Need Help on a Penance I received during Confession

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dumspirospero

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Hello to all…I have never, ever complained the least bit about any type of penance I have ever received during confession, but this week, the Parish I went to had a visiting priest…after what I felt was a very good, heartfelt, sincere confession, he proceeded to give me a penance, which I told him I had already imposed upon myself…then he thought about it and gave me a monetary penance. I will not go into detail the amount he stated, but let me tell you…it is way more than I can afford. If he would have told me to make a monetary donation to Charity or to a Parish of my choosing and told me to choose an amount I felt comfortable with…I would have been fine or even a certain number of hours to volunteer at a soup kitchen or something…but he gave me a minimum amount to donate…and financially, it is going to be a struggle for me to make that donation…at least at this point in time. This amount may not be a lot for some people…and I am not poor by any means…but it would really put a dent in my expenses and right now, with everything going on, I just can’t really afford it without risking possibly not being able to pay all my bills in a timely manner. Has anyone else ever experienced a priest giving them a monetary penance in which they imposed a minimum amount they can give. Also…is it possible to discuss this with my parish priest and have him give me an alternate stiff penance in lieu of this one? I am torn, because as a Catholic who takes the Sacrament seriously…I feel obligated to find some way to accomplish this…no matter how it may effect my finances. Thanks and God Bless, Sonny
 
Sonny,

What if this priest actually has the chrisms that priests are supposed to have? What if he has spoken Jesus’ truth to you as Jesus did to the rich young man? What if by giving until it hurts God is prepared to give you a blessing greater than you could imagine?

Is penance really worth anything at all if we have the choice of picking something “comfortable”?

If the priest is really acting in persona Christi one may find that God has something for you and something that will make you more holy and more useful to the kingdom.

I’m not sure you can get many of the answers you need on a bulletin board like this but maybe. Do you have a spiritual father or companion whom you trust? If so, talk it over and pray it over with him.

CDL
 
You should not have accepted the Penance in the first place, and should have politely explained to the Priest in the Confessional that you could not afford the said amount. He would have given you another Penance you could do instead.

I don’t know what you can do. I would suggest like you said, to speak to a Priest about this.
 
Wow, that amazes me because I have never personally experienced anything except extremely light penances - with only one exception that involved talking to someone I would really have prefered to avoid.

If you can find a way to accomplish this penance, even if it takes some time, I suspect that it will be worthwhile. (I assume that there is no time limit?) But if you cannot without neglecting other obligations or think that it is inadvisable then I would not take advise on this from anyone else except the original priest or your own pastor.

If your own pastor (after knowing about the instructions from the other priest and the circumstances in which they were given), gives you different instructions then I think it would proper to follow them.
 
Sam88 said:
If your own pastor (after knowing about the instructions from the other priest and the circumstances in which they were given), gives you different instructions then I think it would proper to follow them.
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I second this.

I have never heard of a monetary penance. It reminds me of selling indulgences.
 
I’ve never heard of a monetary penance either. I’d suggest you talk to your pastor or Ask an Apologist on this forum. The apologists would be more able to help you than we can.
 
When I saw the title of this thread…

I thought you were taking up a collection, dum…

Anyway, I think it is rare to hear of monetary penances… but it appears that it is the amount, not the concept that is the burden…

I vote to discuss it at your next confession. Hope you can make some cents of all this.:rolleyes:

.
 
I"ve never heard of “money” being a part of the confessional penance. This is not the place to ask for donations for any cause. Are the sins not forgiven if you cannot afford to give x amount of dollars? I think not! Go to another priest as others suggest and tell the story. Bet he won’t take away absolution if you can’t pay the “bill” !

love and peace
Mom of 5
 
Mom_of_5 said:
I"ve never heard of “money” being a part of the confessional penance. This is not the place to ask for donations for any cause. Are the sins not forgiven if you cannot afford to give x amount of dollars? I think not! Go to another priest as others suggest and tell the story. Bet he won’t take away absolution if you can’t pay the “bill” !

love and peace
Mom of 5
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Was Jesus trying to raise money when he told the rich young ruler to give money? There is too much legalism afloat among some on this issue. What if the priest perceived the money was exactly the stumbling block this penitent was facing that might keep him from a holy life?

CDL
 
CatholicNick said:
You should not have accepted the Penance in the first place, and should have politely explained to the Priest in the Confessional that you could not afford the said amount. He would have given you another Penance you could do instead.

I don’t know what you can do. I would suggest like you said, to speak to a Priest about this.
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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
 
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.
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But the Priest gave the OP one penance first.
I think it’s a huge assumption that the monetary penance was specifically for this set of sins, That’s something that I would see if the OP verifies before assuming.
 
netmil(name removed by moderator) said:
But the Priest gave the OP one penance first.
I think it’s a huge assumption that the monetary penance was specifically for this set of sins, That’s something that I would see if the OP verifies before assuming.
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I wouldn’t question the good sense and grace of the priest unless I had the goods on him. I don’t think the OP was saying this. He was only saying that for whatever reason, he questioned the penance that was given.

