I bought some of those stuffed peppers with prosciutto and mozzarella cheese. After about 4 or 5 peppers it dawned on me I was eating meat on a FRIDAY of Lent! Did I commit a sin? I stopped eating them…
Sin must be voluntary. To be voluntary, an action must be willful and done with knowledge of the action.
You did not posses the knowledge of your action. In other words, your mind, at the time when you purchased and began to eat the food, did not recognize that it was prohibited today. Therefore, your action could not be voluntary and was not a sin.
If you purposefully made yourself not realize, like if you took down all your calendars and stayed inside for a week until you forgot what day it was, then this would make your sin voluntary because you kept yourself from the knowledge you needed. However, it would be
very hard to make oneself forget something, and so I highly doubt you could have done such a thing.
You stopped when you realized, so it is not a sin. If anything, it is virtuous in that you passed up a temptation that was literally in your hands! Don’t confess this unless you’re absolutely certain you somehow did this knowingly.
Also, I gave up eating sweets for Lent. I haven’t been very good this year. Is this a sin?
It’s not a sin, unless you thought it was at the time. In other words, if you were sitting there and said, “Gee, I think its a sin if I eat this sweet, but I’ll do it anyways,” then it would be a sin, for “whatever is not of faith is sin,” as St. Paul taught. St. Thomas Aquinas explained the point further. If you weren’t
sure if it was a sin or not but you did it with that doubt in your mind, it’s probably a venial sin too. I’d confess it, if only for the sake of gaining the Grace to more faithfull live out your Lenten promise.
However it’s falling short of what you can do. Jesus loves you. He’s given so much for you, and He wants you to be with Him in Heaven. Focus on that, not on sin. I don’t mean to ignore sin. Certainly you must avoid sin. What I mean is, try each day to
Love God, rather than just avoid sinning against Him. Don’t settle for not being very good.
You’ve got two weeks left before Easter. Really, really buckle down and strive to Love God each day, not abstaining from sweets to avoid sin, but to make a sacrifice for God who Loves you. Then, on Eastrer, your celebration will be truly joyous!
Peace and God bless
Should I confess these?
