I'm being confirmed tommorow and I have a problem!

[palmas85]

Well you sure could have fooled me as that’s exactly what you have done. Are you a cradle Catholic or a convert?

As to the OP. Make every effort to go to confession. If you can’t find a confessor approach the sacrament of confirmation with fear, awe and respect and confess as soon as you can. Your salvation isn’t all about a legal transaction between you and God. He loves you and wants you to be united to the Church. Remember the closer you grow to God the more the devil is going to tempt you and try to deceive you. He’ll do everything in his power to drive a wedge between you and the other members of the Body of Christ. He’ll try to convince you you’re a bad person or that your priest is a bad pastor or that you shouldn’t be united to the Church because you’re unworthy. One must always understand none of us are “worthy” of any sacrament, the

y are a gift from God. **In fact to abstain from the sacraments out of some false sense of piety is of itself prideful and vainglorious and is the work of the devil.
**
If you approach the sacrament with the proper mindset (in fact the very fact that you are worried about it tells me you are indeed serious) God will accept you. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and all of your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Be obedient in all things to the Church and especially to your spiritual father, God has placed you together for each others salvation.

And most of all, congratulations and may God grant you many years!

Yours in Christ
Joe

What difference would it make if I was a cradle Catholic or a convert? is one somehow better than the other?

As to what I told the poster, I stand by it. One of the necessary components of the Sacrament is that the one confessing have a firm purpose of amendment

The poster said that he knew he would commit the same sins again and was waiting to the last possible moment to confess so he received into the Church. He didn’t say he didn’t think he could resist, he didn’t say it would be hard and that he would do his best. He said he KNEW he would fall back.

That doesn’t sound like he has that firm purpose of amendment and it shows that he really doesn’t have much of a grasp of the concept of the sacrament at all. If I truly intend to do my best not to commit a particular sin, I’m not going to defeat that purpose by boldly saying I know I’ll do it again. Just going into confession, getting absolved and going right back out to commit the same sin is really meaningless. Yes we all will, none of us are perfect.

Bishop Fulton Sheen did a series of talks that are available these days over the internet in which he spoke at length as to each of the sacraments. In it he challenged the misconception that all a Catholic has to do is go to confession and he is as pure as the driven snow.

The Bishop said 'OH NO HE’S NOT"

Without a firm purpose of amendment, which in the OPs first post was evidently absent, the sacrament is ineffective. I’m sorry. But that is the truth of the situation.

Your statement
**In fact to abstain from the sacraments out of some false sense of piety is of itself prideful and vainglorious and is the work of the devil.
**

To me is incredulous. What exactly is a false sense of piety? Since when is abiding by the rules of the Church a false sense of piety? Would you then advocate receiving Holy Communion while in a state or mortal sin?

It sure sounds like it.

 

[josephdaniel29]

What difference would it make if I was a cradle Catholic or a convert? is one somehow better than the other?

Certainly not but your typical convert may well have a case of convertitis. You know, trying to be more Catholic than the Pope. They have a tendency to take a very hard-line approach to things without taking into account the accepted practice of the Church and parish.

Your statement
**In fact to abstain from the sacraments out of some false sense of piety is of itself prideful and vainglorious and is the work of the devil.
**

To me is incredulous. What exactly is a false sense of piety? Since when is abiding by the rules of the Church a false sense of piety? Would you then advocate receiving Holy Communion while in a state or mortal sin?

It sure sounds like it.

Incredulous? Apparently I did a better job than usual of offending someone. In all seriousness let me ask you a question. Are you ever worthy to receive the Body and Blood of God? My point is it is error to believe that just because you went to confession you are somehow entitled to receive the Eucharist or any sacrament. Also to abstain from the Eucharist or any sacrament without the direction of a priest does have the potential to instill a false sense of pride in a person. Taking pride in the fact that you’re pious enough to know you shouldn’t receive while at the same time secretly judging your brothers and sisters because you “know” they haven’t been to confession recently enough to “entitle” them to the Eucharist.

I guess the point being the decision as to whether or not you receive any sacrament shouldn’t be left up to your individual judgment but rather should be turned over to a persons spiritual father.

Yours in Christ
Joe

 

[palmas85]

Certainly not but your typical convert may well have a case of convertitis. You know, trying to be more Catholic than the Pope. They have a tendency to take a very hard-line approach to things without taking into account the accepted practice of the Church and parish.

Incredulous? Apparently I did a better job than usual of offending someone. In all seriousness let me ask you a question. Are you ever worthy to receive the Body and Blood of God? **My point is it is error to believe that just because you went to confession you are somehow entitled to receive the Eucharist or any sacrament. **Also to abstain from the Eucharist or any sacrament without the direction of a priest does have the potential to instill a false sense of pride in a person. Taking pride in the fact that you’re pious enough to know you shouldn’t receive while at the same time secretly judging your brothers and sisters because you “know” they haven’t been to confession recently enough to “entitle” them to the Eucharist.

I guess the point being the decision as to whether or not you receive any sacrament shouldn’t be left up to your individual judgment but rather should be turned over to a persons spiritual father.

Yours in Christ
Joe

Actually the Church tells me that if i am in a state of Grace I am worthy to receive Holy Communion. True just going to confession does not do anything. But going to confession with the right intent, does wonders.

However, just by your statement then, if I know that I am in a state of Mortal Sin, I should receive Holy Communion unless a Priest tells me not to? That doesn’t sound right at all.

I was taught that to receive a sacrament, any sacrament unworthily, was in actuality another sin in and of itself. Since there is not always a Priest present, we have to be able to use our own knowledge of the faith and our good judgement to know whether or not we should receive that sacrament or refrain until we are in a state of grace…

That is unless the Church has changed more than I thought.

And to answer your question, no I am not a convert.