Omissions in confession

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Yes, that would be fine. Say it as best as you’re able, in a way that most reasonable people would know what you’re talking about.

-Fr ACEGC
 
woolycaterpillar said:
I just had a thought. Suppose someone did not know the exact technical terms of the sins? They tell the sin the best they can but don’t know or understand how to articulate it?
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We can only do our best.
edward_george1 said:
But there is a difference between actually having a concern for making a good confession and being scrupulous. The scrupulous will obsess over making a good confession, which is not healthy, nor what we are called to do vis-a-vis receiving the Lord’s forgiveness.
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I agree. I just think sometimes people are quick to say any concern is scrupulousity. There are a lot of scrupulous people, many in fact post here. Obsession, rumination, unshakeable doubts seem to me the signs of scrupulosity
 
exnihilo said:
I agree. I just think sometimes people are quick to say any concern is scrupulousity. There are a lot of scrupulous people, many in fact post here. Obsession, rumination, unshakeable doubts seem to me the signs of scrupulosity
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My general rule is that if someone knows enough about scrupulosity to be worried that they might be scrupulous, I assume that it’s at least a strong possibility. And in any case, pastoral care is best rendered in person by the qualified, and not online by internet forums.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I agree that “talk to your priest” is the best advice, but I can’t help but point out that you don’t need to confess oral sex distinctly when you’ve already confessed sex outside of marriage. I think it’s kind of implied, and oral sex isn’t inherently sinful. It’s sinful you were doing it with someone you’re not married to. Since you’ve already confessed fornication, I think you’re probably covered.
 
woolycaterpillar said:
I just had a thought. Suppose someone did not know the exact technical terms of the sins? They tell the sin the best they can but don’t know or understand how to articulate it?
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@woolycaterpillar , I know some who in their training to be priests were taught to be ready for penitents who use “crude or earthy” terms to confess because its the language they know best . They were taught to take care not to laugh at this , but rather to accept the penitent as he/she is .
 
All sins in the past have to confessed even before a person joined the joined the church???
 
If a person entering the Church has not been baptized, then they do not need to confess, as baptism washes away original sin and all actual sins committed up to that point.

If they have been baptized, then they must make a confession of their life up to that point. But this kind of “general confession” is just that, general. It doesn’t look like “I committed X sin 4,592 times in my life,” but more talks about it generally, about patterns and tendencies. “I committed X sin frequently from the time I was in high school” or something like that. Obviously, the impossible is not expected, we don’t have to give an itemized list of every sin we’ve ever committed, but rather to confess things generally as best as we can.

-Fr ACEGC
 
So could I just ask something - I confessed sleeping with three others and also my husband before marriage, pornography and masturbation. I did not confess other sexual deeds which I should not have done (unnatural) with my husband and those people , nor did I mention cohabiting with husband for 12 weeks before marriage. I probably need to do that as well? ie was I specific enough the first time ? I’m a new convert . Thank you 🙏
 
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My untrained perspective: The confessor probably understood that if you were fornicating, masturbating, and using pornography, then you were likely also engaged in various other kinds of unnatural sex acts. And cohabitation is only sinful insofar as it invites fornication and other sexual sins. Since you confessed to fornication and, by insinuation, the other types of sexual immorality that someone who fornicates is likely to commit, you do not need to confess to cohabitation separately. At least, you reasonably believed that you did not need to spell out all of these sexual sins in addition to fornication. So you intentionally withheld nothing. It would not hurt to confess the sins you are worried about at some point in the future, however. And thus, I have answered my own question, with the help of the above comments.
 
🙂 thank you and glad we can help each other . At the end of the day we are being obedient to the church by trying our best to use the sacrament of reconciliation and God understands that. I always put in mind of that quote ‘ maybe I run slow but I’m lapping everyone sitting on the couch’
 
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Thank you all for your helpful replies. I have scheduled a meeting with a local priest whom I trust. I am becoming confident that these concerns are indeed scrupulous, thanks both to some of the comments above and also to some additional aspects of the confession that I have remembered. I hope that the priest will be able to guide me. God bless!
 
I think you’ve answered your question. If you forget, you forget. There’s a difference between forgetting and choosing to omit something.
 
It sounds like you’re in the clear in re the sexual sins you didn’t mention. As for cohabitating, you might mention it in your next confession that you forgot to bring that up, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it otherwise.
 
I’ve only jumped in for a bit, honestly. I’m about to be really busy again.
 
In some form or another, yes. And I apologize if my response was a bit abrupt. Busy day today.
 
Thank you Father !! I’ll pray for you to have all the strength you need for your vocation and we are all so grateful to you 🙂
 
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