same old sins!

[english_guy]

Hello everyone,
Has anyone been to confession and admitted the same sins time after time?.If you admit a mortal sin to a priest in another church on a regular basis do you think he will recognise your voice and sins?.Do you think he will question you and ask why?For example,“why do you not go to your own priest?”.(because i am too ashamed!!) I look forward to your replies, God Bless,
Mick.

 

[Fergal]

Has anyone been to confession and admitted the same sins time after time? YES! YES! YES!

If you admit a mortal sin to a priest in another church on a regular basis do you think he will recognise your voice and sins? YES! Which is a wonderful thing as he can continue to guide you along the right path without giving the same advice over and over again. When you confess the same sin to different Priests they usually give the same advice in the first instance. As you progress in your Spiritual dialogue throuh frequent Confession with one Priest, the advice changes and becomes more refined to your particular situation and indeed then becomes very personal and life transforming.

Put it this way. Would you go to a different doctor each time you got the same pain? No you return to your family doctor as he can make good progress towards finding the root of the problem. Based on your previous visits he will be able to quickly discount certain possible reasons for the pain and enquire after more likely causes.

Do you think he will question you and ask why? NO. He may question you and ask something in relation to a detail you have given that is not so clear but as to who and why you are confessing there will never be questions.

I think that for those of us who practice regular confession, we find the most difficult part of the confession to be the "Oh no! not again" factor. What will the Priest think of me now? These are mere human thoughts that stay on a human level and show an ignorance of what is happening supernaturally.

Don’t ever forget that no matter what Priest you are confessing to, he is ‘in persona Christi’ in the Confessional - in the person of Christ. Now that means that whoever we confess to whether it is to the same Priest or to a different one it is always to Christ.

Think deeply on this one. How comfortable would you feel if you visited Christ every week / month and brought before him the same faults and failings? I bet you would make a very conscious effort to avoid the situations that lead to that particular sin / those particular sins and would do all in your power to be able to show Him that out of love and respect for Him you are making spiritual progress.

I think that sticking with the one Priest is a very strong motivator to help us overcome a particular vice. Running from one Priest to another allows us to prolong the agony of the vice we entertain a little more. This in turn makes us feel less culpable than if it was to the same Priest and therefore delays true progress in the supernatural life.

Finally pick a Priest stick with him and remember that we are there with you and that what you are now experiencing, your brothers and sisters are experiencing the exact same thing.

God Bless you!

 

[doubting_farmer]

great question! the previous reply from fergal was very well put and helpful to me. Yes i struggle with confessing the same sins and have seen God’s grace help me to avoid those sins by me admitting that they were sins and they offended God and i saw that i don’t want to offend god anymore! What has really helped me is to search out a loving and compassionate priest for confession and running back to God in confession when I fall . even if it is only a day or so after i will go back, i’m sure of God’s forgiveness and grace to help me to sin no more! Plus it helps to level my pride and realize that i can’t stay "holy"on my own power!
PRAISE GOD!
I will pray for you! never give up!
doubting farmer:thumbsup:

 

[Fergal]

Plus it helps to level my pride and realize that i can’t stay "holy"on my own power!
doubting farmer:thumbsup:

Now there is an excellent reason that I completely overlooked! Well done and thanks!

 

[MarieVeronica]

Hi Mick. This is a “trick” that the evil one uses, to make us believe that maybe we shouldn’t go to Confession as often as we do… or maybe, not at all. It’s a fear tactic. Don’t buy into it. Our priests are not there to get “mad” at us. They are there, representing Jesus, Himself. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a personal encounter with Our Merciful Lord.

It’s pretty common for people to be confessing (often) the same sins. I know I do. We’re human, afterall… and we struggle with things. Sometimes, extremely difficult things. Keep going to Confession. Keep receiving the Eucharist. Keep praying. And ask Our Lord for the graces to overcome the things in your life, which you find yourself confessing over and over again.

Eventually, you will begin to see progress… in that maybe you won’t be confessing certain things EVERY time. But don’t get discouraged… if you fall. Pick yourself up… dust yourself off… say “I’m sorry, Lord. I’ll try to do better” (and MEAN it)… go to Confession and begin again.

I once heard it said… that “A saint is someone who keeps trying to do God’s Will”. Personally, I find those words very encouraging. Hope this helps. God bless.

 

[english_guy]

Hello everyone,
Thank you all for your replies, good to know i am not alone in this,your advice is very helpful, many thanks,
God Bless you all,
Mick.

 

[Claire_from_DE]

1. yes
2. maybe
3. no He can’t bring up, even to you, what you told him in a former confession unless you bring it up, and he might not even remember. It would be out of line for him to question why you don’t go to confession elsewhere.

 

[down_under]

I believe there is a rather long passage in paul somewhere which begins “why is it I do what I don’t want to do” look it up if you get a chance maybe someone here can supply the chapter and verse I was never really good with those details.

 

[Tietjen]

Hello everyone,
Has anyone been to confession and admitted the same sins time after time?.If you admit a mortal sin to a priest in another church on a regular basis do you think he will recognise your voice and sins?.Do you think he will question you and ask why?For example,“why do you not go to your own priest?”.(because i am too ashamed!!) I look forward to your replies, God Bless,
Mick.

I don’t really worry about it. I go to my parish Priest and if I have fallen in the same sin, I confess it. I suppose you could go to a different Priest if it will somehow be less embarrassing. However, what about God? Regardless of which Priest you go to, it’s God who is hearing your “same sin” and it is He who forgives you of it.

About the only time I go to a different Priest for confession is when I am unable to make it to my parish confession times (Wed & Sat at 8:30am). Then I’ll go to the next parish over which has confession at 4:00pm on Saturdays.