Need Help on a Penance I received during Confession

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I have never received a monetary penance, but I was advised to do something I viewed as impossible. When I told the priest I didn’t think I could do it, he told me I needed to set a deadline, 6 months, to do it. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but I am glad that I was obedient. I know that it was the Holy Spirit I was talking to that day as well.

If what your confessor is asking of you seems impossible, try to find a way to make it possible.
 
Was this a huge mortal sin? I’ve never heard of monetary penance either. Can you increase your giving at mass or was it a gambling sin you repented of? sorry it is really none of my business but now I am intrigued, I will ask around and see if others have had this happen. dessert
 
Orogeny said:
Wow. I would never even consider telling my confessor that my penance was unacceptable. That sounds like negotiationg a penance.:eek: Or saying “Huh, I’m not THAT sorry!”

As GregoryPalamas has noted, Jesus actually gave this type of instruction to a young man knowing how burdensome it was. Perhaps the priest in this case had a reason for the penance given.

Peace

Tim
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It is perfectly acceptable to ‘negotiate’ a Penance if one seriously cannot do it without putting oneself into bad financial situations/cannot possibly do it at all.

You simply inform Father of this fact, and politely ask for a different Penance which is within your abilities.

I’m in College, if a priest asked me to say, pay £50 to a Charity, I will not be able to do so. Therefore asking him for something different is perfectly acceptable.
 
CatholicNick said:
It is perfectly acceptable to ‘negotiate’ a Penance if one seriously cannot do it without putting oneself into bad financial situations/cannot possibly do it at all.

You simply inform Father of this fact, and politely ask for a different Penance which is within your abilities.

I’m in College, if a priest asked me to say, pay £50 to a Charity, I will not be able to do so. Therefore asking him for something different is perfectly acceptable.
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Can you give me a Church reference for negotiating penance?

Peace

Tim
 
I’ve never heard of this. I would pose my question either to the AAA forum here, or ask your regular priest about it. I do not know Church law regarding this and priests have been known to deviate from Church law before. I believe there are some limitations as to what type of penances they can hand out.
 
Orogeny said:
Can you give me a Church reference for negotiating penance?

Peace

Tim
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I think that more than “negotiating” a penance, the previous poster was probably talking about making the priest aware of the surrounding conditions. That is simply being prudent, once the priest is aware of the situation you take the penance that you are given, unless you firmly believe that is against the Church law.
 
I really do think you people are getting the wrong end of the stick here:

I am not referring to a “I’ll trade you my 3 hail mary penance for 2 Our Fathers, Father, that should stettle the deal” or a “I dont like the sound of a Decade of the Rosary, I’ll say a Divine Mercy Chaplet instead” no, no, no.

I am referring to the cases where a penintent CANNOT possibly carry out a Penance given to them by a Priest, and the said penitent knows this at the time the priest gives it to them.

In such a situation, a Penitent asks the priest for a different penance which they CAN carry out.

P.S also… notice I used the word ‘negotiate’ originally in inverted commas. Which Implied I wasnt referring to a bartering kind of negotiate.
 
netmil(name removed by moderator) said:
I second this.

I have never heard of a monetary penance. It reminds me of selling indulgences.
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When I commited a sin that caused damage to some property (It was years ago :P) The priest gave me a monetary penance to give to the poor.

Although, after he told me what it was, he said “Can you afford that?” I replied “Yes.” and that was that. Perhaps priests should just ask that question before imposing a pricey penance.

As for what to do, I have no idea. Perhaps pay it over time, several weeks if need be. I much prefer the penance that kicks my rear end as opposed to one priest who ALWAYS says “Pray one Our Father and one Hail Mary.”

Then, if you have not completed your penance, mention it in your next confession and explain why you have not done it to the priest there, and perhaps he will waive it and give you something else.
 
Thank you everyone who gave me advice…let me start off by saying…it was not a sin that was related to property or harming someone or anything like that…EDIT .I was just taken back by the penance…because it was truly a first for me. However, after discussing this with my confirmation sponsor and mentor…I started to see this penance in a different light. I truly realize that God would not have placed me in this confessional at this particular time with a visiting Priest if this was not the penance he felt I should have…This penance, while extremely radical and unheard of, has caused me to truly reflect on the nature of this particular sin…it is going to cause me a huge financial strain, but I am putting the amount specified by the priest in the collection plate this weekend at Mass. I am going to totally surrender myself to God and trust that by completing this penance in accordance with his will, he will bless me and enable me to work through this without any adverse effects upon my finances. If I seek the Kingdom of God first…everything else will fall into place. I must trust in him totally as a child trust his parents. I will complete the penance. Thank you all for your support. God Bless, Sonny
 
Sonny, You da Man!

What a wonderful soldier for Christ you are!

God Bless. 👍
 
Sonny,

You’re a better man and Catholic than I think I would be under your circumstances. While I always had a lot of respect for you, it is now in the stratosphere. 👍
 
dumspirospero said:
but I am putting the amount specified by the priest in the collection plate this weekend at Mass. I am going to totally surrender myself to God and trust that by completing this penance in accordance with his will, he will bless me and enable me to work through this without any adverse effects upon my finances. If I seek the Kingdom of God first…everything else will fall into place. I must trust in him totally as a child trust his parents. I will complete the penance. Thank you all for your support. God Bless, Sonny
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You have my complete admiration. God Bless you and good luck:)

:heart:Blyss
 
Sonny;

Ah. I now understand the penance.

I will share my understanding with you, in order to encourage and uplift your resolve never to be put in the way of this temptation again.

I strongly suspect that the amount of money is the amount of the fine that you would have received, had a police officer happened to stop you, and had he noticed that you had been drinking.

In addition to the fine, you would have also lost your driver’s license and the use of your car, which would have been impounded in the police impound lot until such time as your driver’s license could be returned to you, which would be after a trial and (in the case of a guilty verdict) some community service or jail time.

So, while the penance does seem very steep, it’s only half, and really, it’s a lot less than half, of what you would have gotten, had a police officer noticed you that evening.

Here endeth the lesson.
 
It is great that you decided to complete your pennance but I do think it would have been perfectly acceptable to negotiate. In fact, I really think there might even be a possibility for negotiation at our final judgement.
 
This has been a very interesting thread. Penance is such a private subject, and yet, it’s good to know something of what other people are going through – not to mention what’s lawful and what’s not.

We have an old priest at my parish who almost always gives very gentle penances (Hail Marys and the like), but he is so wise and saintly that it’s very effective. However, he occasionally unleashes something eye-opening in the way of who he makes me pray for, or when.

For example, I found out the hard way that it’s not a good time to confess frustration with my living family when he’s missing his deceased relatives… He took it very seriously, and the time spent on my knees increased exponentially! (But I needed that.)
 
I’m glad Sonny kept the penance and found a way to pay it.
 
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