Reason for Confession

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aweins

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If communion absolves you of any venial sin, then why must you go to confession? And when you go to confession, do you confess only what you have done since your last communion, or last confession? I don’t understand why you need to be forgiven twice, which seems to be the answer I come up with.
 
aweins said:
If communion absolves you of any venial sin, then why must you go to confession? And when you go to confession, do you confess only what you have done since your last communion, or last confession? I don’t understand why you need to be forgiven twice, which seems to be the answer I come up with.
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Confession is for Mortal Sin, also known as Grave Sin. Mortal Sins are not forgiven by the Eucharist, and it is in fact a further grave sin to approach for the Eucharist while knowingly suffering from a grave sin.
 
aweins said:
If communion absolves you of any venial sin, then why must you go to confession? And when you go to confession, do you confess only what you have done since your last communion, or last confession? I don’t understand why you need to be forgiven twice, which seems to be the answer I come up with.
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The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is itself a Sacrament and gives Sacramental Grace to those who receive it.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the only ordinary means of obtaining forgiveness of Mortal sins. Receiving Holy Communion does not forgive Mortal sins. Receiving Holy Communion in a state of Mortal sin is itself another Mortal sin. Venial sins can also be confessed in reconciliation.

You must learn the distinction between Mortal and venial sins.
 
aweins said:
If communion absolves you of any venial sin, then why must you go to confession?
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Are you asking if one only has venial sins, why must one go to confession since they are forgiven in communion?

For venial sins, one does not have to go to confession but confession is recommended. The Sacrament of Confession has abundant grace in it. Confessing venial sins help us be accountable and move forward on virtues. Communion does pardon venial sins, but confession brings one on an individual basis to verbalize one’s fault, receive guidance, absolution and grace.
And when you go to confession, do you confess only what you have done since your last communion, or last confession?
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When we go to confession, we confess what we have done or what we have failed to do since our last confession.
I don’t understand why you need to be forgiven twice, which seems to be the answer I come up with
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Talking about venial sins here, no, we don’t need to be forgiven twice, but like mentioned above, confession for venial sins is recommended because there are lots of grace in the Sacrament.
Individual confession brings lots of intimacy with God.
 
So when you confess venial sins, (this is going to sound dumb) what do they include? I understand that I am sinful, but sometimes wonder what they include. Being judgemental, slow to forgive, etc. I am not asking for specific confessions, just some guidance on what one may include.
 
aweins said:
So when you confess venial sins, (this is going to sound dumb) what do they include? I understand that I am sinful, but sometimes wonder what they include. Being judgemental, slow to forgive, etc. I am not asking for specific confessions, just some guidance on what one may include.
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Yes, Getting angry with someone. “Punching them out” would possibly be a mortal sin. Wanting to “punch them out”, but not doing so would possibly be a venial sin. Kind of a rough idea.
 
aweins said:
So when you confess venial sins, (this is going to sound dumb) what do they include? I understand that I am sinful, but sometimes wonder what they include. Being judgemental, slow to forgive, etc. I am not asking for specific confessions, just some guidance on what one may include.
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Yes, the examples you mentioned are in the category, also other examples such as impatience, too much anxiety, not trusting in God…
When you are doing the examination of conscience, anything that are not of God, against God, could be brought up in confession. If you are not sure it is a sin, you can bring it up anyway, the priest will tell you.
 
Remember that you don’t have to confess all venial sins. It is often best to take one or two that you are really sorry for and confess them. Work on them until you get rid of them then try a couple of more. This is better than a rote recitation of the “grocery list”. Of course if you have mortal sins, they must all be confessed. It is probably best to skip the venial sins and focus on them. Don’t bury them in a pile of venial sins.
 
If I am totally off base, please forgive me…but I did not think that receiving Eucharist was the same as receiving forgiveness of venial sins.

At the beginning of the Mass, there is a penitential rite [a communal reconcilliation as it were, where we admit our sinful nature and seek forgivenness] where we as penitents seek forgiveness of sins [venial] in order to prepare us to receive the Eucharist. Serious [mortal] sins need to be confessed specifically [by name] and not in the communal rite…

St. Paul instructed us to approach the Eucharist after being reconciled in order to not profane the Holy Body and Blood…

At least that is the way I have always understood the Mass [and even a Communion Service without a priest or taking Communion to those unable to get to Mass, in a manner approporiate to thier condition]-
 
YADA, you’re right, the penetential right does forgive our veniel sins, but so does the eucharist. This is something I just learned recently, too.
 
Thanks, I had never heard of the idea that just the act of partaking Eucharist forgave sins…but I learn new things and gain greater knowedge every dy!

I know that receiving Jesus in the Euchairst can be healing [no greater healing actually; as it is Spiritual Food of the Highest Quality!] and I definatly get that…

However, St. Paul tells us that to receive unworthily is to ‘eat and drink to our death’. He then instructs them to put thier gifts down, go seek reconciliation and return. St Paul directly credits this failure to seek forgiveness and partaking of the Eucharost with sickness and death among the community…

I hope to read some of the theology behind this teaching…

I realize [of course] that we are not sola scriptura people! However, this is one of those passages of scripture that I feel our protestant brethren neglect and totally misunderstand It is very “catholic” in its Eucharistic theology, not to mention the faith and practice of the earliest Christian communities.
 
YADA said:
I realize [of course] that we are not sola scriptura people! However, this is one of those passages of scripture that I feel our protestant brethren neglect and totally misunderstand It is very “catholic” in its Eucharistic theology, not to mention the faith and practice of the earliest Christian communities.
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Yes! There is so much evidence for the Eucharist in the New Testament, I just don’t see how some people Just Don’t Get It!🤷
 
aweins said:
If communion absolves you of any venial sin, then why must you go to confession? And when you go to confession, do you confess only what you have done since your last communion, or last confession? I don’t understand why you need to be forgiven twice, which seems to be the answer I come up with.
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Eucharist does not take away mortal sins. We must confess if we are conscious of mortal sin before receiving communion, and we must confess our mortal sins at least once a year. It is advisible to confess venial sins as well for spiritual and psychological reasons=it makes us honest with ourselves, it prevents us from overlooking sins that may be becoming habitual, it gives the sacramental graces to fight such sins.
 
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