Should I go to confession on Sunday?

[vince2paul]

The past few months have been quite bad for my spiritual life. I’m struggling hard to be more peaceful and to forgive my parish priest who have hurt me in the past. I guess I failed badly.

I go to confession weekly for almost 4-5 months, every time I make resolution to forgive him but I’ve been failing. I start to feel disappointed, I mean what’s the purpose of me going to confession when I know that I will fail again?

Even writing this and thinking about him makes me angry. Honestly, this week is bad, I just feel horrible. I feel more worthless than ever. I know I’m God’s beloved child and I shouldn’t care if a priest thinks that I’m worthless, because he’s just a human being and also God’s beloved child.

So the question is, should I go to confession or should I just wait till I could forgive him fully?

Pray for me, if you could. Thanks.

 

[water]

The past few months have been quite bad for my spiritual life. I’m struggling hard to be more peaceful and to forgive my parish priest who have hurt me in the past. I guess I failed badly.

Have you talked to this priest about the problem? is he aware of you being hurt or that he hurt you? A discussion about this problem with him might help you both understand each other. Understanding leads to forgiving.

 

[JDHallKY]

Forgiving someone who has wronged us can be the most difficult thing we ever do. I have been there myself. However, I would encourage you to go to confession on a regular schedule and mention it every time you go if you have experienced sinful anger since your last confession. Do not get too worked up or scrupulous about it; that will just make it worse.

Think of it as you would any other habitual sin, such as entertaining impure sexual thoughts. It is most likely you do not have full consent of the will, even if the underlying sin is grave matter. So, the best thing to do is to try to move on, which means not beating yourself up about it even though it may come up very often, even daily. We all have sins we have to confess almost every time we go to confession.

I am not an expert, but that’s my two cents. I will pray for you.

 

[vince2paul]

Have you talked to this priest about the problem? is he aware of you being hurt or that he hurt you? A discussion about this problem with him might help you both understand each other. Understanding leads to forgiving.

Well, it started when I told him that there were ministry leaders who didn’t do things according to the Catholic teaching. He decided to just ignored me. I was quite new in the parish so it could be the reason why. Since then I’ve moved to another parish but I need to go back for my Legion of Mary meeting every Sunday, which is a struggle for me because I don’t want to be there anymore.

A few friends also left the parish because it’s too ‘progressive’ and the ministry leaders don’t really know the Catholic Faith. Honestly, I don’t know how I could talk to him again. He’s the person that I don’t want to meet in life.

 

[CarrieH]

Forgiveness doesn’t always mean that you have to reconcile with the person who wronged you. It just means that you have to let go of your bitterness toward them. I doubt that priest thought **you **were “worthless” even though he ignored your ideas. He probably gets suggestions all the time, most of which are probably not welcomed, and sometimes it’s easier to just ignore things than to risk getting into a debate or argument. You say that you were new to the parish at the time, so he didn’t even really know you well enough to reject you as a person; he just didn’t like what you had to say. Perhaps if you focus on his rejection of your ideas instead of taking it so personally, it will be easier to forgive him and move on. And if others have left because of his modernistic ways, you’re probably better off where you are now.

If you’re not at a place where you can forgive him, you can always start by praying that God will give you the desire to forgive him. Sometimes you have to start at the very bottom in order to get over a habitual sin. BTDT Good luck and God bless.

 

[water]

I have to be honest with you on this since you share the problem.
I don’t think the priest thought you were worthless. Many times we are angry at someone because of our own pride. We are impatient in waiting to see others make changes.

Our own pride can do a lot of tricks on us. It prevents us from forgiving someone; it prevents us from working with someone; it prevents us from meeting someone for the rest of our life. It prevents us from being patient.

Pride should not be a characteristic of a member of Legion of Mary.

As you find it difficult to change and forgive the priest after many confession, you must realize that it is difficult for people to change - especially the way you think they must change.

I had dealt with problems similar to yours and I come to realize that my only prayer I need for myself is “Please God! help me deny myself in my dealings with others.” – it’s helping me.