Question about confessing sin your not sure you committed

[Catholic102886]

So I went to confession 2 days ago and confessed a sin that I believe happened about 10years ago that I had forgotten about. The thing is I wasn’t a 100% sure i actually committed that sin though I felt that if I did not confess It i would not be able to stop thinking about it. Did I commit a sin by confessing a sin I wasn’t sure if I committed or not?
Thanks a lot.
Chris

 

[jmcrae]

I’m trying to figure out how you would not know whether you had committed a sin, or not.

Either you did the action, or you did not. If you did the action, it’s good that you confessed it.

If you aren’t sure whether you did it or not, then you probably didn’t, or else you didn’t mean to do it, which amounts to the same thing - you wouldn’t have been required to confess it, in that case.

If I thought I did it, but wasn’t sure (?) I’d just tell the priest that I couldn’t remember whether I had done that thing, or not, and then take his advice on what to do next.

 

[Catholic102886]

I just confessed it as if I did it. I was prolly only 13-14 years old when i believe it happened and im now almost 24. Within those ten years I was prescribed a medication that I feel had affected my memory negatively. Im not on the medication any more and my memory is perfectly fine now, though some of my distant past seems a little blury. I really do not want to abuse the confessional and confess a sin i have not committed but i feel as if I needed to confess this because it was potentially mortal and was nagging my conscience.

 

[jmcrae]

I just confessed it as if I did it. I was prolly only 13-14 years old when i believe it happened and im now almost 24. Within those ten years I was prescribed a medication that I feel had affected my memory negatively. Im not on the medication any more and my memory is perfectly fine now, though some of my distant past seems a little blury. I really do not want to abuse the confessional and confess a sin i have not committed but i feel as if I needed to confess this because it was potentially mortal and was nagging my conscience.

I wouldn’t worry about it, at this point. You didn’t sin by confessing it, even if your memory was playing tricks on you, because it was not your intention to deceive the priest, nor to mock the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Put the whole thing behind you, and don’t worry. God understands what you intended to do. He’s not sitting there in the Confessional waiting to pounce on you if you happen to misspeak, or misremember stuff. He’s there to welcome you back to His Sacraments.

Try to avoid scrupulosity - scrupulosity tends to destroy faith, since it places our salvation into our own hands, instead of in God’s hands, as though we could be saved by saying or doing the right things. Not so. It’s God who saves us, and He accepts even our mistakes, when our intentions are pure. Put your faith in God, therefore, and don’t worry.

 

[Catholic102886]

Thanks for the response! And yes I do tend to be scrupulous from time to time. Thanks again.

 

[Bookcat]

If we decide to confess something we are unsure of…we just say it like:

I am not sure I committed it …or it is somewhat doubtful…etc

that is how such are handled…

and if our tongue slips up …no worries…it is easy to have a slip of the tongue …

and yes…it seems you were trying to make a good confession…God knows you and loves you! keep following Christ!

it is not recommended though that those with scruples start confessing a lot of doubtful things…

and of course for any scruple…dismiss such and stand firm

 

[adv1sor]

God knows what is in your heart.

Remember that it’s not just you and the priest in the confessional. Jesus Himself is there.

I don’t think for a minute that He would fault you in any way for confessing something you think you might have done as a youth. In fact, I know he would have only forgiveness whether you actually committed this sin or not.