Not confirmed yet; can i get absolution?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ziggamafu
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Z

Ziggamafu

Guest
so yeah. i know i’ve committed various sins, probably a few premeditated, since my decision to come into the Church. i would love to go to confession but i’m not confirmed yet. now i’m wondering…theologically speaking, am i screwed if i die between now and my confirmation with mortal sin on my soul? say i plan on lieing, i know it is a sin, i plan on doing it anyway, then do it. of course you could insert any various sin in there…the point is, i am now sorry for it and wish i didn’t do it, though knowing me, I’ll probably do it again. i’ve asked God for forgiveness. but without the sacrament of confession, what more can i do?

what does a person who is not yet Catholic but wants to be and will be in the future do in this situation? :confused:
 
If you explain your situation, most any priest would be willing to listen to you and give advice in the confessional, but they would not be able to give you absolution. In the meantime, our theology teaches that if you are have perfect contrition, but are unable to go to confession, your sins will be forgiven until you can. Here is a traditional prayer which will help you to achieve perfect contrition:
“Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin.”
 
Are you in the process of being received into the Church, formally? Said another way, are you part of an RCIA group in a Catholic parish, student center at college, or working with a priest or deacon to complete the sacraments of initiation?

Reason I ask, is that you will be given the opportunity to receive the sacrament of reconciliation prior to your being confirmed and receiving the Eucharist (assuming you are already baptized), so if you feel ready to do that now, you might want to talk to a priest about when it would be appropriate for you to do so.

God bless you as you continue the journey…
 
GRRR. I hit the backspace key and my entire post was erased. How horribly frustrating. ANYWAY…

I’m under the impression that RCIA doesn’t start until September(ish). Is this a general rule or does it vary from parish to parish? I do plan on joining the next class. However, I have also been told that I could fall into the “catechized myself” loophole (by Karl Keating, for one), in which case I could skip or at least postpone the class until after I get confirmed immediately. The problem with doing this is that my fiance plans on joining the Church but would need to go through RCIA. Obviously, I would like to enter the Church with her at the same time. But would that even be spiritually okay? Also, we’re getting married in a couple weeks and it is at a Vineyard (non-denominational protestant) church we currently belong to. If I were to be confirmed within the next two weeks before the wedding, would that mean we would have to lose all the money and time invested in our current wedding and instead get married at a Catholic church? Could lead to all sorts of problems…of course this is getting things waaaaay off topic. But what I gather is that since I’m not currently enrolled in RCIA, I’m still screwed out of confession…
 
Different parishes have different cycles for the RCIA, and I think with the information you have provided here, you should definitely talk to a priest in the parish you intend to belong to.

As for getting married in another Christian church, that should not be a problem. People come into the church all the time who were married in a different Christian tradition. Their marriages are validated and blessed, sacramentally, in a special ceremony sometime prior to when they are received into or fully inititated into the Church. Your marriage would be validated in a special blessing ceremony sometime before you are welcomed/received into the Church.

Peace to you, and blessings on your marriage!
 
40.png
parishminister:
Different parishes have different cycles for the RCIA, and I think with the information you have provided here, you should definitely talk to a priest in the parish you intend to belong to.

What should I say?
40.png
parishminister:
As for getting married in another Christian church, that should not be a problem. People come into the church all the time who were married in a different Christian tradition.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but what I’m saying is that I know I should be Catholic and want to be Catholic and am looking forward to my Confirmation before hand. But since Confirmation won’t happen until after I’m married (although it could, if indeed I fall under the category of “catechized myself”), is getting married in a Protestant church wrong?
40.png
parishminister:
Their marriages are validated and blessed, sacramentally, in a special ceremony sometime prior to when they are received into or fully inititated into the Church. Your marriage would be validated in a special blessing ceremony sometime before you are welcomed/received into the Church.
Click to expand...
How can I receive a Sacrament before I’m Confirmed?
Click to expand...
 
I don’t think Confirmation is the issue. You are not yet Catholic, and consequently can not receive the Catholic Sacraments, including confession. Some parishes run RCIA year round, so you might want to check with a local pastor.

But I’m curious. Since both you and your fiancee plan to join the church, why did you not plan to be married in the church? In other words, both go through RCIA first, then get married in the church?

