Is putting off a confession sinful?

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bibleguy180

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So I’ve been needing to go to Confession for a while now, but I’ve been really embarrassed of some of my sins and can’t get up the courage. Then a few months ago I got the idea that I’m getting my license soon (just a few days now! 🙂 ) and then I could drive far far away to a priest I’ll likely never see again to confess my sins. Is this a sin? If so, is it a mortal sin?
 
Does your regular parish have a confessional booth? I confess every week, and I always confess behind the screen. Even if it doesn’t, you can ask the priest to turn his chair around so you can’t see him.

I struggled with going to confession for years. I know it seems scary and embarrassing, but priests are used to hearing confessions and they won’t look down on you for your sins. You don’t need to go far away, just have courage and you will feel a lot better.
 
Thanks, but what I was really looking for is: is my putting off going to confession a sin?
 
Don’t know what you need to confess but if your ever in doubt its always better to get rid of it. Your doubt will stifle your faith and keep you from communing with your God.
 
bibleguy180 said:
So I’ve been needing to go to Confession for a while now, but I’ve been really embarrassed of some of my sins and can’t get up the courage. Then a few months ago I got the idea that I’m getting my license soon (just a few days now! 🙂 ) and then I could drive far far away to a priest I’ll likely never see again to confess my sins. Is this a sin? If so, is it a mortal sin?
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One, if you’ve just got your license, your parents aren’t going to like you driving hours away.

Two, if it’s mortal, putting off confessing this sin isn’t sinful in itself, but you’re remaining outside of a state of grace, which if you were to die would literally send you straight to hell. So I guess you could say that remaining in a state of sin is sinful, but not as a new sin, but by being in the condition your sin created.

My advice, just do it!! I waited too, just over a year ago, to confess my awful mortal sin. I ended up going to confession on a retreat (but I had kept receiving the Eucharist! I’m almost still afraid about this, even though I didn’t know this was wrong, and I confessed it, I’m still repulsed and sorry for this sin, almost every day.) But then this confession began the process of becoming more devout and I would have never imagined how far I’ve come… but still there’s a lot of work left.

In short, if it’s a mortal sin, wait if you must but it’s your own soul. DON’T receive the Eucharist until you’ve confessed.

Just please, make an appointment with a trusted priest who gives good advice. Get to Mass early one day and ask Him to hear your confession real quick. You will not regret it… in the early Church the penitent would kneel at the feet of the confessor and after the absolution the confessor would help lift them back to a standing position… just because of the shaky lightness of being forgiven… it’s incredible, you need to make yourself right with God asap!
 
I’m scared now. I cried after I read that. …the earliest I could get to confession is Saturday, but what happens if I die this week? 😦
 
bibleguy180 said:
I’m scared now. I cried after I read that. …the earliest I could get to confession is Saturday, but what happens if I die this week? 😦
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Don’t be scared at all. If you’re sincerely sorry and WANT to go to confession but are unable, God will take account of your desire to go. Do a google search on ‘Act of Perfect Contrition’ and say the prayer right now.

Have you been to your Sunday Mass yet? If not, what you can do is go to Mass a little early, knock on the sacristy door and ask the priest if he will hear your confession - he may tell you to come back after Mass, but even that’s better than waiting a whole week.

Otherwise you can ring the parish office and make an appointment to see the priest during the week - perhaps arrange to meet him in the confessional if you want privacy.

God bless, I’ll pray for you, and please don’t worry - God is very merciful, and certainly doesn’t hold things against us that aren’t our fault (like not being able to go to confession). Just do your best to get there when you can.
 
bibleguy180 said:
I’m scared now. I cried after I read that. …the earliest I could get to confession is Saturday, but what happens if I die this week? 😦
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Dude, take it easy! Sure it’s good to go to Confession when you really need to but there’s no need for that kind of fear.

Here’s a popular fact: More people get killed by donkeys annually than plane crashes.

Unless you’re some old guy with health problems, I doubt the probability of you dying this week is very high. 😉
 
Lost_Wanderer said:
Dude, take it easy! Sure it’s good to go to Confession when you really need to but there’s no need for that kind of fear.

Here’s a popular fact: More people get killed by donkeys annually than plane crashes.

Unless you’re some old guy with health problems, I doubt the probability of you dying this week is very high. 😉
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And remember, God isn’t looking for opportunities or reasons to condemn you, rather He’s looking for every possible loophole through which He might drag you to salvation - He wants you to be in Heaven more than you could possibly want it for yourself.
 
bibleguy180 said:
I’m scared now. I cried after I read that. …the earliest I could get to confession is Saturday, but what happens if I die this week? 😦
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Go on Saturday then. Try to make an act of Perfect Contrition, (beings sorrowful for your sins because they offend God, not because you are afraid that God will punish you)
 
bibleguy180 said:
I’m scared now. I cried after I read that. …the earliest I could get to confession is Saturday, but what happens if I die this week? 😦
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I am so sorry! ((((hugs)))) If your only possible time to go to confession is this Saturday, that literally there is no possibility to go sooner, then if you were to die before then (just like if you die in a crash on the way to confession) your intent was to go to confession and God totally understands. I imagine that if you died, God would have you in a scenario that you don’t realize you’re dead and you confess your sins. Then a light comes shining through the screen and you realize what’s going on 😃

If you didn’t know that you aren’t supposed to receive the Eucharist in mortal sin, then still confess this (if it’s mortal) but say that you didn’t know and because of this it’s not as serious, if even not a sin. Only God knows (and your confessor can help). Praying for you!!! (((hugs)))) God Bless,
Ljubim
 
I am glad you asked that question, I have been putting it off for months. I am praying for courage to just go do it. thank you
 
I read recently that a widow asked Padre Pio about her late husband who had committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. She was afraid that he had been condemned to hell. Padre Pio told her that on the way down her husband had changed his mind and said “Lord, have mercy on me” and that God had forgiven him.

