How to have more contrition?

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MichaelAnonymous

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I always confess the same sins every week. I do try to resolve not to sin but my flesh is weak. How can I make a firmer resolution and have more contrition (perfect contrition)? Have I abused the Sacrament of Reconciliation by repeating the same sins and go to Confession just because I feel “bad” and “wrong”?
 
I’m not a Priest -
But I know it bugs Priests -
when they hear the same sin confessed over and over.
I know it’d bug me, if I was a Priest…lol…
…seeing a person approaching…knowing…what they’ll be saying.
Year after year.
 
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No, you have not abused the Sacrament! The graces of the Sacrament will help you to overcome your sins, mortal and venial, over time. The graces of the Sacrament will help strengthen your resolve to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.

I, too, confess generally the same sins every week. I can’t seem to get past them but I am getting better, with the help of God. Anger & Pride are not weighing me down as much as they used to and I’m more patient with others, My prayer life is more regular. I no longer do certain mortal sins.

Perfect contrition is repentance for sin motivated by faith and love for God. Imperfect contrition is motivated by a less pure motive such as common decency or fear of hell. The closer your relationship with God becomes, the more pure your contrition will be because you will be more focused on God and not on yourself. Either type of contrition is adequate for the Sacrament so try not to worry.

A firm resolution may mean decisions to make real and meaningful changes in your life towards ways that will lead you away from near occasions of sin. Only you know what those might be. Sometimes it may mean reading books, eg: if anger is your problem, read “Overcoming Sinful Anger” by Fr. Thomas Morrow.

You are on the right path.

Be at peace.
 
It sure doesn’t bug my priest. He rejoices that I am working on certain things in my life and welcomes me to the Sacrament.
Every.
Week.
 
I think that sometimes the problem is not what you think it is. the devil is sneakier that we realize. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. _Jesus The devil wants to win you over by wearing you down so that you give up and and he wins. You have to keep trying. As many times as you fall down you have to get up again. Never give up.
Another thing. try to focus on how you can be more charitable to other people.Not just in your deeds but in your thoughts. Just think how easy it is for you to fall and how hard to get up. When we see other people fall and have problems like with addiction (especially problems that we don’t have) It is very easy for us to sit in judgement of other people.
 
Mary_Ellen said:
No, you have not abused the Sacrament! The graces of the Sacrament will help you to overcome your sins, mortal and venial, over time. The graces of the Sacrament will help strengthen your resolve to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.

I, too, confess generally the same sins every week. I can’t seem to get past them but I am getting better, with the help of God. Anger & Pride are not weighing me down as much as they used to and I’m more patient with others, My prayer life is more regular. I no longer do certain mortal sins.

Perfect contrition is repentance for sin motivated by faith and love for God. Imperfect contrition is motivated by a less pure motive such as common decency or fear of hell. The closer your relationship with God becomes, the more pure your contrition will be because you will be more focused on God and not on yourself. Either type of contrition is adequate for the Sacrament so try not to worry.

A firm resolution may mean decisions to make real and meaningful changes in your life towards ways that will lead you away from near occasions of sin. Only you know what those might be. Sometimes it may mean reading books, eg: if anger is your problem, read “Overcoming Sinful Anger” by Fr. Thomas Morrow.

You are on the right path.

Be at peace.
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Ditto 10char
 
MichaelAnonymous said:
Have I abused the Sacrament of Reconciliation by repeating the same sins and go to Confession just because I feel “bad” and “wrong”?
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No, you are supposed to confess sins frequently. That is how we get grace. I was told as a child that the Pope confessed every day. Catholics in the old days used to go weekly.

Many if not most of us will commit the same sins over and over. Sins are to some extent driven by habit and by natural traits we have. One person may have a high sex drive and have lustful thoughts or worse, over and over. I at this point in my life do not have a high sex drive, but I tend to be impatient, so I will have sins of impatience over and over. it’s not like one week I decide to skip being impatient with people and go shoplift or masturbate instead just to vary my sin life.

