Lying during Confession

[Not_Sure_1]

Now I know that to deliberately conceal a mortal sin in confession is a mortal sin, but…

after I confessed all of my mortal sins, I decided to ask the priest for advice for some of my imperfections, specifically my need to accept the will of God instead of my will. I gave three examples, one was a lie. I told him that sometimes I get the feeling that God is calling me to become a priest, but I reject it or put it on hold because I want to have children. (this is truth). Another example, was that sometimes I get the desire to become a priest, even though at times God seems to be calling me to the married life (this was a lie).
I said it, I know it was a stupid mistake, so it wouldnt seem to the priest that I thought for sure that God was calling me to the priesthood.

Did this lie invalidate my confession, and was it grave matter?

 

[rfournier103]

Confession is a place one should NEVER lie. One goes there to bare his soul and be honest with God, and himself. You may want to stop doing that.

 

[teachccd]

Now I know that to deliberately conceal a mortal sin in confession is a mortal sin, but…

after I confessed all of my mortal sins, I decided to ask the priest for advice for some of my imperfections, specifically my need to accept the will of God instead of my will. I gave three examples, one was a lie. I told him that sometimes I get the feeling that God is calling me to become a priest, but I reject it or put it on hold because I want to have children. (this is truth). Another example, was that sometimes I get the desire to become a priest, even though at times God seems to be calling me to the married life (this was a lie).
I said it, I know it was a stupid mistake, so it wouldnt seem to the priest that I thought for sure that God was calling me to the priesthood.

Did this lie invalidate my confession, and was it grave matter?

It seems that after you confessed “all of my mortal sins” you sought a form of counseling from your confessor. You wished to discern whether or not the things that you desire are God’s will or your will. Then you proceeded to provide examples in which one of them was a lie. So, what was your expected response? How would you utilize the priest’s counsel based on deceptive facts? Do you see where I am going with this? I believe that it was more a problem of wasting the priest’s time than lying during confession. You didn’t need to bring any of that up in the first place since your confession was sufficient for absolution of all of your mortal sins.

I would mention this the next time as a lie and leave it at that. I do not think that it is a mortal sin but bad judgment on your part. Now, go and talk to a priest outside the confessional regarding your calling to the priesthood and be upfront. You can run but you can’t hide. I’m doing that with my calling to the diaconate. Been running a while now and coming up with all kinds of reasons. You can’t find one I haven’t thought of except that I am married. God bless you with your discernment as we can use a few more priests… teachccd

 

[SaintPatrick333]

get ye back to confession and make yourself right with Jesus

 

[Not_Sure_1]

It seems that after you confessed “all of my mortal sins” you sought a form of counseling from your confessor. You wished to discern whether or not the things that you desire are God’s will or your will. Then you proceeded to provide examples in which one of them was a lie. So, what was your expected response? How would you utilize the priest’s counsel based on deceptive facts? Do you see where I am going with this? I believe that it was more a problem of wasting the priest’s time than lying during confession. You didn’t need to bring any of that up in the first place since your confession was sufficient for absolution of all of your mortal sins.

I would mention this the next time as a lie and leave it at that. I do not think that it is a mortal sin but bad judgment on your part. Now, go and talk to a priest outside the confessional regarding your calling to the priesthood and be upfront. You can run but you can’t hide. I’m doing that with my calling to the diaconate. Been running a while now and coming up with all kinds of reasons. You can’t find one I haven’t thought of except that I am married. God bless you with your discernment as we can use a few more priests… teachccd

To add to it, after I had been at adoration, I remembered what I did, felt guilty and ran back to the confessional, and told the priest (anonymously) that I had lied, named the specific lie, but it was not technically a confession, considering I did not get absolved. He just gave me some advice. I wanted advice on conforming myself to God’s will, and what I did in the confessional was stupid.

The question remains was it grave?, but more importantly did it invalidate my confession? Because if it did I’ll confess my sins for that time all over again, even though this has been one of the times I’ve been most descriptive and open (rather than just naming sins in type and number). If my confession was invalid, I’ll go back and confess it all again. But if it is not, then I will only confess the lie.

 

[thistle]

Now I know that to deliberately conceal a mortal sin in confession is a mortal sin, but…

after I confessed all of my mortal sins, I decided to ask the priest for advice for some of my imperfections, specifically my need to accept the will of God instead of my will. I gave three examples, one was a lie. I told him that sometimes I get the feeling that God is calling me to become a priest, but I reject it or put it on hold because I want to have children. (this is truth). Another example, was that sometimes I get the desire to become a priest, even though at times God seems to be calling me to the married life (this was a lie).
I said it, I know it was a stupid mistake, so it wouldnt seem to the priest that I thought for sure that God was calling me to the priesthood.

Did this lie invalidate my confession, and was it grave matter?

If you sincerely confessed all mortal sins you could remember and did not deliberately conceal any during Confession then it was valid and you were absolved.
What you did after that was pretty stupid but is for another confession. It does not affect your previous one.

 

[teachccd]

To add to it, after I had been at adoration, I remembered what I did, felt guilty and ran back to the confessional, and told the priest (anonymously) that I had lied, named the specific lie, but it was not technically a confession, considering I did not get absolved. He just gave me some advice. I wanted advice on conforming myself to God’s will, and what I did in the confessional was stupid.

The question remains was it grave?, but more importantly did it invalidate my confession? Because if it did I’ll confess my sins for that time all over again, even though this has been one of the times I’ve been most descriptive and open (rather than just naming sins in type and number). If my confession was invalid, I’ll go back and confess it all again. But if it is not, then I will only confess the lie.

The priest should have explained this when you went back to him Obviously if he did not grant you absolution then there was no sin. You need to bring your question to a priest and clear this up as we are not your confessors here on this forum. We just give advice like this post of mine… God bless you…teachccd