Question about Confession

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grandadmiralboo

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Howdy yall,
For a confession to be valid, we must have a firm purpose of ammendment. Is this requirement of only the mortal sins we’ve confessed, or are they required for the venials sins too? Would, during one confession, confessing venial sins along with mortal sins, yet lacking the firm purpose of ammendment for the venial sins, render the sacrament invalid?
 
Whichever sin you confess, you must have a purpose of avoiding that sin in the future, whether mortal or venial…
 
That doesn’t make too much sense to me. I mean, what if you just accidently mention a venial sin at the end of your confession that you hadn’t thought of before the confession, without realizing that their was not a purpose of ammendment for it? Why would that invalidate the entire sacrament?
 
The act of Contrition (CCC 1451) says Contrition is “sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.”

That is also why we prepared to confess our sins. If you thoguht of one quickly, maybe you wrene’t ready to confess it? Or if you did not feel reolved not to sin in that way again, we are not God, and only He forgives sins, maybe you are not fogiven?

In any case, not truly being preapred to express an act of contrition for ALL the sins you confessed (I think all CHruches require an Act of contrition after the sins are confessed), it owuld seem to me this compromises the confession. Your contrition was not pure…
 
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grandadmiralboo:
Howdy yall,
For a confession to be valid, we must have a firm purpose of ammendment. Is this requirement of only the mortal sins we’ve confessed, or are they required for the venials sins too? Would, during one confession, confessing venial sins along with mortal sins, yet lacking the firm purpose of ammendment for the venial sins, render the sacrament invalid?
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Reconciliation requires “detachment from sin”, a true human intent and desire to not offend God again. There is however “imperfect” contrition as well as “perfect” contrition. Both however require at least a desire to avoid sin.
 
So, confessing a venial sin one is not contrite for, renders the mortal sins confessed unforgiven?
 
None of us can second-guess your confession. Only mortal since are required to be confessed. So I don’t think a lack of contrition for a venial sin would invalidate a confession of a mortal sin.

But why would you go to confession saying, “oh, and I did this also, but I’m not sorry.” ?
 
Well, what if I realized that it was sinful and was sorry, however, I hadn’t made a solid commitment to not do it again. Something such as being lazy with chores?
 
I’m pretty new here and wouldn’t consider myself thoroughly knowledgable about all the teachings of the Church. With that said - I think that one of the things that the Sacrament of Reconciliation implies is that we are reconciled to our God, Savior, Church, etc. In my dictionary one of the definitions for reconcile is “to re-establish friendship between”, Logically one of the requirement to be reconciled is the intent not to sin (break that friendship) again. One would never choose to be reconciled to someone with whom they have had a “falling out” if that person said that they recognized the reason for the falling out but weren’t sorry for it or committed to making sure it didn’t happen again.

I’m not sure that invalidates your confession. Nor am I sure it really matters in the grand scheme of things. From my perspective the important thing about going to confession is not just that I am forgiven for my sin. The important thing is that I am reconciled with my God, Savior, Church, etc. Look at the forgiveness of your sins as only a part of your reconciliation.

If someone harms me and asks forgiveness, I will forgive them but I may not be reconciled with them for fear of being hurt again.

Just my view from the foxhole.
 
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grandadmiralboo:
Well, what if I realized that it was sinful and was sorry, however, I hadn’t made a solid commitment to not do it again. Something such as being lazy with chores?
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I think that if you thought to confess it, you had at least an implicit purpose of amendment. I wouldn’t worry about it.
 
That makes sense, any more thoughts on the question would be appreciated however. Thanks for yalls help.
 
My advice is don’t be srupulous. That’s a weakness I fall into from time to time, so I know how insidious it can be.

If you find yourself worried about whether past sins are forgiven, please bring it up to the priest at your next confession. He’ll be able to help.

:blessyou:
 
There’s really no doubt in my mind that I’ve been forgiven, however, it would be nice to know if contrition is specifically required for venial sins confessed, or if contrition is required for sin in general, or whether contrition is only required specifically for mortal sins, or whatever. Documentation would be cool.
 
Ok, what would happen if someone forgot to have contrition for a venial sin while in the confessional? Would the mortal sins confessed still be forgiven? Is it possible to forget to have contrition?
 