JimG
 
Baptized Christians who are candidates for full communion with the Roman Catholic Church will celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation prior to their reception of both the Eucharist and Confirmation. Non-baptized persons (catechumens) have no need to receive this sacrament, since Baptism will remove all sin from them.
They are encouraged, as new Catholics to go to confession sometime during the Easter season.

For the inquirer, are you a baptized Catholic or some other Christian tradition? And I really do recommend that you talk to a priest. I am giving you benefit of my training and knowledge on the subject, but each case can be handled differently, based upon pastoral needs and as you stated so aptly, what the level of catechesis has been, understanding of the faith, etc.

Peace…
 
To answer both of you:

I was raised Fundamentalist (Reformed), King-James-Only, Baptist. I was sent to private schools that represented the same stance. At these schools, more time was devoted to training the children how to refute Catholicism than anything else. I was baptized at 11 or 13, I can’t really remember…

In high school, I had seen and experienced enough to make me feel that Christianity - or at least the Christianity I was raised with - was bogus. After studying several religions and philosophical history, I gradually developed a New Age spirituality.

First two years of college, I became agnostic and resentful towards my Christian roots. I blamed Christianity for quite a bit and that led me to write long-winded columns attacking it in the student newspaper (go figure, academia ate it up).

Beginning in the second two years of college, through about a five or six month ordeal of kicking a screaming, I came to believe in a personally conscious God and then that Christianity had the most evidence to back Her God up. Since the apologetics and apologists I studied and knew were non-denominational Evangelicals, it only made sense that this is what I became. I wanted to be baptized a second time since I felt it would be more meaningful.

My first year of University (last Fall) is about the time I began to study Catholicism. And once again, it took about a five or six month ordeal of kicking and screaming. However, my fiancé’ and I were engaged and planned the wedding before we knew we would in fact be Catholics. Therefore, we now have just under four weeks until the wedding. Since it was only in the past two weeks (Thursday, June 17 at ~6:50PM Eastern) that I decided to come into the Church (and my fiancé is not fully certain quite yet…but more so every day), it doesn’t leave much time to change things around. Not that we would have the money to do so anyway.

On a side note, I posted a question about the 4-way medal on another forum…do you guys know if they are recognized officially as being legit (meeting the apparitions requirements and capable of granting the blessings associated with each of the sacramentals, individually) or not?
 
What a great testimony! Have you found a priest to talk to yet?
I will be praying for you and your fiance’ to make the right decision…
I’m not advocating people go outside the Church for marriage, but neither of you is Catholic, just yet (officially, anyway…sounds like you are both becoming Catholic in heart) and you would be entering into a Christian marriage…but I really, really want you to talk with a priest. Do you know one, or know of a Catholic parish close to you?

I can’t find any information specific to 4 way medals, but will ask my associate pastor tomorrow. It’s not specifically listed in my book of sacramentals, but since it’s a combination of 4 that are listed, I am pretty confident it carries the same blessing for the wearer. I wear a 4 way medal, personally and I purchased it at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C. and I don’t believe they sell medals that aren’t legit or sanctioned. I don’t want to give you any information that’s incorrect, so once I know for sure, I will post again.

Peace…
 
40.png
parishminister:
What a great testimony! Have you found a priest to talk to yet?
I will be praying for you and your fiance’ to make the right decision…
I’m not advocating people go outside the Church for marriage, but neither of you is Catholic, just yet (officially, anyway…sounds like you are both becoming Catholic in heart) and you would be entering into a Christian marriage…but I really, really want you to talk with a priest. Do you know one, or know of a Catholic parish close to you?
Click to expand...
Okay. Called my local priest. Set up a time to meet with him this Friday. However, we will probably only be going to the local parish on weekdays. On Sundays, we will be going to a Charasmatic Catholic Church about a half hour away (Al Kresta attends there!) since it is the most “Vineyard-like” Roman Catholic church Laura and I have ever been to (i.e. seeker sympathetic, culture contempory, upbeat worship music, etc.) So I should set something up with that guy, too.

I’m scared that the priest will be a jerk. Pretty sure it’s an idea that Screwtape implanted into my brain…
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top