Question about confession?

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thequietsinger

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Hello all 🙂

I am 16, and currently Greek Orthodox. I am going to attend RCIA in 2 years. Hopefully my parents will be understanding, because I want to come home so badly 🙂 I feel bad asking these questions, but I don’t know the answer to them, so I ask you to please forgive me if they are the same ones you have seen 1,000+ times.

I do want to say that my Mom was raised Catholic, but she converted to G.O. along with my Dad, but I won’t go into detail. I was speaking to her last night about how I wanted to go to confession before I receive Communion, because I have not attended any type of service in the Greek Orthodox church in 6 years, nor have I received Communion in that period of time. I feel that it is important for me to do because I have been away for so long. She said that it wasn’t important for me to go to confession because I could confess my sins to God myself without a Priest being present and I would still be absolved. However, she said she wasn’t going to stop me from going to confession. She also told me that in the Catholic church, you are required to go to confession every week before Mass. That didn’t sound accurate to me, or to what I have read/studied. I know you must confess mortal sins before you receive Communion, but you don’t have to confess venial sins.

Is it a requirement to go to confession every week in the Catholic church? Whether it is or it isn’t won’t have any affect on me converting, so please be honest with me.

Do you think I should go to confession before re-entering the church/receiving Communion, or should I just confess my sins to God myself? I feel very uncomfortable with that because never, in all the years I have been G.O. have I ever read anything about being able to “absolve” yourself. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Thank you so much! I appreciate it

Much Love!
 
thequietsinger said:
Hello all 🙂
Is it a requirement to go to confession every week in the Catholic church?
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Nope. At minimum you are required to go to confession at least once a year. Catechism of the Catholic Church 2042
Do you think I should go to confession before re-entering the church/receiving Communion, or should I just confess my sins to God myself?
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Go to confession.
 
Quietsinger,

God bless you on your journey into the Catholic Church! You have courage beyond your years to make this faith journey separate from your family. I just wanted to say I look forward to your entry into the Church! Perhaps you will be an inspiration for your parents to come home to the faith of their baptism. Based on your parents comments, it appears that they really didn’t fully understand what they left. I pray you will inspire them to understand come to know the truth and perhaps return home with you! God bless, let us know when you come into the Church so can rejoice with you!

Regarding confession, specifically. You can confess venial sins directly to God, but confession is always helpful. Your priest will help you discern your sins and grow closer to Christ. As the previous poster indicated, the Church requires the faithful to participate in Confession at least once a year, but that is only if you have not committed a mortal sin before then. If you have committed a mortal sin , then you need to go to Confession as often as you commit this sin. Just as with a venial sin, in the confessional you confess to God, but in Confession you have the person of Christ in your priest to help you reconcile your broken relationship with Christ. In the case of venial sins, we don’t have to worry that we have completely separated ourselves from our Lord, but in the case of mortal sins, the Church, as a loving Mother, wants us to go to Her to be sure we are completely healed of our brokenness through the pastoral care of Her priests. They are there for us acting as Christ to make sure we are restored to our original baptismal salvation. So, if you have indeed committed a mortal sin, then yes, definitely go to confession! Even if you haven’t it is always a joyous occasion to receive Jesus Christ in special state of grace, to receive Him as he has receive us, the spotless lamb. He died on the cross for us, sinless and pure. So, it is a joyous gift of grace to be able to unite our sacrifice of giving ourselves to Him in a state of grace with His sacrifice on the cross! That is communion with Him and His people! Confession before communion makes this joyous Thanksgiving, Eucharist, possible! I pray you experience His love, peace and joy at your next communion after going to Confession.
 
robert_chacon said:
Quietsinger,

God bless you on your journey into the Catholic Church! You have courage beyond your years to make this faith journey separate from your family. I just wanted to say I look forward to your entry into the Church! Perhaps you will be an inspiration for your parents to come home to the faith of their baptism. Based on your parents comments, it appears that they really didn’t fully understand what they left. I pray you will inspire them to understand come to know the truth and perhaps return home with you! God bless, let us know when you come into the Church so can rejoice with you!
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Thank you so much! I appreciate everything you have said. I have felt called to the Catholic faith since right after the New Year began. It wasn’t long after that that I felt a vocation to become a religious sister. Unfortunately my parents don’t know anything about either calling, because I just don’t know how to tell them, how they would take it, or if they would ever accept it. I do hope to tell them sooner rather than later, but I also pray that they will come home with me. Once I come into the Church, I will most certainly let you know, and others who would also like to know.

Thanks again for telling me about confession. You cleared many other things up that I didn’t write down. Much Love 🙂
 
I am curious why you don’t return to the G.O. Church now. They have valid sacraments:shrug:
 
fastenatingguy said:
I am curious why you don’t return to the G.O. Church now. They have valid sacraments:shrug:
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I have a question for you: Do you mean me returning there for good, as in me not converting? There are reasons why I want to convert, and some of them are in a comment I posted in this thread.

