Effects of Sin After Confession

[Ren3]

I’m a new convert to Catholicism. I came into the Church in January, and my first Confession took place in December.

That being said, last fall I encouraged someone else to sin. So, when my first confession happened, I confessed the sin of encouragement. However, now I am seeing the effects of that person’s sin, the sin that I encouraged them to partake in.

I feel a lot of guilt for encouraging the sinful behavior last fall, but I’ve already been to confession for this. What should I do? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

You’ve been forgiven for your role, so don’t be concerned about that. Now, I would try to guide them away from sin.

 

[halogirl]

You are absolved of that sin. You can now try and advise that person to turn away from what they are doing

 

[halogirl]

Haha snap

 

[ProdglArchitect]

Beat you to it by half a second. XD

 

[YourNameHere]

Pray for the person you encouraged toward sinful behavior.

 

[otrrl]

For some reason, I think I read this idea in a book about Jewish spirituality. We experience an immediate judgment after we die, for the unrepented sins that we have committed. Then, in the final judgment, we have an additional judgment for the consequences of those sins.

You can pick your scenario for how this would unfold. If you stole some money, that is a sin for which you might receive immediate judgment after death. But, in the final judgment, you are judged for the effects that stealing that money had on the person from whom it was taken.

That’s one version of an explanation for a double judgment after death. I can’t say more about its validity.

If nothing else, it’s something else to think about, which should deter us from committing a sin in the first place. It focuses us on thinking about the consequences for our sins, the consequences on others.