No Communion until absolution?

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thrasher59

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After a lapse of about a year, I went to confession, but priest would not grant absolution until several changes were made in my life as part of my penance,such as attend Mass for the next four Sundays.
Does this mean that I can’t receive Holy Communion until all conditions are met?
 
That priest refused you absolution and then gave you a 4 week penance? Really?
 
Yes. Once you are absolved of your sins, you may accept Communion.
God bless you!
 
Did the OP simply have to promise to attend Mass the next four Sundays, or actually have to do this before absolution would be granted?
 
Pretty serious stuff. Living in sin with a lady that’s not my wife, alcohol abuse,and pornography.
 
Exactly the way I understood it. He was very caring,and I was in the confessional for at least 15-20 minutes-No “Say a Rosary, Next”!
 
You did not mention the other changes the priest would like you to make as well as going to church the next four Sundays If you have not been going to Mass, then that would be good enough reason to ask you not to receive Communion until you are absolved.

Could be that Father wants to get you back to church, after all that is why he is there. We were a]ways taught that once you enter the confessional that Jesus is right there with the priest. I believe that then as I still do. Attend Mass see if this brings you peace. Whatever else Father asked of you, for it is for you. Think of how you will feel when you are able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ again. Prayers and God bless you.
 
Congratulations on attending confession and returning to the Church.

I’d go to another priest for confession.

Attending Mass for four Sundays is not a reasonable condition for absolution. The others may be but that’s a big red flag that something is wrong here.
Can. 980 If the confessor has no doubt about the disposition of the penitent, and the penitent seeks absolution, absolution is to be neither refused nor deferred.
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And…

https://www.osvnews.com/2019/06/14/can-priests-deny-absolution/
Any penitent who has been refused absolution is free to approach the priest again, go to another confessor or seek counsel from others as to resolve the ongoing issue that prevents absolution.
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From your OP…

priest would not grant absolution until several changes were made in my life as part of my penance,such as attend Mass for the next four Sundays.

It sounds like he has made absolution dependent on completing the penance. He shouldn’t do that.
 
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Have you not been going to Mass? He might just want to be making sure you’re there, if he doesn’t think that you’re going to change the way you’re living, I don’t think that he thinks he should give you absolution. I may be completely wrong, but just listen to his console for now.
 
Edmundus1581 said:
priest would not grant absolution until several changes were made in my life as part of my penance,such as attend Mass for the next four Sundays.

It sounds like he has made absolution dependent on completing the penance. He shouldn’t do that.
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Once again, it’s not a penance. He asked the man to make several changes in his life.
One of them is attend Church for four Sundays. Sunday Mass is an obligation - it cannot be a “penance”.

The OP did not mention what specific other changes the priest told him to make, but stated that he had confessed cohabiting with a lady he wasn’t married to, abusing alcohol and using porn.

It’s perfectly reasonable for a priest to want to see some commitment to actually changing one’s ways rather than giving someone absolution and by the next day they’re right back to committing mortal sins.

I don’t think you should be second-guessing a priest when someone is trying to get out of serious sin here. I also think the only reason the OP asked the question is that he needed to make sure whether or not he could receive Communion at the Masses he is planning to go to for the four Sundays, not to get an analysis of whether his priest was too harsh or not. He sounds quite happy with the interaction with the priest.
 
thrasher59 said:
Does this mean that I can’t receive Holy Communion until all conditions are met?
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Yep. Until you receive absolution, you are in a state of mortal sin and ineligible to receive communion.

My advice is to grit it out, fulfil the conditions imposed, and remain faithful.
 
Based on what we know, is the penetent has been away from the sacraments for a year, has serious sins, the priest took the time to really understand what was going on and was very caring, you assume too much. The priest is trying to get him back on track. Perhaps it was only in confession that the OP realized what all needed to change in his life. It makes sense to me.
 
This priest sounds a lot like St. John Vianney. Not the worst guy in the history of the church to emulate 🙂
 
Exactly. This is the first time a priest didn’t just give me a few trips around the Rosary and send me on my way. He did exactly what he was supposed to do, which is one reason why I transferred parishes to this church, even though it’s 24 miles away. It’s a small TLM only church,and I love it-Like my earliest memories of Communion rails, on the tongue,etc.
 
Not at all. He did exactly what he was supposed to do-Not just give me a few Hail Mary’s and send me on my way, like most do nowadays.
 
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