Satan and Confession

[jongenaro]

I recently went to Confession and it was so beautiful because I confessed all the grave sins which I have committed. However since then I have been feeling doubt in the validity of my confession. Could this be Satan trying to tempt me and trying to make me lose my trust and love for God.

Also, are we not supposed to tell people what we confessed in the confessional? No matter under what condition, since the priest said “I absolve you . . .”, that confession is valid, right? Thanks and God bless you!

Sorry if these questions seems kind of silly. I’m just really curious and want to get my soul back on track.

 

[CatholicGuy22]

Dont worry even if you commited a sin while in confession or if you feel it was invalid you were absolved by your priest when he said “I absolve you of all your sins”. Satan will do anything to make you feel like garbage so don’t listen to him.

 

[YADA]

I recently went to Confession and it was so beautiful because I confessed all the grave sins which I have committed. However since then I have been feeling doubt in the validity of my confession. Could this be Satan trying to tempt me and trying to make me lose my trust and love for God.

Also, are we not supposed to tell people what we confessed in the confessional? No matter under what condition, since the priest said “I absolve you . . .”, that confession is valid, right? Thanks and God bless you!

Sorry if these questions seems kind of silly. I’m just really curious and want to get my soul back on track.

If you were truly sorrowful of your sins then the Sacrament is valid … You may be able to fool the priest [say you are sorry when you are not] and receive the words of absolution … but if you were just going through the motions with no remorse, no firm purpose to not sin again , etc … then that would be another sinful action in an of itsellf … The Sacraments are not to be mocked! …

However, from your post - it seems valid …

As for the Seal of the Confessional … that applies to the priest … the priest is not allowed to discuss your confession. FOR AN EXAMPLE: If you committed a murder [unsolved] and confessed it … the priest cannot go to the police and report the crime … now he could instruct you that you should do that … but if you did not … the priest could speak of it.

That same seal would not apply to you, you are free to tell anyone you want about your sins and the pennance, etc … the question might be …Who would you want to tell and why? … You might want to discuss your past [forgiven] sins with spiritual Advisor … in oder to gain the guidance necessary to avoid commiting those sins again, identify the near occasions of sin that cause you to fail, etc …

 

[Spencerian]

I recently went to Confession and it was so beautiful because I confessed all the grave sins which I have committed. However since then I have been feeling doubt in the validity of my confession. Could this be Satan trying to tempt me and trying to make me lose my trust and love for God.

Also, are we not supposed to tell people what we confessed in the confessional? No matter under what condition, since the priest said “I absolve you . . .”, that confession is valid, right? Thanks and God bless you!

Sorry if these questions seems kind of silly. I’m just really curious and want to get my soul back on track.

Hi, jon.

I’ll speak from personal experience and observation, here, so for significant advice, your parish priest is always best.

I think you’re dealing with a minor case of scrupulosity–a behavior where one obsesses too much into the “Ps” and “Qs” of Catholic law and practice over the results of completing said laws and practices to the best of one’s ability. In short, a person who is too scrupulous has a hard time appreciating confession out of fear of doing something wrong (forgetting a sin in confession, for instance).

My fiancee experiences this quite a bit, and it is hard to get her to go to confession.

Remember that Christ’s passion for us not only helped in our salvation, but in our protection from undue influences of Satan. As long as you practice what you know to the best of your ability–from following Lenten rules to avoiding sinful habits, for instance–evil can have no grip on you nor influence you. Satan *is *real, yes, but Hollywood makes him far bigger than he really is, especially against a devout person like yourself.

Don’t let the letter of the Catholic law interfere with the gifts and blessings you always receive by following the spirit of the Catholic law. God always knows what you want, even if you have problems speaking to a priest about it. Pray about what you worry of after confession (or anytime) with sincerity and contrition and God will help you when you really need it.

As far as confession goes, yes, what is said in confession is generally between you and the Lord (courtesy of the priest). While I don’t think speaking of it to others is harmful, in my opinion, others who hear of it might get the wrong idea about your motivation for talking about it.

 

[Monica4316]

If you confessed all the mortal sins you can remember, and afterwards feel worried you weren’t forgiven, yes that’s a temptation from the enemy. Trust in God’s mercy when we doubt His mercy, it’s like we’re trying to make ourselves into God… as if we can decide whether or not we’re forgiven. The priest gave you absolution from Christ, therefore you are forgiven. It’s a Sacrament all that’s required of us is to be sorry for what we’ve done, intend to not do it again, and tell the priest our mortal sins. God does the rest.

Remember, forgiveness is something that God does, He is the one who makes this Sacrament ‘work’

God bless

 

[bpbasilphx]

I don’t think this is even up to (or down to) the leve of Satan getting at you.

I think it’s nothing more than scrupulousity, which is an issue you should take to your spiritual father.

This is one of the problems that Luther had, in case you didn’t know it.

HIS spiritual father told him that when the Apostles’ Creed says, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” that means we are REQUIRED to believe our sins are forgiven.

 

[majilla]

Pope and Catholic clergy published Mother teresa’s confession letters. Is this by Satan?

gerard majilla

 

[Sir_Knight]

“confession LETTERS” – there in lies the difference. One does not receive the sacrament in writing via letters. What goes on in the confessional can not be revealed by the priest. Anything that happens elsewhere (via letter, conversations started by the person, etc.) is not covered by the confessional seal.