Where I currently live, there is no G.O. parish nearby for me to go to. I am moving to Michigan as soon as our house is sold, so my family and I are going to be attending a parish up there. Yes, they have valid sacraments. I never said they were invalid. I simply wanted to ask a question about confession being a weekly requirement in the Catholic church since I didn’t think it was, and for guidance on if I should or should not go to confession since my Mom said, “it wasn’t important for me to go to confession.”

Thank you for taking the time to answer! I hope I could clear a few things up for you.
 
thequietsinger said:
Do you think I should go to confession before re-entering the church/receiving Communion, or should I just confess my sins to God myself? I feel very uncomfortable with that because never, in all the years I have been G.O. have I ever read anything about being able to “absolve” yourself. Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

Thank you so much! I appreciate it

Much Love!
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I think if you haven’t been to Confession in a long time, it’s a good idea to go anyway, so that you can start fresh.

And while yearly Confession is the minimum, it’s actually a good idea to go about once a month or so, to keep short accounts with God, and to be able to receive Indulgences.
 
fastenatingguy said:
I am curious why you don’t return to the G.O. Church now. They have valid sacraments:shrug:
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The ways of the Lord are not our Ways, her mother is Catholic and most probably wants to come back to her heritage, plus the Greek Orthodox are not under Rome like a lot of the Orthodox Catholics are.

Are you a practising Catholic, or lapsed ? If your a practising Catholic you should rejoice that she is coming home to Mother Church, if you are lapsed then I understand your question.

It never pay to jump ahead of the Church.

The Christian identity is a belonging to the Church because to find Jesus outside of the Church
is not possible. Pope Francis.

Catholic Convert from the Jewish Religion. Praise God.:gopray::👍
 
thequietsinger said:
I have a question for you: Do you mean me returning there for good, as in me not converting? There are reasons why I want to convert, and some of them are in a comment I posted in this thread.

I just meant now, as in why you aren’t attending any Church. Although I am a cradle Catholic, I am half Greek and am very familiar with their worship, which IMHO is as close to Catholic as any other apostolic faith.

Where I currently live, there is no G.O. parish nearby for me to go to. I am moving to Michigan as soon as our house is sold, so my family and I are going to be attending a parish up there.

Will you be attending GO or Catholic, or even both? You should go to confession in Michigan at the GO Church and begin the process of reconciliation there since you have to go through RCIA prior to receiving any sacraments in the RCC.

Yes, they have valid sacraments. I never said they were invalid. I simply wanted to ask a question about confession being a weekly requirement in the Catholic church since I didn’t think it was, and for guidance on if I should or should not go to confession since my Mom said, “it wasn’t important for me to go to confession.”

As stated elsewhere, confession is an annual requirement, but for most of us sinners, it can be a weekly need. :o

Thank you for taking the time to answer! I hope I could clear a few things up for you.
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Many blessings on your journey(s).
 
my understanding is the requirement is to confess mortal sins once a year

Your Moms mis-understanding of what …catholics do—is understandable but not real world in application.

the advice given to me by MY confessor was 'you need to go to confession every two weeks (it had been much longer)

Read the ‘Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska’— Divine Mercy in My Soul.

My thought–confession is about perfection in the soul and guidance for action in our lives by the advice of God thru the confessor. Confess venial sins as well as mortal ones.

God sees them all (sins that is) I dare say even before we commit them can’t see any real reason not to confess all.
 
Celtic_Maiden said:
The ways of the Lord are not our Ways, her mother is Catholic and most probably wants to come back to her heritage, plus the Greek Orthodox are not under Rome like a lot of the Orthodox Catholics are.

I may have missed that, I thought it was just the daughter/OP…

Are you a practising Catholic, or lapsed ? If your a practising Catholic you should rejoice that she is coming home to Mother Church, if you are lapsed then I understand your question.

**I am a cradle Catholic and teach RCIA and Catechism and prepare 8th graders for Confirmation. I am joyful that she is discerning our Catholic faith. I was trying to understand why she would not be practicing her own apostolic faith now which offers her the sacraments. She then explained there was no GO church nearby. **

It never pay to jump ahead of the Church. Sorry, I don’t understand :confused:

The Christian identity is a belonging to the Church because to find Jesus outside of the Church is not possible. Pope Francis. GO is catholic (small c) and apostolic and they are among our closest brothers in Christ.

Catholic Convert from the Jewish Religion. Praise God.:gopray::👍
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Quiet Singer,

Because of the sacramental graces one receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation it is good to go frequently. For some that is once a month. You don’t have to have mortal sins to use the sacrament. It is an opportunity for more grace.

