Given Questionable Advice by Confessor

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In the case that you commit a mortal sin, you must either not receive the Eucharist until you go to Confession or if unable to do so, you may make a perfect Act of Contrition shortly before receiving, which implies that you plan on going to Confession as soon as possible afterwards.
Such is ONLY in very particular situations.

Catechism:

1385 To respond to this invitation we must prepare ourselves for so great and so holy a moment. St. Paul urges us to examine our conscience: "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself."218 Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion.

Normally one would need to goto Confession first.

Canon Law:

Can. 916 A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a** grave reason** and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.

vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P39.HTM
 
  1. This is not my regular confessor.
If such should ever happen again - It would seem to me that what you seem to have judged already is the way to go: To seek the grace of perfect contrition and to confess prior to the reception of Holy Communion.
 
Personally, I think you should bring this query to another confessor whom you know to be a good and faithful priest (or have heard good things about, since you are relatively new to that area). Tell him what troubled you about the other priest’s advice (without naming him), and that he doesn’t know you well enough to make that statement.

Is it possible that the priest thought you were someone else? If you went behind a screen, he might have thought you were one of his regulars!

Since it is not a sin to refrain from receiving Holy Communion as long as one attends Mass, what harm would there be in refraining until you get this matter settled? Make a spiritual communion at Mass rather than receive Communion in a state of doubt or bothered conscience. It’s not a sin to refrain, and since there is the possibility of sinning if you do receive, refraining might be the better option until you get advice from a different priest than the first.

I disagree with those who suggested you talk to the same priest again…I found his attempt to make you promise to keep his shaky advice rather creepy.
 
People on the internet rarely have training in Pastoral Theology, Moral Theology or Sacramental theology, and your answer is going to lie somewhere in one of those categories, if not several of them.
While several of us do have such training, it nevertheless is true that nothing is as personal as this sacrament, and a priest who hears a particular confession is in the best position to give particular counsel to that sinner. Were I to have any doubt about advice a priest gave me in confession which did not “feel right”/sound right/ or conform to previous instruction, I would go to another Confessor, elsewhere. (I would also do extra reading on my own, from official Catholic sources, because that would help prepare my intellect for sorting out the truth when I did hear it.)

Thus, it is often helpful as a patient to read ahead about one’s medical condition (short of self-diagnosis!) before one sees the doctor, and especially if there has been a diagnosis. In that way, what the doctor says will “register” with us when we receive advice and information from the doctor. Also, we’ll be in a better position to ask questions.

OP, It’s also hard to “translate” or even relay precisely what a priest says in the confessional, to third parties. If the priest said exactly as you wrote, I can tell you I have never heard that before. Again, none of us was there. Sometimes a priest mis-hears or misunderstands or misinterprets what a penitent says, how he expresses the sin. It is not uncommon for someone to talk about “being tempted” – not because he is really hiding a sin, but because he is focusing on the temptation and how chronic and even overwhelming that is, rather than focusing on the acts, whatever they were. In those cases I have heard/read a priest respond by encouraging the penitent to stay close to the Eucharist. (In that hypothetical case, of course! The priest thought the penitent was anxious about temptation and thought, incorrectly, that the pentitent was confusing temptation with sin, when what the pentitent needed was counsel about temptation, because he was sinning so much!)

Bottom line to the OP: BOTH because the “advice” in post #1 is sketchy, AND the priest might have misunderstood you, it would be good to go to another priest. Be sure you are very clear, first, about what the sin is. Don’t dance around it, or focus on temptation or the lead-up to sin. Mention that later, if you feel you need to. Confession is first and foremost about particular acts of commission and omission that are unquestionably sinful and not just temptations.

~You could have heard incorrectly
~You could have communicated incorrectly
~The priest, for whatever reason, could have misunderstood you
~The priest could have given (we don’t know) incorrect instruction.

