Exactly what invalidates a confession

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backtocatholic

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Hi there,

I understand that purposely leaving out a mortal sin, or any relevant detail e.g. number of times, amount in the case of stealing etc. or anything that changes the gravity of the sin invalidates a confession.

However, would any of the following invalidate a confession. This is in relation to mortal sins:

Purposely phrasing or carefully wording the sin in a way that all of the required information is provided but in a way that the priest won’t query a situation that could be taken out of context.

Carefully wording the detail of the background to a sin to the extent that it might have been underplayed in cases where it is a detail that is not relevant to the gravity of the sin, rather background information.

I’ve mentioned this in confession and the priest has said that it’s ok.
 
Another question on sorrow for sins.

There are cases when I’ve committed grave sins and feel extremely sorrow for them.

However, there is one sin that I have confessed but it was a situation where there was no right answer and I’m not really sure what the right thing would have been. I did feel a certain amount of guilt at the time.

I’ve often thought about it afterwords and thought that I probably did the right thing. Normally I would have completely purpose of amendment for all my sins. However, in this situation it could have been the right thing to do, or totally wrong, depending on which way you look at it.

The exact situation will never happen again and everything worked out fine. However, if faced with the same situation I am still unclear as to how I’d handle it. My purpose of amendment is that if I come up against a situation where I am unclear of which course of action is moral that I should follow my conscience through prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit, and possibly even take advice from a priest.

Is this enough?
 
All that matters is that you told how many occasions of the sin (if you can’t remember), and an example to let the priest know the gravity of the sin
Eg: gossiping. (Gravity of the sin;) destroyed my neighbours reputation and cost him friends and hurt
Eg: stealing (gravity of the sin) stole a … (Eg something small or big being stolen is very important to reveal the gravity of the sin, eg: apple verses stealing money from a shop, (some information lets the priest know the gravity of the sin).

But sometimes , we are NOT called to be explicit, eg I should not tell the priest the bad words I used or called others (because to repeat those words would be sinful), I just have to confess bad language and name calling … Number of occasions …

Also with sins of impurity, we just should tell the titles of the sins, because explicit detail can give the hearer temptations to lust / impurity, so we would just have to say eg: masturbation … number of occasions/ over … number of years. Lustful thoughts of others. Consent to committing impure mortal sins in my thoughts. Adultery …number of occasions, etc…
 
backtocatholic said:
… there is one sin that I have confessed but it was a situation where there was no right answer and I’m not really sure what the right thing would have been. I did feel a certain amount of guilt at the time…
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There was guilt yet no right answer.

Catechism1806 Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; “the prudent man looks where he is going.” “Keep sane and sober for your prayers.” Prudence is “right reason in action,” writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.
 
If I were Christ I would listen to a Sincere Heart and forgive sins whatever the problems that my friend finds in delivering his message.
Welcoming forgiveness from Jesus validates all confessions. Thanks be to God. . 👍
 
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