Do not worry about possibly the possibility of dying before you get to confession. If you are truly sorry, and it sounds like you are, you will be forgiven.

I will pray for you.
 
Fr. Larry Richards of St. Joseph/Bread of Life Parish in our town (Erie, PA) has a link on his website about the “Sin List”. thereasonforourhope.org/pdfs/14.pdf
He said so many people are embarrassed to say what their sin is, but he doesn’t want that to keep people away from going to confession. He has the sin list and when someone goes in to confession and asks for “The List” Fr. Larry knows that means to go through the list and the person can say’ “Yes”, "no, “no” etc… after each sin. Now some people might think that it doesn’t count but the Bishop has approved it and many, many more young people are going to confession because of this…my own sons included. Print out a copy of this email and the sin list and go to confession, give it to the priest and ask the priest to go through the list. You’ll feel so much better after you have done this! My kids were so relieved when they went to confession using this method! God Bless!😉
 
dukeenee said:
Fr. Larry Richards of St. Joseph/Bread of Life Parish in our town (Erie, PA) has a link on his website about the “Sin List”. thereasonforourhope.org/pdfs/14.pdf
He said so many people are embarrassed to say what their sin is, but he doesn’t want that to keep people away from going to confession. He has the sin list and when someone goes in to confession and asks for “The List” Fr. Larry knows that means to go through the list and the person can say’ “Yes”, "no, “no” etc… after each sin. Now some people might think that it doesn’t count but the Bishop has approved it and many, many more young people are going to confession because of this…my own sons included. Print out a copy of this email and the sin list and go to confession, give it to the priest and ask the priest to go through the list. You’ll feel so much better after you have done this! My kids were so relieved when they went to confession using this method! God Bless!😉
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It’s a very helpful list - but some of the categories of sins are too broad to be labelled as ‘MUST be confessed’.

For example, there are different degrees of laziness, watching TV for half an hour when you ought to be studying, while bad, would hardly qualify as mortally sinful.

There are different types of lying - and I’m sure lying to the Nazis who are looking for Jews hidden out in your house would at most be a minor venial sin (because of the duress involved in the situation, which means it isn’t really freely consented to, among other things).

There are different levels of theft - if you took 50c from someone, the amount would be insufficient to constitute grave matter.
 
dukeenee said:
Fr. Larry Richards of St. Joseph/Bread of Life Parish in our town (Erie, PA) has a link on his website about the “Sin List”. thereasonforourhope.org/pdfs/14.pdf
He said so many people are embarrassed to say what their sin is, but he doesn’t want that to keep people away from going to confession. He has the sin list and when someone goes in to confession and asks for “The List” Fr. Larry knows that means to go through the list and the person can say’ “Yes”, "no, “no” etc… after each sin. Now some people might think that it doesn’t count but the Bishop has approved it and many, many more young people are going to confession because of this…my own sons included. Print out a copy of this email and the sin list and go to confession, give it to the priest and ask the priest to go through the list. You’ll feel so much better after you have done this! My kids were so relieved when they went to confession using this method! God Bless!😉
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I sure hope that they don’t start making everyone confess this way. I really don’t like confessing my sins but I find that after I finally get up the nerve and tell the priest all my sins I feel relieved and very humbled. I think that when I am humbled I can grow spiritually. Also when we tell the priest more that yes or no we might get some sound advice on how to change our ways.
 
The answer to any scuples about confession is usually quite simple - mention it in your confession, and then trust his answer. He may well say nothing, but just include it in the confession.

I very rarely ask “was this a sin?”. If I think it might have been a sin, then I say “I did this, and I think it was sinful”. Sometimed my confessor addresses it as a question, but usually doesn’t.

I always start the confession by mentioning the sins that I am sure of, before wandering into other matters.

It is quite common to feel too embarassed by one’s sins to see one’s own parish priest. However, I would recommend that you just drive to an adjacent parish, rather than go a great distance. Then you can go there again, without waiting so long next time.
 
If putting off a confession isn’t actually sinful, it’s just plain stupid! 😃

Any priest with a couple of years experience in the confessional under his belt has probably heard more than you could dream of having done anyways. I had been away from confession for a couple of decades, and actually wrote out my own examination of conscience when I went back. Wanting anonymity, I chose the “box” option. When the slider door opened, I made the sign of the cross, said, “Bless me Father, I have sinned,” pulled out my penlight and my notebook and started reading. I’m pretty sure I heard him yawn a couple of times as I droned on and on. Among the counsel he gave me was the need to avoid the sin of (I think) presumption—If God had forgiven me, I could not reject that and refuse to forgive myself, after having made amends by doing penance exercises as well as some direct amends to people I had harmed.

Just go. To any priest. Like the Nike ads used to say, “Just do it!”🙂
 
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