Therefore, do not receive the Eucharist (is my advice) before being satisfied, from another priest, that you are not in a state of mortal sin – that you have confessed honestly, thoroughly, and forthrightly, and that you have been absolved. (I’m talking about in the future; I assume that you did confess whatever you needed to, completely, and that you did receive absolution, regardless of whatever the priest counseled for the future.)
 

4) The Catechism states that: “2354 Pornography consists in removing real or simulated sexual acts from the intimacy of the partners, in order to display them deliberately to third parties. It offends against chastity because it perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world. It is a grave offense. Civil authorities should prevent the production and distribution of pornographic materials.” (underlining added by me)
  1. This contrasts with what the Catechism states regarding other offenses against chastity such as masturbation. In that case there is the statement of “…one must take into account the affective immaturity, force of acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or other psychological or social factors that lessen or even extenuate moral culpability”. I have always understood that these mitigating factors are not listed after the section on pornography because viewing pornography is a much more willful action. But I am open to the possibility that I am incorrect in this interpretation.
Given as “Offenses against chastity” and “Chastity and homosexuality” are lust, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, homosexuality.

Enjoying pornography or sinful nudity for entertainment (CCC 2351 Lust) is different than pornography (CCC 2354) and prostitution (CCC 2355). It is the difference between consumption and production. The “equitable judgment” is specifically given for masturbation in the Catechism rather than in general. Masturbation is a violation of the sixth Commandment, with the physical component. The ninth Commandment is to keep ourselves pure in thought and desire.
 
Thanks again to everyone who has given additional advice into this matter. 🙂 I typed up my OP within a few hours of having gone to confession and did my utmost to quote the particular part of the priest’s advice that troubled me accurately. Could I have been off by a word or two? Maybe. But even so I know that I captured what the message he gave to me was.

As for whether or not the priest misunderstood me. This is impossible if he was listening at all. I am always blunt when I confess. I want to be sure that there is no ambiguity and so I name any sins I commit explicitly and without unnecessary excuses. I did not mention to him any “temptations to sin”, only sins actually committed.

The last point about him possibly confusing me with one of his regulars is something I had not really considered. If he is dealing with a scrupulous individual who is avoiding the Sacraments simply because he has suffered temptations then I could better understand his advice. But in my particular case I had made it very clear what sins I had committed, how frequently, and under what circumstances.

As I’ve said before though, I don’t understand why anyone living in an area of the world (as I do) that has weekly confession available at about a dozen different churches in the area and also allows for individuals to make personal appoints to make their confession if these times do not work for them would ever need recourse to the advice this priest gave me? Unless an individual were facing an emergency situation I do not see why in an area where the opportunities to make a good confession are so numerous would ever have to receive Holy Communion in a questionable state?

So even were I more sincere in agreeing to “try” this priest’s advice I cannot actually see myself being in that situation anytime soon. And since (as others have mentioned) there is no obligation to receive Holy Communion at every Mass one attends were I in a questionable state it seems only right to refrain until I am able to get to confession.

Trust me, I love receiving Our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist. I try to go to daily Mass whenever possible. I am not someone who is looking for reasons not to receive. But since I do love the Lord I will not knowingly receive Holy Communion if I have strong doubts as to whether or not I am in a state of grace. That said, since I’ve gone to confession and have thankfully not fallen into any grave sins since that time, I need not worry about all of this when I go to Mass today.
 
Thank you for sharing with us not only your struggles, but how you work to overcome these struggles and frequent the Sacraments God has so wonderfully placed in our lives to receive His graces.

May God continue to allow others to see Him through your works in Theology and through your examples of living a life recognizing when you fall and how to continue on the Journey with His Graces.
 
jtodisco,
I have experienced this exact same situation with more than one priest, unfortunately. If the priest asked me if I was going to take his particular advice in this situation, I would have said no. I would have known it was wrong to receive Communion, even if my culpability was somewhat lessened. Never be afraid to confront evil wherever you find it.
 
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