Help! I lied in confession!

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WinnieDale

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I went to confession yesterday. I named my sins, in number and detail. I then asked the priests adviceon a matter of morality that had bene on my mind, and asked him if I was sinning in this case, and if I was alright. He counseled me, told me to put the matter behind me, then began to give advice on the other things I’d brought up in confession. During his questions, he asked one I wasn’t expecting and, in a split second and afraid to give the complete answer, I gave a half truth. I tried to bring up the real total answer a few moments later, but he didn’t seem to hear. I’m going to confession again tomorrow to make sure mine was valid, but if the confession I made was invalid, does that mean the advice and counseling I recieved was too, or should I leave that as is and assume it’s still fine?
 
If you feel that you did not confess ALL of your sins even though you were absolved then you should mention them again.
 
You should mention this in confession just as you have described it here. None of us here, who are not priests, can answer your question.
 
I don’t see why you can’t. It’s not a hard question. Is the advice my priest gave me still valid? It’s not hard! The advice had nothign at all to do with the subject I lied about
 
Winnie,
Your heart is in the right place. The fact that you may have told a half truth in confession, you should go back to confession and tell the Priest that you kinda panicked and told a half truth and again ask for forgiveness for that sin. The fact that you feel bad about it says a lot about how well your conscious is formed. Take care. 👍
 
It’s a very hard question to answer. Did he hear you or not? You seem to believe that he didn’t. If this is the case then go again. If the answer is he did hear you then you are forgiven and don’t sweat it. My guess is that you have doubts and in that case I would go back and answer it truthfully this time and now your are certain your ok. There is not a clear cut way to answer this question because no one is certain if he heard you correctly or not. Hope this helps.
 
If I’m reading this correctly, you seem to be asking if the priest’s advice about how to handle/avoid a different sin or situation is still good. Is this correct? If so… I cannot see any reason why the advice would be invalid, or even change, if it was not related to the one lied about. I could see that if it was related, the advice may or may not be relevant now, depending on the situation. But still, advice is not binding or anything… So maybe I’m reading your question incorrectly? :confused:
 
Sunflake9 said:
It’s a very hard question to answer. Did he hear you or not? You seem to believe that he didn’t. If this is the case then go again. If the answer is he did hear you then you are forgiven and don’t sweat it. My guess is that you have doubts and in that case I would go back and answer it truthfully this time and now your are certain your ok. There is not a clear cut way to answer this question because no one is certain if he heard you correctly or not. Hope this helps.
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But that is not what I’m asking! I already SAID I’m going to confesion again, isn’t anyone reading the whole thing?

Advice. I got some. Is it still ok to follow it?
 
CatholicRaven said:
If I’m reading this correctly, you seem to be asking if the priest’s advice about how to handle/avoid a different sin or situation is still good. Is this correct? If so… I cannot see any reason why the advice would be invalid, or even change, if it was not related to the one lied about. I could see that if it was related, the advice may or may not be relevant now, depending on the situation. But still, advice is not binding or anything… So maybe I’m reading your question incorrectly? :confused:
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Yes! Yes that’s it EXACTLY! THAT’S what I was asking, thank you! And it was advice saying wether or not something else is or is not a sin and what to do about it
 
Yes follow the advice he gave you on the other matters and go back to confession as you were going to.
 
WinnieDale said:
I went to confession yesterday. I named my sins, in number and detail. I then asked the priests adviceon a matter of morality that had bene on my mind, and asked him if I was sinning in this case, and if I was alright. He counseled me, told me to put the matter behind me, then began to give advice on the other things I’d brought up in confession. During his questions, he asked one I wasn’t expecting and, in a split second and afraid to give the complete answer, I gave a half truth. I tried to bring up the real total answer a few moments later, but he didn’t seem to hear. I’m going to confession again tomorrow to make sure mine was valid, but if the confession I made was invalid, does that mean the advice and counseling I recieved was too, or should I leave that as is and assume it’s still fine?
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First, I wouldn’t say the validity of the sacrament hinges on whether or not you think the priest heard you. If you made the effort to correct your half-truth, I wouldn’t assume the Confession was invalid.

Second, since we do not know the specifics of your Confession (and we shouldn’t), a priest is really in the best position to answer this question for you.

Generally speaking, though, I have to wonder how advice could be “invalid”. The “validity” (in the colloquial sense) of advice doesn’t have anything to do with the validity (in the ontological sense) of the sacrament.

Unless your half-truth so changed the sense of what you were confessing that the priest gave you inapplicable advice, I would assume it was still good advice.

And, again, your priest can perhaps give you more pointed advice once you clarify things.
 
I guess the answer depends on the nature of the lie. Did it directly involve a sin you confessed? From your description, it’s not clear to me. If this is a case where you confessed your sins honestly, and then the priest asked you about a tangential matter, which took you by surprise and did not directly involve your sins, I don’t think the lie would affect the validity of the sacrament. You truthfully confessed your sins. That’s what’s required of you for a valid reception of the sacrament. If I’m wrong, someone please correct me. Obviously, it’s important to make it right and confess the lie, but it sounds like you tried to do that in the same confession. The fact that you tried to confess it makes me think that your confession was indeed ok, even if you did lie about a sin, because you tried to be honest before it was over. If you think the priest misunderstood you, bring it up again when you go back, to make sure the truth is all on the table. I think the priest’s advice is still ok, as long as the advice wasn’t directly based on false information you gave him.
 
thistle said:
We are NOT priests. Go talk to your priest.
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how come you’ll answer other peoples questions and not mine? This is NOT a question that only a priest can answer unless you too did not actually read what my question was ABOUT
 
WinnieDale said:
how come you’ll answer other peoples questions and not mine? This is NOT a question that only a priest can answer unless you too did not actually read what my question was ABOUT
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We were not present during your confession or at your subsequent conversation with your priest. He is the one to answer your question.
Why are you so reluctant to back to your priest?
 
WinnieDale said:
I don’t see why you can’t. It’s not a hard question. Is the advice my priest gave me still valid? It’s not hard! The advice had nothign at all to do with the subject I lied about
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How ironic…you are berating people for not answering a question that “is not hard”? If it’s not hard, why are you asking it?

Talk to your priest. His guidance on this issue is more valuable than anyone here can likely offer.
 
WinnieDale said:
I don’t see why you can’t. It’s not a hard question. Is the advice my priest gave me still valid? It’s not hard! The advice had nothign at all to do with the subject I lied about
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If the advice and counsel was not based on misinformation, then it wouldn’t effect that advice.
 
Frankly his advice is still valid why wouldn’t it be. Good advice would not be changed by your half truth. Just my opinion. Just finish your confession and tell the priest you made a mistake. God is not waiting to damn you to hell, you are trying to live your faith and you are human. Just learn from this and move on. Peace be with you!
 
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