Morbid: But, do any of you ever worry about dying unexpectedly without a prior confession?

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CatholicZ09

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A little background:

I’m a school teacher, and we’ve all heard of the terrible tragedies that have happened in school regarding gun violence and other such forms of violence.

I always think to myself: “What if I’m murdered without making a final confession?” I really have this strong fear of hell, as I’m sure most of you do, and this is one of my biggest fears.

Of course, doesn’t have to be in my job setting—to make it more general—what if I die in a car crash of something like that and can’t make a final confession.

This literally terrifies me.
 
No, I don’t worry about this. I don’t have a “strong fear of hell” either, I trust in Jesus’ divine mercy.

Try to live your life right, confess regularly, if you have a grave sin then repent to God right away and confess as soon as possible, and pray regularly. Rely on God for the rest.

Ask God to give you peace of mind, final perseverance and a happy death. Ask St Joseph, the patron of good death, to intercede. Ask Mary too. Then you can stop worrying about it. Worry isn’t going to help or change anything, it is a waste of energy.

The only use for a strong fear of hell is to motivate you to stop committing grave sin if you often do that. Once you’re pretty much on the straight and narrow, you should be acting out of love of God and neighbor, not from fear of hell.
 
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CatholicZ09 said:
A little background:

I’m a school teacher, and we’ve all heard of the terrible tragedies that have happened in school regarding gun violence and other such forms of violence.

I always think to myself: “What if I’m murdered without making a final confession?” I really have this strong fear of hell, as I’m sure most of you do, and this is one of my biggest fears.

Of course, doesn’t have to be in my job setting—to make it more general—what if I die in a car crash of something like that and can’t make a final confession.

This literally terrifies me.
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I believe it was St Ignatius Loyola who said that we should always maintain our souls so that we could receive Holy Communion at any time.

If you cannot accuse yourself of mortal sin, and have the virtual intention of gaining all the plenary and partial indulgences you can at every moment of your life, you have nothing to worry about.

If you can accuse yourself of being in mortal sin, you need to get to confession as soon as you can. This could involve reorganizing one’s life so as to remove the things that are pulling one’s soul into mortal sin in the first place.
 
Of course, I do. Here is what I do:

1.- Pray to God for the perseverance grace every day.
2.- Confess at least once each month or more often if I have mortal sin.
3.- Attend Mass every Sunday, unless there is a valid and just reason not to.
4.- Avoid mortal sin at all costs.

I am sure God considers our efforts even if things do not work out exactly as we planned for. Even people do, and God’s love for us and His desire for our eternal salvation is much greater than that of any person.
 
A devotion to Divine Mercy and daily Acts of Contrition help. Trying to behave is useful, too. However, I kinda think that the Divine Mercy of Jesus is greater than our ability or inability to self-manage this.
 
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No. I pray that I be spared an unprovided death, and strive every day (and often failing) to remain in the state of grace, or if I sadly fall, to repent and return to God as quickly as possible.

But I cannot live my life worrying about getting hit by a bus in the state of mortal sin. I have said this to others, and I say to myself as well: God does not play gotcha with us. I will trust that he will give me the necessary grace to persevere, and if, God forbid, I die in mortal sin, I KNOW it will be my fault, not because God played a game of bad timing with me.

Catholicism is not a religion of fear and the Catholic life is not a life of fear. It is a life of faith, hope, and charity. Fear and terror is not a part of that. If you’re living your life “literally terrified” then you have some adjustments to do in your relationship with God.
 
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Funny you bring this up.
This just happened to me last night.

In a certain sense, wouldn’t the best time to die be right after confession?
Is God going to have us die when he knows we are in a state of mortal sin when we normally do go to confession?
 
Yes, that would be the best time to die. I regularly think that every time I leave confession. I make jokes in my head, I prayed the Hail Mary’s, can the world end now.
 
That’s not morbid at all OP, but don’t allow this thought to consume you until it becomes a paranoia. After all, thinking about our own mortality usually leads us to the path of salvation, a good example of this was St. Francis Borgia.
I would also recommend the use and imposition of the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, for one of the promises attached to it is that she will save it’s users from eternal damnation. I know some here will drop a link to a modern view of the scapular, saying that this is a mere pious legend and so on, but I’ll stick with tradition, and so should you.
There’s also a small commendation of the soul by St. Alphonsus Liguori, basically asking Our Lady to intercede on our behalf with her Divine Son, granting us a death without mortal sin. It’s in one of his books about prayer, if I’m not mistaken.
 
