HELP

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Tennis42

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I was looking for something on the internet, and I knew there could be things that would come up inmy search that would make me have sinful thoughts. I know there was a small part of me that wanted to see these things (I’m human, sue me) but I resisted. A saw something on the page that made me think those thoughts. I immediately skipped over it, and moved on. After I saw another thing, I left the page, knowing that there was probably more on the page. I tend to be scrupulous, so I don’t know if I committed a mortal sin or not. I fought the thoughts, and tried to resist. I knew there could’ve been a chance that these things would be there but I thought to myself beforehand;
  1. I’ll resist if theres not much.
  2. If theres more, I’ll leave.
Help?
 
I suggest that you find a regular confessor to discuss such things with. This post and others I’ve seen from you certainly suggest that you suffer from scrupulousity.

As for the issue itself…from your description it seems unclear that there was any sin at all, let alone mortal sin. You need to discuss with a regular confessor what mortal sin is really about. God is not sitting up there eagre to judge us for every sin we commit. God never turns away from us. Mortal sin is a deliberate choice to turn away from God. It isn’t something that you can accidentally do by looking briefly at some internet material that came up when you were doing a search (presuming the search itself was worthy).
 
For certain reasons, I’m not able to talk to my confessor that often. That’s why I post here. Pretty much, I made the search, thinking to myself “You’ll probably see some stuff, but you’ll be able to avoid thinking ilabout it.” I know subconsciously, I wanted to see it. If I had known with 100% certainty that I’d see something, I wouldn’t have done it, but there was that part of me that wanted to.

Edit: And the search wasn’t exactly necessary, and subconsciously, I think it could’ve been motivated by knowing there would be things, but I was just really confused at the time, and was convinced that I wouldn’t give in.
 
Unfortunately, it’s simply not our place to discuss this with you at the level of detail and guidance that you need. We can share experiences or give our thoughts on Catholic moral teaching, but ultimately only your confessor has the God-given right to determine your guilt or innocence in this matter and to provide absolution if necessary.

My thoughts, for what they are worth, are…

What you describe would seem to be more along the lines of concupiscence than sin itself. We all have tendency towards chasing our human desires. The tendency itself and any temptations are not sinful. Sin only occurs when we indulge these tendencies and temptations. Did you indulge them? Probaly not, based on what you’ve said. If you did briefly indulge them, did it rise to the level of mortal sin? Almost certainly not; I say “almost certainly not”, rather than “certainly not”, because I am not your confessor so it’s not my place to say with certainty.
 
I’m not as concerned about seeing the things and resisting them; I’m pretty sure I didn’t sin there. I’m just worried about how I knew I might be tempted, and how a part of me kind was doing it because I wanted to see the things. I know if I were thinking rationally, I wouldn’t go near the stuff. At the time I thought "You are searching for (this) because you want to know (this), not because of (the sinful thing).

Sorry to ask all these questions, I just need to have some (name removed by moderator)ut by tomorrow, and I’m so scrupulous that I can’t make a decision.
 
I’d say it probably wasn’t a mortal sin seeing as it wasn’t 100% freely and knowingly… however it is important to avoid occasions of sin so you might find you need to watch out a bit more in the future. As others have said talking to your confessor is the best option here- Confession gives you the grace to overcome sin (even if it is “only” venial) 🙂 If you find that you are struggling with something a lot I’d suggest praying over it, Mary’s intercession is especially comforting. I hope this helps, and I’ll say a prayer for you.
 
Alright, thank you both. It seems like after things are put into perspective like this, its a lot easier to think rationally.
 
Your original question was whether you committed mortal sin. Your subsequent posts seem to suggest that you’re not sure whether you committed any sin at all, let alone mortal sin.

It’s not my place to tell you that you haven’t committed mortal sin, but let me ask you some questions so you can hopefully decide for yourself:

If you don’t know whether you committed any sin, why would you think you may possibly have committed mortal sin?

If there was any sin, do you think it constituted grave matter? You are scrupulous so may lack clarity, but what do you think your confessor would say? What has he said regarding previous similar issues?
 
Ok i have a question, it kind of and kind of doesnt relate to this thread, what does scrupulous mean. I’m a teen who is deep into the faith but this is something i have no idea about haha 😃 so “help?” is the right title for this thread
 
Bballer32 said:
Ok i have a question, it kind of and kind of doesnt relate to this thread, what does scrupulous mean. I’m a teen who is deep into the faith but this is something i have no idea about haha 😃 so “help?” is the right title for this thread
Click to expand...
Scrupulosity is a form of moral OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). People with scrupulousity tend to obsess over their thoughts and actions and constantly worry that they have greatly sinned. We all should be concerned not to sin of course, but overly scrupulous people allow this concern to dominate their thoughts and it can lead to a debilitating worry that they are in a state of mortal sin. Their concern regarding sin can so dominate their thoughts that the rest of their practice of the faith may suffer.
 
Tennis42 said:
I was looking for something on the internet, and I knew there could be things that would come up inmy search that would make me have sinful thoughts. I know there was a small part of me that wanted to see these things (I’m human, sue me) but I resisted. A saw something on the page that made me think those thoughts. I immediately skipped over it, and moved on. After I saw another thing, I left the page, knowing that there was probably more on the page. I tend to be scrupulous, so I don’t know if I committed a mortal sin or not. I fought the thoughts, and tried to resist. I knew there could’ve been a chance that these things would be there but I thought to myself beforehand;
  1. I’ll resist if theres not much.
  2. If theres more, I’ll leave.
Help?
Click to expand...
What you are experiencing, those temptations, everyone goes through, be it drugs alcohol or what you are talking about. Thinking about sinning is not sinning. Acting on the sin is of course sinning. If you acted on your thoughts just go to confession. The best way to combat that sort of thing is to simply stop what you are doing (get off the computer in your case) - and pray, pray and then pray more; say the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or whatever prayer works for you, and focus/immerse yourself in our Lord’s Passion. If you really do that, trust me it will go away. Nothing better than good ol’ prayer to keep the evil one away my friend. 👍
 
underacloud said:
Scrupulosity is a form of moral OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). People with scrupulousity tend to obsess over their thoughts and actions and constantly worry that they have greatly sinned. We all should be concerned not to sin of course, but overly scrupulous people allow this concern to dominate their thoughts and it can lead to a debilitating worry that they are in a state of mortal sin. Their concern regarding sin can so dominate their thoughts that the rest of their practice of the faith may suffer.
Click to expand...
Wow. I had no idea. To be honest, im prolly suffering from some of that too so do not get to worried Tennis42. I would also like to emphasize on the go to confessions part. That is how i have gotten through life.
 
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