I’m thinking i should just go back and basically make the confession over again after explaining the situation to the priest. This is just such strange situation that I think that’s the only option I have.
 
Sounds like a bit of scrupulosity running through this thread, with perhaps a bit of legalism and a rather mechanistic approach to sin and repentance.

Sin is about relationship; our relationship with God and/or lack of it.

A mortal sin is a complete break with God. We have chosen our self as opposed to choosing God. We are either self directed (we have broken off that relationship with God) or we are God-directed; we are in relationship with Him. To die in the state of mortal sin is not a “gotcha!” situation; it is to die in a state of complete rejection of God.

A venial sin is not a complete rejection of God, it is an offense that weakens our relationship with him; it is self-ishness on our part, but not to the extent of rejecting Him.

An analogy would be to a marriage. If you fail to remember your anniversary because you were caught up in your own hobby, that would not defile your marriage covenant. Committing adultery would.

A venial sin does not need to be confessed; it can be forgiven during Mass.

Failure to be sorry for venial sins obvioulsy is a sign that one is not in a state of complete grace, but one is still in relationship with God; not perfect relationship with God, but in relationship.

This is not meant to indicate any casualness towards sin; we are to strive to be perfect as Our Father is perfect. But fussing and fuming about some venial sin one hasn’t gotten over yet sounds in scrupulosity.
 
I’m not worried whether I’m in a state of grace or not, I just want to do the confession thing right, so I don’t have to mess with it any more. I can’t receive communion until this issue is resolved, and the only fullproof way to do it, as i see, is to just to go to confession again, and get absolved again, this time with full attention to what I’m doing.
 
I’ve read this thread with interest. I’ve recently returned (am returning) to the church after many years away. I remember how to do the sacrement of Penance but need some help with what is a sin, venial vs mortal, how to make myself ready for my first confession in 20 yrs.

I read in one of the posts that being slack about chores could be considered a sin. I know lying, cheating, stealing, etc are sins but procrastinating and/or cutting corners with houswork is pretty subtle. How can I know if my actions through a day are sinful or not?

Also can someone remind me how the act of contrition goes? This is what I can remember. Oh my god I am heartily sorry for having offended you. And I detest all my sins because of your just punishment. … something something … you my Lord who are all good and deserving of all my love. And I firmly resolve with the help of your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. amen

thanks,
Mike
 
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travellinmike:
I’ve read this thread with interest. I’ve recently returned (am returning) to the church after many years away. I remember how to do the sacrement of Penance but need some help with what is a sin, venial vs mortal, how to make myself ready for my first confession in 20 yrs.

I read in one of the posts that being slack about chores could be considered a sin. I know lying, cheating, stealing, etc are sins but procrastinating and/or cutting corners with houswork is pretty subtle. How can I know if my actions through a day are sinful or not?

Also can someone remind me how the act of contrition goes? This is what I can remember. Oh my god I am heartily sorry for having offended you. And I detest all my sins because of your just punishment. … something something … you my Lord who are all good and deserving of all my love. And I firmly resolve with the help of your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. amen

thanks,
Mike
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If you are unsure if an act is a mortal sin ask it in Reconciliation, that is the best place to find out. All sins Mortal,Grave and Venial can be confessed and forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Act of Contrition is usually pasted on the wall of the “Confessional” for your use.
 
Hi Mike,

Here are two versions. There is an older one (the one you are thinking of) and a newer one. Do whichever you want, or there are many other versions.

O 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. Amen.

My God, I am sorry for my sins with all my heart. In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good, I have sinned against you whom I should love above all things. I firmly intend, with your help, to do penance, to sin no more, and to avoid whatever leads me to sin. Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. In his name, my God, have mercy. Amen.

Tell the priest if you have forgotten it, and he will lead you through one step by step.

To prepare yourself, be sure to pray for assistance from the Holy Spirit to help you make a good confession. He is quite reliable in helping.😉 Use a list of sins or go through the 10 commandments to help you examine yourself before confession.

Cutting a few corners while cleaning house is not large enough to be any kind of mortal sin. You only need to confess the mortal ones. Study the faith, and over time you will find it easier to naturally know what is a sin and what isn’t.
 
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