Is this really true? Does prayer actually work like this?

[jesusmademe]

Why can imperfect contrition have no effect outside of the Sacrament of Confession? So all our imperfect contrition outisde of the Sacraments mean nothing to God? Either we love God with all our hearts (with no imperfection whatsoever) or He refuses to hear our prayers outside of the Sacrament? Why is this?

“Imperfect contrition, also known as attrition— sorrow for one’s sins based upon fear of the punishment of Hell— is sufficient for a priest to absolve you in the confessional, but not enough to obtain the forgiveness of mortal sin without sacramental confession to a priest, the catechism explains.”

What is an act of perfect contrition? A CNA Explainer | Catholic News Agency

 

[fhansen]

Maybe this can be fleshed out a bit. The Greatest Commandments command us to love. Love is the epitome of justice, or righteousness, for man. And love cannot be faked; we either love or we don’t. And love excludes and opposes sin by its nature. So when we actually love God, we’ve already turned away from sin (mortal sin opposes and destroys love by its nature according to Church teachings) and turned back to God. So perfect contrition is a matter of the heart to begin with, and not a merely mechanical act.

 

[jesusmademe]

we either love or we don’t

Well, we love in different ways and degrees.
We talk about perfect and imperfect contrition.
It is like this: if a Catholic prays for forgiveness in the Sacrament with imperfect contrition he is freed from eternal damnation.
If the same person cannot go to Confession (like nowadays) but askd for forgivness his imperfect contrition is not enough. He will end up in hell if he died.
Why is this???

 

[sudy]

It’s still worth making the act, even if it’s imperfect because attrition is a gift from God, too, and if the person was desiring confession and would seek it out when it’s available, and had a firm resolve never to commit sin anymore, they are responding to that gift. I don’t feel that I am in a position to say that it definitely won’t do them any good, especially as confession is an impossibility for many of us right now and we know that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but wants us to turn from our evil ways. And attrition may lead to contrition.

 

[fhansen]

Well, we love in different ways and degrees.
We talk about perfect and imperfect contrition.
It is like this: if a Catholic prays for forgiveness in the Sacrament with imperfect contrition he is freed from eternal damnation.
If the same person cannot go to Confession (like nowadays) but askd for forgivness his imperfect contrition is not enough. He will end up in hell if he died.
Why is this???

The question is a valid one IMO. And the truth is that only God knows if a person is sincere or not, or the degree to which he’s sincere, and whether or not the sacrament of confession has been efficacious in his individual case. We just play by the rulebook as best as we know it, and leave the rest to Him. Meanwhile God’s purpose is to move us to sincerity in all this, to sincere and genuine love of Himself and neighbor at the end of the day. And that, in any case, is what we should be exhorted towards achieving, and what the sacraments should aid us in achieving.

Anyway, as Scripture tells us God judges by the heart, which He knows far better than any of us. And related to this the Church teaches that He judges us on our love in the end. Until and unless we love, our state of justice or righteousness isn’t really on the radar to speak of. Just some thoughts, that haven’t really answered the question on imperfect contrition directly if the question addresses Church teaching correctly, which I believe it does.

 

[Dan_Defender]

Always aim for perfect contrition. We are called to holiness.

 

[jesusmademe]

So you need less love for God in your heart if you go to the Sacrament of Confession? Outside of the Sacrament you need a perfect love for God? Outside of the Sacrament God will only listen to those praying with a perfect love? How can you Catholics even believe this? I don’t but you do! The people who came up with the idea that outside of the Sacrament you need perfect love but in the Sacrament imperfect love is ok really said something that I will never be able to beleive. This is to me a bad church teaching!

 

[sudy]

You’re not taking into account that imperfect contrition is really only fear of hell… it’s not having any real love of God. You’re also not taking into account the fact that the Church has the God-given power to bind and loose, the power to forgive sins or to retain sins. The only reason I wrote what I did earlier was for when there is a real desire of confession and a real sorrow for the sin and a real resolve not to commit that sin again… not just fear. And my earlier post was purely an opinion.

 

[jesusmademe]

You’re not taking into account that imperfect contrition is really only fear of hell…

So how is imperfect contrition not just egotism?
It seems very egocentric to me.
How can that even be ok in order to be forgiven?

 

[sudy]

Well, there you go. Egotism is real self absorbtion, isn’t it? Seeking confession is prompted by the Holy Spirit. There is a change of heart involved. There’s a resolve not to commit the sin again. One who is only concerned about themselves wants to live their lives their own way. Pretty sure God knows the difference

 

[jesusmademe]

My argument is this: there can be no imperfect contrition without some perfect contrition.
People who are afraid of eg singing the wrong notes also have at least somw kins of longing to sing the correct notes.
Thus imperfect contrition by itself is not enough for us to be forgiven.
If a person ask you for forgivness and said “I am sorry that I did x because I now will be punished. Please forgive me”. This would not be enough. You want him/her to state that they hurt you.
The same goes with God Himself.
This is my argument.
Then why do people say that only having imperfect contrition is enough when Confessing to the Priest?

 

[sudy]

Saying sorry doesn’t mean that you’re sorry. Saying you recognise that you hurt somebody and even spelling out the ways you hurt someone doesn’t mean you are sorry.

A person can say they’re sorry to avoid punishment. This happens all the time in the criminal courts. Confessing to a priest requires that you actually attend… this is a prompting by the Holy Spirit.

'And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” ’

God’s word is very powerful. This is a gift to His church… the power to forgive.

 

[Theban]

My argument is this: there can be no imperfect contrition without some perfect contrition.

You’re redefining terms here; perfect contrition means specifically that someone is sorry for their sins because they love God and don’t want to offend Him. Imperfect contrition applies specifically to people who don’t care about offending God, but do care about being punished. Your argument would have to be that there can’t be any imperfect contrition without also some love of God. That would be arguing that imperfect contrition doesn’t exist.

If a person ask you for forgivness and said “I am sorry that I did x because I now will be punished. Please forgive me”. This would not be enough.

I was not aware that God had appointed you judge over who gets to be forgiven or not.

 

[sudy]

I’ve just realised that you’re not actually Catholic. This would make a confession invalid in any case, I believe. Confession has conditions attached to it… it must be to a priest and we must be a validly baptised Catholic (though there are a few exceptions to this, such as danger of death or being Orthodox), the making of amends… being repentant, specifying all of the mortals sins in name and number, and a resolve to change your ways, and there must be absolution given.