I rarely go to the same priest for Confession twice, so nobody is going to be “bugged” and even if they were, I do not design my sins to keep a priest interested or keep him from being bothered.

If you have a genuine bad habit then try to think of ways to break it so you will not be doing the same thing every week. I try really hard to think before I speak or pray more for those who annoy me instead of snapping at them. It does not totally keep me from being impatient but it removes some of the sins.
 
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Absolute hogwash. Any priest bugged by this needs a retreat to re-evaluate the purpose of his calling.
 
No abuse of the sacrament. Think about this…you have a real concern of confessing the same sin. That is a good thing because now you are aware and that is affecting you which means you are definitely growing in contrition. You are moving toward a deeper understanding of how your sin affects the distance between you and GOD. Our desires for some good things become disordered and we all know the temptation is in front of us at all time. With GODs grace we can control our “giving in” and move toward a greater desire for unity with Him. Remove the source that gets your mind wandering. I had to delete Facebook within last 2 weeks and that is proving to be a blessing. Keep thinking about life, keep going to confession (priests are given a grace by GOD to forget what you said when you walk out the confessional)…GOD absolutely forgets. That point forward, pray and march on. Spend time in the silence of adoration. Peace be with you
 
It’s not absolute hogwash.
People don’t want to repent. Confess, yes - lol -
I read in the Imitation of Christ,
if we were to renounce…one sin a year…we’d be perfect.
 
MichaelAnonymous said:
I always confess the same sins every week. I do try to resolve not to sin but my flesh is weak. How can I make a firmer resolution and have more contrition (perfect contrition)? Have I abused the Sacrament of Reconciliation by repeating the same sins and go to Confession just because I feel “bad” and “wrong”?
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You don’t need to feel more contrite. You just need to be more contrite.
Means of being more contrite and overcoming sin, especially related to habitual sin:
  • Daily Prayer, especially in the morning
  • The Rosary
  • Frequent Mass
    -Regular Confession
  • Recognizing Holy Hour (3pm)
  • Mortifying yourself by denying yourself lawful pleasures, such as: abstaining from meat, alcohol, soda, other foods, fasting, showering cold, sleeping on the floor, etc.
  • Spiritual reading, particularly the four Gospels.
Peace.
 
If a priest feels people aren’t sincere in their confessions, he shouldn’t be granting absolution. So I still contend that the inappropriate action here lies with the confessor moreso than the penitent. How does one learn when the teacher says wrong is right?
 
I had the same worry as the OP.

My Priest has never said to me or showed any sign of being sick of hearing the same things out of me so I wouldn’t worry.
 
Many people including saints, struggle with the same sins most of their lives.

Until the reason not to commit the sin becomes stronger than the desire, you’ll continue to fail.

Reason will come through prayer, for you can’t do it on your own, but require the transforming grace Christ will give you in prayer.

Never give up, keep turning to Christ, who dwells within.

Jim
 
Hey Michael 🙂 some great help given already ,so I’ll just add I will remember your intentions in mass tomorrow,God bless.
 
Seagull said:
if we were to renounce…one sin a year…we’d be perfect.
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Perfection is not something humans are capable of. We’ve got some scrupulous kiddos here - let’s not feed their anxiety.
 
Cor_ad_Cor said:
I’ve been told by multiple priests the best way to address confessing the same sins repeatedly is … more frequent confession.
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Right. You get grace to help you find the sin.
And, at least in my case, I get a feeling of "oh, not that again. I do not want to be in there again confessing that to Father for the fourth confession in a row. " It actually helps me avoid some sins. Or sometimes the priest gives advice in confession that helps me.

The main reason I go to different priests is because I church-hop a lot anyway so I am rarely at the same place consistently when it’s confession time (usually the First Saturday of the month and then 20 days after that). But I’ve found it can be helpful to hear different priests’ perspectives on the same sins. You will get two totally different good insights or pieces of advice.
 
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