This. Every single word of this!

Just to add, mortal sin is not something that we catch unaware like a virus from a shopping cart handle. We make the choice to sin mortally. Every bit of worry about dying unexpectedly in mortal sin is eliminated when one does not knowingly choose grave sin.
 
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I don’t worry about this. God loves me and has my back. I am sure He has yours, too.
 
It’s not just because of the probability of sudden, unexpected death. Having had family members in the hospital and calling parish after parish and not a single priest available for last rites is what is horrifying. An Episcopalian priest came to see my mom. But I believe St. John Vianney visited my dad’s deathbed. What happened afterwards is just miraculous.
 
An act of perfect contrition with the resolution to confess at your next opportunity absolves you in anticipation of your Confession. If you can weep for the wounds your sins inflicted upon Christ, you can be saved even if you don’t have the opportunity to confess.

Besides this, there are a number of devotions to ensure access to salutary grace in the hour of death: The Brown Scapular, the Nine First Fridays, the Five First Saturdays, and the Thirty Daily Communions. Practice these devoutly, and you can be assured that death will not take you unprepared.
 
I don’t worry about this, I just pray for a good death and consolation at the hour of death. Whatever happens, have faith and trust in God.
 
I rely on the providence of God. If God lets me die unexpectedly, I would presume that he won’t let me be condemned because of it. I always try to stay out of mortal sin, and if I think I may have committed one, go to confession quickly afterwards.
So I always know I could die unexpectedly, but don’t worry about this.
Actually, when I die, I expect I will offer up my suffering and death, joining this with Christ and his own sufferings.
 
porthos11 said:
Catholicism is not a religion of fear and the Catholic life is not a life of fear. It is a life of faith, hope, and charity. Fear and terror is not a part of that. If you’re living your life “literally terrified” then you have some adjustments to do in your relationship with God.
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This. Just as God does not play a game of bad timing with us, so too those who die in a state of mortal sin are nonetheless entrusted to His mercy and compassion.
 
CatholicZ09 said:
This literally terrifies me.
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Anyone who is friends with God has nothing to fear. Our concerns in the regard with which you spoke can become legalism if we truly believe there is a strict formula which must be followed to salvation. It is love, pure and simple. Remember, God wants you to come home. He is not watching for excuses to trap you into “missing out”. I see no reason for any honest Christian to fear anything of the afterlife but I very much understand your uncertainties as they are a part of human life. It takes practice and discipline for love to overcome fears of this kind.

1John.4​

  1. [ 18 ] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear
Blessings to you, always. 🙂
 
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All the time. Getting a confession where I am at takes weeks (by appointments only, and feel like I am bothering for asking). And the city I live in is a city of 300 000 with 20+ parishes and it is the same for all of them… They do have general absolution during sunday services, and I asked God for forgiveness regularely, and ask St-Joseph many times a day for his protection and prayers.
 
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I pray the rosary every day and I find the Hair Mary and the O My Jesus prayers to be reassuring.
 
No I dont worry about this at all. I dont have a strong fear of hell either. I am sorry you do though. I’d say read the gospel and then put your trust in God. In the gospels we are told how to go to heaven and all about Jesus’ love for us, we learn how he literally does anything to take us to heaven with him, including come to earth in yukcy human form and suffer the horror of his life and death… for each of us… just so we can go to heaven. Going to hell is pretty hard if you fall in love with Jesus, so make that you no. 1 priority. Then cultivate a devotion to Mary cos she suffered too (learn about the 7 sorrows of Mary) for love of us for the sake of God, yep you got it, so we can go to heaven. She isnt Queen of heaven so she can rest on her laurels and lie about on the clouds all day, no, she works hard leading her children to her Son, so they can go to heaven. Many of her devotions have promises attached in which she will help you get to heaven. Devotions to Jesus and the saints can also help keep you on the narrow path to heaven.
Incidentally a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (First Friday’s) has a promise which promises you last rites so if you want a simple answer to your fear practice this devotion (no. 12). It only takes 9 months, I have done it several times, it is a wonderful devotion. God bless you.
http://first-fridays.us/Home/First-Friday-Promises
 
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