CDL
 
First off, having your sins forgiven have NOTHING to do with whether or not you perform the penance given to you. Any penance that you fail to perform in this life will be performed in purgatory where the unpaid debt will be numerous times greater and more difficult which is why we should perform all of the penances that are given to us here on earth because we’re getting away with paying off with pennies debts which will later cost of dollars to pay off.

Secondly, if you can not perform a penance given to you, confess that at your next confession --explaining what the penance was, what it was given for and why you failed to perform it and let the priest take it from there.

I was once told to perform as my penance an annoymous act of kindness within the next 48 hours. Well, I found no opportunity to perform an annoymous act of kindness within the next 48 hours. I mentioned that during my next confession and was given an alternative penance of saying the rosary every day for a month – which, I was able to perform.
 
netmil(name removed by moderator) said:
I think it’s a huge assumption that the monetary penance was specifically for this set of sins, That’s something that I would see if the OP verifies before assuming.
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Well, the OP wrote:
I went to had a visiting priest…after what I felt was a very good, heartfelt, sincere confession, he proceeded to give me a penance, which I told him I had already imposed upon myself…then he thought about it and gave me a monetary penance.
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What is making you think that the penance was for something else? I don’t see any assumption on my part.

Maybe I missed it somewhere along the line, but when did the laity recieve the right to negotiate penance with the priest? I suppose one can always refuse the penance, but doesn’t that invaldiate the confession?

Peace

Tim
 
GregoryPalamas said:
I wouldn’t question the good sense and grace of the priest unless I had the goods on him.
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😃
I think the OP said that the first penance was something that he was already doing. Not exactly questioning, but rather being honest.
I don’t think the OP was saying this. He was only saying that for whatever reason, he questioned the penance that was given.

CDL
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I would be questioning a monetary penance as well.
 
Orogeny said:
Well, the OP wrote:What is making you think that the penance was for something else? I don’t see any assumption on my part.

Maybe I missed it somewhere along the line, but when did the laity recieve the right to negotiate penance with the priest? I suppose one can always refuse the penance, but doesn’t that invaldiate the confession?

Peace

Tim
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All I’m saying is that the priest may have been taken aback that someone was already doing the first penance and just went with another penance. Maybe a backup, so to speak.

We don’t know, we weren’t there and for sure, I have no line to Christ. I’m just saying that talking to another Priest, may be the best way to go as we do not know all the details.
 
My advice is to divide the monetary amount of this penance out over several paychecks, and pay it. If you were given, say, a 15-decade Rosary to pray as a penance and couldn’t find the time to pray it all at one sitting I’m sure you’d have no problem praying five decades at a time. I don’t know why you couldn’t do this penance in “installments” either.

Yes, it’s an unusual penance. But as one poster said, it may be just what you need.

Perhaps, while fulfilling this penance, you could pray for the priest of another poster on this forum, who gave advice in the confessional that directly contradicted Catholic teaching.
 
I had not heard of a priest give a penance as was described. I am not sure if understood correctly–but it seemed the priest was specific as to where the money is to go. This may be something to discuss with your next confessor. Maybe instead of giving a lump sum —you can still do you penance --by donating on a monthly basis–until the amt. of the penance is complete.
 
dumspirospero said:
Hello to all…I have never, ever complained the least bit about any type of penance I have ever received during confession, but this week, the Parish I went to had a visiting priest…after what I felt was a very good, heartfelt, sincere confession, he proceeded to give me a penance, which I told him I had already imposed upon myself…then he thought about it and gave me a monetary penance. I will not go into detail the amount he stated, but let me tell you…it is way more than I can afford. If he would have told me to make a monetary donation to Charity or to a Parish of my choosing and told me to choose an amount I felt comfortable with…I would have been fine or even a certain number of hours to volunteer at a soup kitchen or something…but he gave me a minimum amount to donate…and financially, it is going to be a struggle for me to make that donation…at least at this point in time. This amount may not be a lot for some people…and I am not poor by any means…but it would really put a dent in my expenses and right now, with everything going on, I just can’t really afford it without risking possibly not being able to pay all my bills in a timely manner. Has anyone else ever experienced a priest giving them a monetary penance in which they imposed a minimum amount they can give. Also…is it possible to discuss this with my parish priest and have him give me an alternate stiff penance in lieu of this one? I am torn, because as a Catholic who takes the Sacrament seriously…I feel obligated to find some way to accomplish this…no matter how it may effect my finances. Thanks and God Bless, Sonny
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Not knowing the specifics I can’t really comment on your particular case but I can say this. At a younger age, I stole a good size amount of money from someone. I had no chance of finding that person to pay them back. When I confessed this the Priest told me to pay that amount of money into a charity. There was more to the penance than that, but overall I thought it was fair.
 
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