behaviors that people, including Catholics, regularly engage in.

(4) If you’re sincerely trying to live in harmony with all of God’s laws – the virtues as well as the avoidances – you (we) will be less and less inclined to view your sins as categories of ‘mortal’ and ‘venial.’ You will begin to see almost all sin as “serious.” That is, unless you are in a state of lukewarmness/indifference/ingratitude such as Jesus described to Faustyna (which “wounds his heart the most”); in that case you’ll be looking at your sins legalistically instead of relationally.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I just made the point because I’ve recently seen a number of posts on various threads stating that we are bound to go to confession once per year. They omit the qualifier that it only applies in the case of grave (mortal) sin. I am no liturgical minimalist and would recommend anyone that they need to go to confession on a much more regular basis. I go on average once every two weeks and I hope that I’m not committing mortal sin that often I sometimes go to discuss issues with my priest, for spiritual direction as well as to confess my sins.

 

[kalel76]

The thing is that not all of those things are mortal sins and require sacramental confession. There are also degrees of culpability.

I understand the whole idea of degrees of culpability, but shouldn’t such an analysis of moral culpability be aided by the priest in the confessional, at least until someone become mature enough to examine moral culpability honestly for themselves?

The problem I have with things like moral culpability is that I can see this being used by the devil to cloud a person’s reasoning to think that he hasn’t sinned mortally.

 

[laszlo]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I just made the point because I’ve recently seen a number of posts on various threads stating that we are bound to go to confession once per year. They omit the qualifier that it only applies in the case of grave (mortal) sin. I am no liturgical minimalist and would recommend anyone that they need to go to confession on a much more regular basis. I go on average once every two weeks and I hope that I’m not committing mortal sin that often I sometimes go to discuss issues with my priest, for spiritual direction as well as to confess my sins.

Canon 989n sets the qualifier for grave sins, the Catechism 2042 omits this qualifier. So did the Codex 1917 Can 906. Omnis utriusque sexus fidelis, postquam ad annos discretionis, idest ad usum rationis, pervenerit, tenetur omnia peccata sua saltem semel in anno fideliter confiteri.
The reason is, no one can be judge for himself, what is mortal sin.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

… the Catechism 2042 omits this qualifier.

That is true but it does reference the Canon in question.

So did the Codex 1917 Can 906.

That is also true but the 1917 Pio-Benedictine Code has been abrogated.

The reason is, no one can be judge for himself, what is mortal sin.

While I would agree that it is always a good idea to discuss these matters with one’s confessors, I believe one is able to judge whether one’s sins are mortal or venial.

I would like to clarify why I made the point. If we are to cite the Code of Canon Law we ought to cite it accurately. I would always encourage people to go to confession on a regular basis, even if they have only committed venial sins. I do not support getting away with the minimum possible.

Merry Christmas

 

[Elizabeth502]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. I just made the point because I’ve recently seen a number of posts on various threads stating that we are bound to go to confession once per year. They omit the qualifier that it only applies in the case of grave (mortal) sin.

I am no liturgical minimalist

I definitely didn’t think you were!

I go on average once every two weeks and I hope that I’m not committing mortal sin that often I sometimes go to discuss issues with my priest, for spiritual direction as well as to confess my sins.

You’re an inspiration.

 

[Elizabeth502]

I would always encourage people to go to confession on a regular basis, even if they have only committed venial sins. I do not support getting away with the minimum possible.

…an additional reason being that focusing on the minimum can be a symptom of lukwarmness, or lead to it. That’s a real temptation to a rut. Secondly, as Matthew demonstrates by his habits, confession is for the penitent, not “for” God. One receives counsel, correction, and (of course) graces. It’s very, very easy to slide into the “well, I haven’t committed any mortal sins lately; no need to go to confession.” I still suggest that far too many people have a poorly informed conscience about their personal sin and its effects on the Body of Christ & its toxicity to self

Finally, as I’ve said elsewhere, the sacrament illumines one’s sins. Sometimes one is made aware of other (additional) sins when, or after, more evident ones are confessed. And the wounds that sin causes to self & to our relationship with God are put in clearer perspective when we avail ourselves more often of the opportunity to confess.

Confession is an invitation to the intimacy that is a by-product of honest self-reflection. It is not a “favor” to God. Nor does it have much value as “only” something one “must” do if one is completely sure that a mortal sin has been committed. A legalistic relationship with God is an insult to Him.