How can confession not be valid?

[JD27076]

I understand that if you do not confess all of your mortal sins you know, its invalid.
But Jesus forgives your Mortal sins if you go to confession, even if it isn’t valid, at last not by much.

How can Jesus not forgive sins?
You met all the requirements for forgiveness of a mortal sin.
1.) Go to confession
2.) Be heartily sorry.

Even if you don’t orthodoxily go through the sayings, it is very still valid to Christ, even if the Church doesn’t see as so.

So, how can a confession not be valid?

 

[Bookcat]

Jesus forgives ones mortal sins in a valid confession.

Ways it can be invalid? Well you intentionally hide a mortal sin… are not sorry for a mortal sin or say plan to continue it…the Priest does not give one absolution …

*Jesus gave the authority to the Church to “bind and loose” sins *(see last part of the Gospel of John)…those whose sins forgive are forgiven…those sins you retain are retained.

 

[LilyM]

I understand that if you do not confess all of your mortal sins you know, its invalid.
But Jesus forgives your Mortal sins if you go to confession, even if it isn’t valid, at last not by much.

How can Jesus not forgive sins?
You met all the requirements for forgiveness of a mortal sin.
1.) Go to confession
2.) Be heartily sorry.

Even if you don’t orthodoxily go through the sayings, it is very still valid to Christ, even if the Church doesn’t see as so.

So, how can a confession not be valid?

Put it this way - would you say that someone who committed a crime - say they murdered someone - but was not prepared to make good for the crime - ie admit everything they had done to the police and willingly serve whatever jail time the law decided and make whatever monetary reparation was ordered by a civil court to the victim’s family - was truly sorry for what they had done?

Most people would think little of someone who had committed murder but was only, for example, willing to go half-way, say by admitting that they had beaten up their victim but not that they had beaten them to death. They would not think such a one was truly sorry for what they had done. A desire to make full amends via the proper channels is part of true contrition.

So it is with sin. We are not the one who determines when or by what means we are to obtain forgiveness. God is. And God has told us that to obtain forgiveness for mortal sins we need to be prepared to confess them - without deliberately holding anything back that ought to be confessed - and in the sacrament. That’s why perfect contrition - the kind that DOES obtain forgiveness of mortal sin - includes the resolve to go to confession when possible.

Of course it’s not always possible - maybe you are exploring in Antarctica and are stuck for six months without a priest or something. And God doesn’t expect the impossible. But assuming you do have access to the sacrament, but choose not to use it, or to use it in a half-hearted way, that’s also like the criminal who refuses to admit, or admit fully, to his or her crime.

 

[Joan_M]

I understand that if you do not confess all of your mortal sins you know, its invalid.
But Jesus forgives your Mortal sins if you go to confession, even if it isn’t valid, at last not by much. I do not understand what you are trying to say here. Either your confession is valid or it is not. It can’t be “not much” invalid.

How can Jesus not forgive sins?
You met all the requirements for forgiveness of a mortal sin.
1.) Go to confession
2.) Be heartily sorry.

You confess all your mortal sins and are sorry - fine. However, you also must have “a firm purpose of amendment” - this means that you must have the firm intention of never committing those sins again. If you do not have the intention of avoiding those sins, your confession is invalid. Yes, we are all weak sinners, so, we may fall into mortal sins again, but that does not mean that we cannot have a firm intention to amend our lives.** **

**What this means is that you were really NOT heartily sorry! If you were, you would have made up your mind to never commit these sins again. If the priest is aware that you do not have a firm purpose of amendment (perhaps through asking you questions), he cannot give you absolution. If the priest is not aware, and gives you absolution, your sins are not forgiven and you have committed yet another mortal sin. Jesus does not forgive those sins. You must repent.

What on earth makes you think that Jesus will forgive your sins in such a situation? Jesus is God. He knows if you are not truly repentant. **

Even if you don’t orthodoxily go through the sayings, it is very still valid to Christ, even if the Church doesn’t see as so.

So, how can a confession not be valid?

**A confession most definitely can be invalid. **

 

[nodito]

Put it this way - would you say that someone who committed a crime - say they murdered someone - but was not prepared to make good for the crime - ie admit everything they had done to the police and willingly serve whatever jail time the law decided and make whatever monetary reparation was ordered by a civil court to the victim’s family - was truly sorry for what they had done?

Though I mostly agree with the rest of your post, I think it’s important to explain and emphasize that forgiveness in the confessional does not depend on a penitent’s willingness to confess his sin to the police or his parents or anyone else. A priest can not make absolution dependent on conditions like that, and it is possible for one to have true contrition without being willing to turn himself in to the authorities.

Growing up, I was always terrified that our parish priest was going to make me confess a particular sin to my teacher, and it often made me reluctant to go to confession, even though I was truly sorry for this sin. I wish I had known then that the priest can not require you to confess your sins to anyone else as a condition of absolution, depsite what they show in the movies.

God bless.