Forget something in confession?

[tr1strev]

What are your thoughts on this. If you honestly forget to bring something up during confession (not purposely leaving it out) and after you confess your other sins you are given absolution, has the sin that was honestly unmentioned also been forgiven? I would love people’s comments on this. Is it a clear cut yes?

 

[andy120]

What are your thoughts on this. If you honestly forget to bring something up during confession (not purposely leaving it out) and after you confess your other sins you are given absolution, has the sin that was honestly unmentioned also been forgiven? I would love people’s comments on this. Is it a clear cut yes?

Yes, it’s a clear cut yes. However, you should confess the forgotten sin at your next confession. But it is already forgiven.

 

[tr1strev]

But is it right to confess a sin that has already been forgiven? Isn’t that like questioning the power of forgiveness and not resting in the belief that your sins are cleansed?

 

[RUINATION_IPA]

But is it right to confess a sin that has already been forgiven? Isn’t that like questioning the power of forgiveness and not resting in the belief that your sins are cleansed?

The fact that the [mortal] sin you forgot to mention is forgiven is due to an exception to the norm [you forgot] and is forgiven because you would have confessed it had you remembered. Because it was forgiven in a way that is outside the normal scope it still needs to be confessed to the Priest - note that you are not confessing it again since you never confessed it in the first place.

 

[Cluny]

Let’s imagine this scenario.

You have cleaned your house as well as you can to receive a very important Guest.

This Guest came and brought you beautiful gifts, which you treasure very much. One of them is a powerful flashlight.

After the Guest leaves, you shine the flashlight around, and you discover a big wad of trash under the couch that you forgot was there. (In fct, you might not even have been aware of it at first.)

Now–do you leave the wad of trash there because you’ve already cleaned the house for your Guest (who has come and gone), or do you get rid of the trash as soon as possible?

Remember, the more you clean, the more you see needs to be taken care of.

How’s that for a parable?

 

[PhilotheaZ]

But is it right to confess a sin that has already been forgiven? Isn’t that like questioning the power of forgiveness and not resting in the belief that your sins are cleansed?

Unless you suffer from scrupulosity, there is nothing inherently wrong with confessing a sin that has already been forgiven. It does not necessarily mean that you question God’s forgiveness. (There are some priests who discourage this practice, and others who encourage it.)

Sometimes confession of a past sin can be included in a devotional confession (i.e., when you have no recent mortal sins to confess), perhaps in gratitude for God’s mercy, or perhaps to gain additional grace to avoid that sin in the future if you are strongly tempted.

One way to do this is to end our confession with words such as, “I am sorry for these and all the sins of my past life, especially for ________________.”

 

[Seatuck]

But is it right to confess a sin that has already been forgiven? Isn’t that like questioning the power of forgiveness and not resting in the belief that your sins are cleansed?

St. Thomas Aquinas wrote about the helpfullness of confessing sins more than once when you have reached a new level of understanding or contrition about the sins. Remember the sins may be forgiven but the temporal punishment is still there and it may be mitigated by you more perfect contrition.

 

[acadian]

Last summer I had several “items” that surfaced after many years. I knew these sins had technically been forgiven, since I had never intentionally left them out, but I also felt that at the very least I owed Jesus the honesty/humility of admitting them in confession. We would do no less for friends that we have in “real life” if we had offended them.

 

[acadian]

Let’s imagine this scenario.

You have cleaned your house as well as you can to receive a very important Guest.

This Guest came and brought you beautiful gifts, which you treasure very much. One of them is a powerful flashlight.

After the Guest leaves, you shine the flashlight around, and you discover a big wad of trash under the couch that you forgot was there. (In fct, you might not even have been aware of it at first.)

Now–do you leave the wad of trash there because you’ve already cleaned the house for your Guest (who has come and gone), or do you get rid of the trash as soon as possible?

Remember, the more you clean, the more you see needs to be taken care of.

How’s that for a parable?

Nice one! And if the guest noticed the piece of trash and picked it up for you and tossed it while he was visiting without bringing it to your attention - would you bring it up later?

Or maybe you had forgotten to change the sheets in the guest bedroom and noticed after he left?