question about confession

[Jan_Tesarik]

Hello everyone

There is something I need to know about confessions. I became a christian one year ago and I feel like there are more and more things I dont understand each day . I have problems determining if what I did was a mortal sin or a venial one or if it even was a sin. This happens to me quite often. I ask my confessor before a confession to help me determine that but if I wanted to ask him every time I do something questionable, I wouldnt have time to do anything else.
So this Monday morning, when I was coming home from school, I saw a blind man in a subway station. When I came closer, I realised he was mumbling that he needs help (he didnt look injured or in bad health so I think he just wanted someone to guide him somewhere). And even though I thought I should try to help him, I just passed him. I still feel bad about that. I used to be a very shy guy and now I am not much different. It is hard for me to talk to people like this in front of other people.
Then I went to confession later that day because of mortal sins I commited the days before. I mentioned my experience with the blind man to my confessor and he told me that not helping someone is not a sin, unless that person’s life is in danger. But at first, I didnt tell him that that person was saying that he needs help and I couldnt bring myself to mention it later (probably because I thought it would make me look worse and I thought to myself that maybe it wasnt necessary). So now I am not sure if that means my confession was not honest (because of withholding that detail) and I am in trouble or not. I really have quite a bad feeling now, but it may as well be caused by having difficult times these days.

 

[Cromwell4]

You are being over-scrupulous. That might be just a venial sin & you already feel sorry/bad about it. Each day there are probably many things we do/dont do which later we feel bad about. Just resolve to improve the next time around. We are humans not angels - God knows this. He is not only a Judge but a loving, caring Father.
By going to Confession the sin/stain is already removed. In Confession you should be able to ‘get everything off yr chest’ so you come out feeling great. If you don’t like face-to-face situation find a church which still uses private curtain/confessional stall then you don’t need to feel shy or embarrassed. The priest has heard it all before a zillion times; he is only trying to help you on your journey.

 

[Jan_Tesarik]

Thanks for your answer. So was it a sin for me to withhold the detail I mentioned in my first post (I dont know if the detail was important) because of being shy?

 

[david_patrick]

hi, imagine a heart in heaven…not like my heart…i imagine it…it seems more like a empty…thing…a wound…imagine…the person of jesus…in comparison…well he has a wound from the spear…the big difference remains…he is preparing me for death and meet him one day…a soul can meet him here on earth dispite the wounds…i will use the word unconditional…not to exclude being responsible…but from heaven’s glory, unconditional love…as jesus gives…will take care of daily guilt…it hapens to every one…still…you ask the right question/ as life is a road always back to jesus…if two hearts -let one ‘go’ to heaven…in your thoughts…be at peace…

 

[acadiANNA]

I have given panhandlers what I could. A few times I passed them by without giving, running late for work or other. It bothered me, had guilt that I wasn’t charitable with my time and cash. I also thought-suppose it was me and I had to live like that. I am fortunate and thank God for a sound mind and good health enough to earn a living. And we are to see Jesus in everyone - whatever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me. I like the idea someone said - buy them a sandwich - you know they are not going to use the money for a “habit.” Another thing I run into frequently is a guy stationed at a red light with a handwritten sign, cardboard, and words misspelled: Please help. When the light turns red, he will walk down the line of cars. If someone rolls their window down, he will collect the donation. I have not rolled my window down a lot of the time. It wasn’t convenient to dig in my purse, or I only had large bills, or the light will soon turn green. I am now making a commitment to try my best not to pass up someone in need. I didn’t remember to confess this, but my belief of confessing even venial sins will make me mention it next time. Some confessors may not think of it as a biggie, but I like to clear my conscience. Unnecessary guilt? I would rather feel good about helping someone no matter how little than feel bad about not helping the least. One priest in a homily said you should give no matter what, another said you shouldn’t give because of what they will do with it. I’ve made my choice.

 

[Christy_Beth]

The blind man might not have been homeless. Maybe he just needed help finding the right train or the bathroom. If you do or don’t want to help people like this, it might help if you ask them what kind of help they need. Of course, there may be times when you can’t stop and help, but I think the effort should be made. If the person is homeles and hasn’t eaten for a couple of days, or whatever, I might buy them a sandwich or something like that. Sure, it’s only a small effort, but it should be an effort.

There’s a blind lady that usually attends Mass at the same time I do. One day, this was a long time ago, she started asking for help. When I went to her, she said she needed to use the bathroom. It wasn’t much to help her get there and then back to her seat. There’s been a few other times I’ve helped her in this way. It’s little, but Christ did say that what we do “for the least of these” we do to him.