Presumption of Forgiveness

[LeahMamaof2]

Hello all I hope I can articulate my thoughts on this subject in a way that is easy to understand, but I apologize in advance if I don’t make much sense.

I am a cradle Catholic who fell away from the church about 7 years ago but who has come back about 2 years ago. I attended Parochial school for 10 years, but my catechism wasn’t the best to say the least. I have a great desire to be strong in my faith, but falter quite a bit.

I didn’t attend Church this previous Sunday. I should have, and I really could have, but let other things prevent me from going. I kind of felt in my heart that since this a rare occurance, I would go during the week to Mass and confession beforehand. My fiance says this is presumption and that is a sin in itself.

My question is: when someone is sinning, are they not at least subconsiously presuming they will be forgiven? If someone sins against chastity, and they don’t stop themselves from sinning or stop themselves before it gets way out of hand, aren’t they presuming they will be forgiven? Wouldn’t they NOT sin if they thought there was a chance they wouldn’t be forgiven?

I’m so sorry if this is too long or hard to understand, and I thank all who read and respond to help me understand this idea more.

Blessings,

Leah

 

[marcadam]

Great questions!

LeahMamaof2:

I didn’t attend Church this previous Sunday. I should have, and I really could have, but let other things prevent me from going. I kind of felt in my heart that since this a rare occurance, I would go during the week to Mass and confession beforehand. My fiance says this is presumption and that is a sin in itself.

This doesn’t quite seem to rise to the level of presumption, at least not on a theological level. Here is a helpful definition. (Can I just say that I love the Catholic Encyclopedia?) You’re close to #5, which would seem to apply to your case–especially if this was your attitude on Sunday morning, while there may still have been available Masses for you to attend–but you nonetheless recognize the need for confession of this mortal sin.

It is a lesser form of presumption, though. Riddle me this: what if you were hit by a bus before you could get to confession? Seriously, life is full of surprises, and there is no telling what could separate you from the confessional. It’s best not to mess with mortal sin like this. It’s quite a lot like playing with fire. Eternal fire, as it were.

My question is: when someone is sinning, are they not at least subconsiously presuming they will be forgiven?

No. They may hope for it, but hope and presumption are not the same thing. See the last paragraph on the presumption entry.

I hope this helps! And, get to confession!

 

[AlanFromWichita]

LeahMamaof2:

I didn’t attend Church this previous Sunday. I should have, and I really could have, but let other things prevent me from going. I kind of felt in my heart that since this a rare occurance, I would go during the week to Mass and confession beforehand. My fiance says this is presumption and that is a sin in itself.

No, I don’t exactly understand. Do you mean that you intend to go to Communion during the week, and then confession (after Communion) afterwards, like on the weekend Mass?

Going to Mass with an unconfessed sin is not a problem, as I understand it, as long as you don’t receive the Eucharist.

If you wish to take the Eucharist before confession of the ostensibly mortal sin of missing Mass, then I’d say go based on Church teaching that you must first go to confession. Of course, when Jesus taught the first shall be last and gave His mother the Immaculate conception in advance by His cross, I certainly could not be your judge in this case.

My question is: when someone is sinning, are they not at least subconsiously presuming they will be forgiven? If someone sins against chastity, and they don’t stop themselves from sinning or stop themselves before it gets way out of hand, aren’t they presuming they will be forgiven? Wouldn’t they NOT sin if they thought there was a chance they wouldn’t be forgiven?

There’s a lot going on in this paragraph. First, I’d say we cannot “assume” they are presuming anything about sin, even at a subconscious level because, for one thing we simply don’t know another’s heart just by their behavior and even verbal confession at times. Also there is the possibility that they do not expect forgiveness because at the subconscious level they really don’t believe in a God – especially one who gives and takes life but also forgives.

If someone sins against chastity, it might be because of what you described, especially if they’re technical detailed people like I sometimes am like. Also it might be their “animal instincts” that just mean their physical vitality control them more than their mental restraint. Whether that translates into “sin” is a related issue but different discussion.

The last sentence is fascinating. People tend to play games that are part controllable and partly chance. If it’s completely under control it’s no challenge; if it’s completely luck than there’s no point to play at all. In psychology, we find that intermittend rewards are the best at keeping people playing games after they quit paying off. For example, if a pop machine doesn’t deliver once or twice, it would be considered defective and would be serviced. Same as a pop machine that delivered without being paid. A slot machine, though, pays off sometimes, so if it quits paying out people won’t even notice for a while and will keep playing.

Alan

 

[Dr.Colossus]

Wouldn’t they NOT sin if they thought there was a chance they wouldn’t be forgiven?

It seems to me that most sin, if it is premeditated, is preceded by a person convincing themselves that it isn’t so bad (i.e. isn’t sinful or is only venially sinful). Even if they later admit to themselves that their actions were mortally sinful and that they committed them with full knowledge of their gravity, it would not have been presumption because the sinner did not think to themselves, “this is gravely wrong but God will forgive me.” They instead thought “well, maybe it’s not *so *bad…” and therefore did not ponder a future forgiveness at all.