It requires humility to confess to a priest, and that is good! Remember, the priest is standing in for Christ, and so you are confessing to our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Celtic_Maiden said:
The ways of the Lord are not our Ways, her mother is Catholic and most probably wants to come back to her heritage
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My Mom was Catholic, but converted to G.O. along with my Dad, who was Methodist. My Mom does not want to come back to the Catholic faith, and my Dad wants nothing to do with the Catholic faith. They did not want me to be Catholic at all.
 
jmcrae said:
I think if you haven’t been to Confession in a long time, it’s a good idea to go anyway, so that you can start fresh.

And while yearly Confession is the minimum, it’s actually a good idea to go about once a month or so, to keep short accounts with God, and to be able to receive Indulgences.
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My thoughts exactly 👍 Thank you so much!
 
@fastenatingguy:

Because I am unable to quote what you posted, I am answering the other questions you have asked:

I posted a little while ago about how my parents did not want me to be Catholic. My Mom said she didn’t mind if I went to a Catholic church, but even though I have my driver’s license, I’m not allowed to go out by myself, even though the Catholic church is only 5 minutes away. And I know my Mom and younger sister won’t go with me, so that is the reason why I can’t go to any church. She also said that after we move, if I wanted to go to a Catholic church, I was more than welcome to. But I know she’ll take it back.

I know I will be attending a G.O. church, because that is where my parents want me to be. I’m hoping I will be able to find a job where I can have the ability to attend Mass beforehand without them knowing. I know it’s terrible, and I don’t like hiding anything from them, but if I told them now I have no idea how they would react. I plan on going to confession no matter what, and I do understand the sacraments are not the same in the RCC, which is why I didn’t go to confession while I attended a Catholic church over the summer.

And you are right. I am the one who wants to come home. My Mom, Dad, and non-religious sister want to stay where they’re at, which is why I pray for them every evening.

I hope I cleared more things up for you. Thank you! 🙂
 
genetee said:
my understanding is the requirement is to confess mortal sins once a year

Your Moms mis-understanding of what …catholics do—is understandable but not real world in application.

the advice given to me by MY confessor was 'you need to go to confession every two weeks (it had been much longer)

Read the ‘Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska’— Divine Mercy in My Soul.

My thought–confession is about perfection in the soul and guidance for action in our lives by the advice of God thru the confessor. Confess venial sins as well as mortal ones.

God sees them all (sins that is) I dare say even before we commit them can’t see any real reason not to confess all.
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Thank you so much for answering! I have been wanting to read that book so badly, but I have no way of obtaining a copy 😦
 
What I mean is the Russian/Greek Orthodox are our nearest, but you can be near and still far away, they are still not under the Holy Father- (Saint Peter) the Catholic Church has 23 Orthodox denominations under Rome but not the Latin Rite but the Eastern Rite hence are called the Eastern Orthodox Catholics, in fact I have been told Rome leaves them to there own devices, in other words lets them get on with it there way, and who would know better than our present Holy Father who was involved with the Orthodox tradition, this lady wants to become Catholic, her mother was Catholic but apparently by what she said about her mother’s advice on confession she has forgotten her past faith, may the daughter bring her mother back to the faith and who knows the rest of her family, she may be the mustard seed.

Its hard to describe why one wants to change to be Catholic, this is what I think you are missing when you asked her why doesn’t she go back to the Greek Orthodox faith, the Lord gives you a nudge in your heart and makes you feel “this feels right” and believe me HE gives you no rest until you do what HE requests , you find rest when you give in, you have no say in the matter well we have free Will and can and could say No but then your unhappy within yourself, so to be happy you give in and you feel better. I am trying to give you an insight into why I changed and no doubt its the same for everyone in the same boat and for people who are in your RCIA class.
 
Dorothy said:
Quiet Singer,

Because of the sacramental graces one receives the Sacrament of Reconciliation it is good to go frequently. For some that is once a month. You don’t have to have mortal sins to use the sacrament. It is an opportunity for more grace.

It requires humility to confess to a priest, and that is good! Remember, the priest is standing in for Christ, and so you are confessing to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Click to expand...
I understand that. I just wish my Mom would understand why I want to go to confession. I explained to her that I feel it would be good since I haven’t been there in so long. I’m not having mixed feelings about the G.O. and Catholic faiths. I know I want to be Catholic. But since I’ll have to go there for the next year and a half or so. I want to make sure that I am not living in a state of mortal sin by receiving Communion when I feel I should go to confession, and instead chicken out because my Mom said it wasn’t important.

Thank you so much for answering! I appreciate it 🙂
 
I am an Eastern Orthodox who came into full Communion with Rome. 🙂 Greek Orthodox Christians are permitted to receive Catholic Sacraments. You do not have to go to RCIA before you go to Catholic Confesssion and receive the Catholic Eucharist. You have to finish RCIA before you are considered to be in Communion with Rome, however, you may receive the Sacraments now. Welcome home! 👍
 
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