Question about my first confession and receiving Communion?

  • Thread starter Thread starter LasAngelus
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

LasAngelus

Guest
Hello everyone!

I’ve “lurked” around CAF for quite a while. It’s great to finally have an account 😆

I have a question that may have been well-answered elsewhere. If so, my apologies.

I was validly baptized with the Trinitarian formula as a child (in a Protestant faith community). Later, over a few years, my desire to find the truth and discover God’s will for my life led directly and unambiguously to the Catholic Church. I accept the authority of the Church, and the Pope’s authority as the earthly head of the Church. I accept the need for and the efficacy of the Sacraments, profess and believe all the creeds of the Church, and certainly believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I attend Mass frequently and on all days of obligation. I am disturbed lately because I have had a very rough time accessing the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I was divorced completely against my will about a year ago. Because of the child support amount ordered by the court, I must work often and long to afford to even live. I certainly have no qualms about providing for my children the best I can. Being a father and a husband was (is) my vocation. However, I approached two different priests from two different parishes and explained my situation in detail. Both of these priests, while having very good intentions, seemed to gloss over my request to be admitted to my first confession. I was told that I must attend RCIA, which is unfortunately only offered one night a week, and this night is a night I cannot take off from work without losing a job. Without RCIA, I was told, I cannot be admitted to my first confession. I was quite distressed initially, as I accept and believe everything presented by the Church for belief. However, I earnestly looked for any way to make time and room for the class. I have been yet unable to do so. I then approached a priest at the local cathedral where I had gone for Mass that day. I explained my situation to him, and his response was completely different. He told me that he would like to speak with me and that receiving this Sacrament would not be an issue provided that I was properly disposed, and in his view that I was. He explained the purpose of RCIA, while telling me that depending on the individual, RCIA isn’t always necessary. I have an appointment with this priest this month. I am greatly looking forward to it. I truly, honestly, and on the counsel of multiple devout Catholics believed that because I was validly baptized and accepted and professed everything proposed for belief by the Church, that by offering perfect contrition with the full intent of going to confession as soon as possible, I could receive Communion without fear of committing grave sin. Even the priest I am having this appointment with gave me the exact same counsel while stressing the need to recieve sacramental absolution as soon as possible, which he said he would be happy to admit me to. Have I, though, committed mortal sins by receiving Communion up to this point? I certainly would have never done so had I thought I would be committing mortal sin. Forgive me. Brevity was never my strong suit. 😂
 
LasAngelus said:
Have I, though, committed mortal sins by receiving Communion up to this point?
Click to expand...
A better question to ask the priest at your Cathedral than any of us wannabe apologists/canonists.

Congragulations on your swimming of the Tiber, though!
 
Thank you so much for the warm welcome. I was somewhat afraid to post. I didn’t know how people would respond. By the way, a good friend told me the same thing a while back (Congrats on swimming the Tiber) and all I could do was smile and say thank you; I had no earthly idea what he meant at the time 😂😂
 
Mortal sin requires 3 factors, grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. You did not have full knowledge.

It is possible to enter the Church after private instruction if one cannot attend RCIA.
 
RCIA is short for Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults if I remember correctly. It can be done by attending classes regularly in a parish or by individual teaching by a priest/deacon or another assigned to teach. One way of describing it, is to say that it is a long preparation into full communion with the Catholic Church. Being received as a Candidate (already validly baptised) or Catechumen (not baptised), meeting the bishop during Admissio, receiving the Creed and Our Father etc.
 
40.png
LasAngelus:
Follow the advice given by the priest . Don’t worry , and have a good meeting with him .
 
Welcome home to the Catholic Church my brother. Let me just say, there are those in the church who feel they have to force all of the rules on everyone to the extent that they often drive people away fro the Church. Do not be discouraged by them. And then there are those in the church, like the kind Priest you are to meet with, who realize that all of us are in need of forgiveness, and freely give it to those who seek it.

Did you sin by receiving? Maybe, maybe not. Different situations can blur the line. Fortunately, we do have reconciliation and Christ, speaking through the priest will forgive us. Rejoiced that this man is willing to instruct you and forgive you and don’t let it worry you. You are o the right path!

I was born, raised and married as a Protestant. I married a cradle Catholic in 1971 and it took her until 2010 to get me confirmed i the Church. She might have been a descendant of Job for all the patience she showed waiting for me to see the light.

If you’re interested, here is my conversion story. I pray that you will find the love and grace of Christ in His church through this kind priest!

May God bless your spiritual journey!
 
LasAngelus,

No one here can judge if you are in mortal sin.

I will tell you that after a conversion experience I longed to receive the Eucharist.

It was very beneficial to me to wait until I completed a General Confession before receiving the Eucharist. You now have the opportunity to grow in patience by not receiving again until after your Confession.

I am assuming it has been decades since you were Baptized. Very few can avoid serious sin for decades. I certainly did not, and had to confess many.

Perhaps you have perfect contrition. But more than one saint has said that perfect contrition is very rare.

You were unaware of the requirement for a good confession as soon as possible…But now you are. So I would not receive Communion again before your Confession at this point. Mention receiving Communion during your Confession so you will no longer worry about it.

As another member posted some will be sticklers for the rules. Others will throw out all rules and presume upon the mercy of God…The sin of presumption.

The truth is that God is infinitely merciful and wishes us to use the Sacrament as our ordinary means for the forgiveness of our sins.

Welcome home!
 
The rule that governs the RCIA is taken from the “Council of Jerusalem” described in Acts 15. The gathered apostles decided they should impose “No greater burden than neccesary.”

The priest who appears to be “throwing out all the rules” is doing what the rite calls for. Those who asked you to go through RCIA may have felt you would benefit from the process. The initial inquiry stage may have clarified your situation for you and them, and established that you did not need more catechesis.

I will warn you that your marital situation may be a problem down the road. Probably not, but be sure to discuss it with the priest at some point.
 
If you thought my “throwing out all the rules” comment was about RCIA, you are mistaken.

I would leave that decision up to the local Bishop. And I have no reason to believe the priest was not doing as his Bishop wanted.

It was in response to the “devout Catholics” who apparently encouraged the OP to receive Communion before his first Confession.

The Priest may well have agreed that someone who has perfect contrition could receive before confessing without committing a mortal sin as long as the Communicant resolved to confess AS SOON AS POSSIBLE But I know of no Priest that would then encourage someone to do so, unless there was extreme circumstances, such as a terminal patient facing death. The Church clearly teaches that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is to be received before First Communion.

To judge yourself as having perfect contrition would be precarious at best. When in doubt it is better to confess first.

The OP has not expressed any reason why he can not avail himself of the Sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving again.
 
Last edited:
I agree with you completely. Initiation is a process, and if first Communion is separated from Baptism, it should be preceded by a recollection of Baptism. Reconciliation was once known as a “Second Baptism” and recalls our baptism by renewing the forgiveness we received then. It is right that it should precede first Communiin.

While I used your phrase, I was referring to those who think reception without RCIA classes is exceptional. It is probably the way the rite is implemented in most cases. The classes are more visible because they take place over time, but are really only intended for the uncatechized.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top