Sacrament of Confession - to go or not to go

[Mystrx]

Go! Regular, frequent sacramental confession is a blessing as you discovered!

You don’t need to tell the priest that his words upset you. You did not sin directly because of them, you were simply a little hurt. But, as you thought about it, you realized that he was right.

Do not let embarassement stop you from confessing. We are all embarressed at one time or another, but the priest is not tracking your confessions, and very likely doesn’t remember what you said or what he said. Every priest I’ve spoken to about this says that they forget the exact words of people’s confessions almost as soon as they leave the confessional.

AGREED

 

[Brywan]

Sometimes priests can be stern. I was yelled at by a priest one time, because he misunderstood what I said and thought I said I did a terrible sin, when in fact, I did not. I left the confessional horribly embarrassed. I’ve also been really questioned and lambasted by a priest when I was already in a state of tears.

Sometimes it’s what some priests think is needed for a person to take him/her seriously. Sometimes it’s more charitable to give someone emotional hurt here, rather than not stern enough and have a soul lapse to spend eternity in hell. The souls of that congregation fall, to some extent on his hands if things go wrong. Priests are held accountable for what they do or don’t say. They are the shepherds of their own flock, so to speak.

It could be that he just had a bad day(pain, sick, stress, etc.). It could be that he just got done hearing an awful confession prior to you. He could think you were someone else(hopefully not). It could also be from the fact that he felt that you could benefit from him reprimanding you.

Sometimes you have to take it with a grain of salt. Other times you have to reflect upon why he said what he did.

Wow, I guess I should consider myself lucky–I’ve never had a priest yell at me or chastise me or make me feel horrible–the priests I’ve encountered in the confessional have always been very kind–there was one older priest whose *personality *was a little gruff–but even then, he didn’t make me regret going to confession!