Eating me again!

[DEESYPAL]

I recently confessed about looking at pornagraphy but I forgot to confess that I actually recieved communion in the state of mortal sin. To add to the matter I did not recall the priest giving me a proper absolution, he just gave me the penance and said ‘Go in peace.’ Am I really forgiven? I am really distraught at the moment.

 

[TheDoctor]

Hello my brother - be still and know Jesus loves you.

First, absolution: If you entered the confessional with the intent to make a good confession and receive absolution, and if the Priest did not specifically say something like: “I don’t think you are really sorry so I am not going to absolve you”, then you are absolved, even if the Priest may have missed some or all of the words of form.

Second, receiving unworthily: If you really forgot to mention that you may have received the Eucharist unworthily (vs. intentionally holding it back), then it was forgiven along with the sins you confessed and any other sins you may have forgotten. Just mention it at your next confession.

Have a Blessed Easter.

 

[Matthias123]

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=217589&highlight=absolution

I am not sure how with would relate to a scrupulous person but I thought I should post this anyhow.

If you don’t hear it I would say something like “forgive me father but I didn’t hear your words absolution, did you absolve me?”

I often have this problem because my priest goes though the rubrics so fast and with a heavy polish accent, and I also am always trying to concentrate to say that act of contrition mentally with all that noise that i often don’t hear it.

However I hear it periodically and since I am not confessing mortal sins every time I assume if he had forgotten it, I would have been covered by my next absolution.

I personally don’t think that God would send you to hell if you really went to confession with the intention of confessing. However I thought I should post what Fr. Serpa said.

 

[TheDoctor]

Thanks for the posting Matthias123. This seems to be a gray area, as I found nothing in the Code of Canon Law or Catechism that addresses it directly (not that I would ever doubt Fr. Serpa).

I always assume that if it is the intention of the Priest to give absolution then maybe we have just not heard the words. This does bring up another interesting question: Is it necessary for me to hear the words of absolution or can Father say them silently? Maybe that is what happened here.

 

[Matthias123]

Thanks for the posting Matthias123. This seems to be a gray area, as I found nothing in the Code of Canon Law or Catechism that addresses it directly (not that I would ever doubt Fr. Serpa).

I always assume that if it is the intention of the Priest to give absolution then maybe we have just not heard the words. This does bring up another interesting question: Is it necessary for me to hear the words of absolution or can Father say them silently? Maybe that is what happened here.

I think the safest course of action is if you are confessing a mortal sin is to make sure you hear the words of absolution. That is what I am going to operate on.

This really bothers me. To think that there are people that could be going to hell when they think they have been forgiven? That doesn’t sit well with me. God is a just judge, it seems really odd that he would damn somebody when they tried their best to make a good confession.

What about a person who repents all his sins before he dies out of love of God? He didn’t hear an absolution.

I always thought there would be no surprises. No “Sorry your not in a state of grace event though you think you are, good bye”

 

[Sideline]

I just thought I’d throw in some basic human psychology:

It is more likely that a person in an unusual or emotional situation is going to miss something than it is that a person who does pretty much the same thing all the time is going to leave something out.

Your priest, unless he is really new, has probably said the exact same thing, the exact same way, hundreds and hundreds of times. You on the other hand, are probably nervous and distracted by trying to be repentant and reviewing everything you said to make sure you got everything. It’s more likely that you missed it than that he did.

Now a complete aside…

Why don’t Catholics ever seem to write stuff down? I’ve read so many “I forgot” threads, it makes me wonder why they don’t take a couple of moments to review, jot down a couple of notes, and then pray to God saying, “Please help me to remember if there is anything else I should have on this list.”

One other thought, is God so petty that he would not forgive someone who forgot to mention something even though they clearly wanted to repent for doing it? Or hold someone else’s mistake against you?

 

[SpiritMeadow]

=Sideline;3460438

One other thought, is God so petty that he would not forgive someone who forgot to mention something even though they clearly wanted to repent for doing it? Or hold someone else’s mistake against you?

Boy do I agree with that. This issue seems endemic here. People just get so twisted up inside about what largely comes down to whether some ritual is conducted in the exact proper format. I mean if God is interested in that, then we are all in a hopeless condition.

Rituals are valuable things. I love many of ours. At their core this is usually an important doctrinal basis. However, we cannot get so overwhelmed with whether we should have walked to the left and not the right, or looked up when we were supposed to look down that we forget what it is all about…growing closer to God.

 

[Matthias123]

Boy do I agree with that. This issue seems endemic here. People just get so twisted up inside about what largely comes down to whether some ritual is conducted in the exact proper format. I mean if God is interested in that, then we are all in a hopeless condition.

Rituals are valuable things. I love many of ours. At their core this is usually an important doctrinal basis. However, we cannot get so overwhelmed with whether we should have walked to the left and not the right, or looked up when we were supposed to look down that we forget what it is all about…growing closer to God.

If that was true Fr. Serpa would have said not to worry about it. Instead he told that person to confess his sins again.

I really think it matters.

 

[SpiritMeadow]

If that was true Fr. Serpa would have said not to worry about it. Instead he told that person to confess his sins again.

I really think it matters.

By all means if you believe that some priest has the proper answers, then follow what he says. You may God quite small I believe in doing so. Rituals stand for things, they are not simply to be followed in some mechanical format. The spirit behind them is what is valuable to engender. I have yet to find a single person who I just look to for answers. I have no independent knowledge of this priest.

 

[teachccd]

There is the Letter of the Law and there is the Spirit of the Law. Neatly interwoven one may find sanctity and peace. However, when we tend to move into total legalism then we basically tell God to move aside because we are better judges of ourselves and His people. The catechism does state that we are bound by God’s commandments but that He is not. (If required I can reference that in another post)

If the OP feels that he needs to go to confession and mention his concerns, then so be it. But I cannot believe , and please note that I lean way into the conservative realm on most issues, that our God would not see the sincerity of heart with the contrite person confessing his/her sins regardless of the form. Even in baptism we have the Baptism of desire if a non-clergy should attempt to baptize and fail in either form or matter.

As Catholics we are grooved into legalism to a great degree but we must allow God some room in His infinite existence to be infinitely merciful. A Catholic forum or even the humanity of our heirarchial Church cannot substitute what belongs to God alone. The Church is guided by the Holy Spirit to teach absolute truth in the areas of faith and morals. The Church is given the authority to bind and loose. But the final judgement is not left to humanity but to God alone. Even Jesus asked if He could be spared from the cup but ultimately God’s will was that He could not.

God is love and infinite justice and infinite mercy. If your priest sneezes during your absolution our God is a bit bigger than that…I do know Father Serpa personally, by the way, and he is a fantastic priest. His comment is very valid if one were to view the command of God and then let God be God.

See my signature…Alright, I’m done…God Bless…teachccd