Should one go to confession every sunday? Or not receive communion?

[fischer1]

According to Catholicism:

• One must go to mass every Sunday
• One should not take communion unless he confesses
• One should at least confess once a month, some say once a year

I may sin during the week, mortal or not, I don’t know, I try to avoid sinning, if I’m lucky I didn’t do grave sins, but there’s always this doubt, what if my sin is great.

Is it okay to confess every week? Because I tried it two weeks in a row and even the priest was a little surprised and is often low on time. So would one go take communion once per month?

 

[PaulfromIowa]

According to Catholicism:

One must go to mass every Sunday
One should not take communion unless he confesses
One should at least confess once a month, some say once a year

You are correct on the first point. However, a Catholic in a state of grace is certainly not required to confess before every Communion. The Church only requires sacramental Confession at least once per year. How often one should confess is something to ask one’s Confessor.

 

[TK421]

You don’t have to Confess prior to Communion if you’re in a state of grace.

In most parishes you couldn’t do this even if you wanted to. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered very sparingly.

 

[HeDa]

The church has set minimums instead of maximums. That is to go to receive the Sacraments of Confession (if in mortal sin) and the Eucharist at least once a year during the Lent/Easter season (14 weeks where I live as the diocese is geographically large).

If you need to go to Confession and there are no times listed in the church bulletin or on website then call the priest. Not a single priest has denied hearing my confession but has seen it as something very important. We had a priest from a neighbouring parish come to celebrate mass and he heard confessions before mass as usual and then there were a couple who asked after mass. He ended up hearing confessions for 1.5 hours after mass. He asked me if this is normal on a Friday evening in my parish and I just replied that there were a couple of extra families with 2-3 children in each that all went to Confession. I was in charge to lock the church building that night so that is why I know.

How often you should go to confession and receive Holy communion is between you and your confessor.

 

[thistle]

One must go to mass every Sunday
One should not take communion unless he confesses
One should at least confess once a month, some say once a year

1. Yes.
2. Correct if you have any mortal sins not confessed. You may receive if you have only committed venial sins.
3. Actually the requirement is to receive Communion once a year during the Easter season. Confession would only be required if you have committed mortal sins.
   Regarding point 3 here is the canon law on it.

Can. 989 All the faithful who have reached the age of discretion are bound faithfully to confess their grave sins at least once a year.

 

[otjm]

No one is to “take” Communion. They are to receive it.

 

[Augustinian]

Is it okay to confess every week?

I don’t see why not.

However, I don’t see frequent confession like this becoming the norm for Catholics any time soon, for practical reasons.

Individual confession is a pretty labor intensive detail, and the ratio of priests to faithful is pretty high. If priests were expected to hear hundreds of confessions each week, they’d have no time to do much more. Even when frequent confession was more common than it is today, it wasn’t nearly as common as people remember.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Is it okay to confess every week? Because I tried it two weeks in a row and even the priest was a little surprised and is often low on time.

People confessing weekly nowadays often get this reaction from a priest because he may wonder what you did that was so grave that you’re back so soon, or if you don’t confess anything grave he will wonder if you are suffering from scruples. I usually go about once a month but a couple of times I’ve gone after a week for specific reasons, and the priest acted a little startled with me too.

The main reason I am going once a month or slightly more is for a specific optional devotion I practice. Most people, including my family and I when I was growing up, go more like every 2-4 months assuming no grave sin had been committed. Ask your priest how often he recommends.

 

[fischer1]

the thing is if you don’t go to mass, that’s a grave sin, if you go to mass and you don’t receive communion people would look at you in a weird way, even the priest sometimes comes to me and I’m kinda forced to receive it.

The thing is it’s very easy to do grave sins, just watch porn or lie a little lie to your annoying coworker. Or curse or lust, realistically speaking the best people can’t get passed 2 weeks without mortal sins. Even watching ISIS getting defeated and being happy about it that’s a mortal sin because you’re happy that someone is getting killed.

I’m trying to spend the entire lent without committing mortal sins, so I don’t have to keep annoying the priest so what I do? I stopped listening to metal because a song like highway to hell is a sin, I stopped watching movies and tv series because most of them have action and crime or sex scenes.

I mean seriously you make it super easy not to sin, hope you’re right and I’m wrong but I fail to see how one could spend more than 3 days without sinning if he’s living a normal life.

I even considered becoming a monk just because I can focus my energy on not sinning, because as a programmer, it’s so hard for me, I have to keep this voice in my head, don’t watch movies don’t listen to hard rock and metal, don’t, don’t. I stopped listening to the news so I don’t curse a politician or get excited about wars or whatever.

 

[Brendan_64]

Is it okay to confess every week? Because I tried it two weeks in a row and even the priest was a little surprised and is often low on time. So would one go take communion once per month?

There’s nothing wrong with going to weekly Confession, nothing wrong at all. Going to Confession to confess venial sins is a good thing, rather than wait until you have committed a mortal sin.

But you don’t have to go to Confession before receiving Communion, unless you have committed mortal sin, in which case you must go.

Weekly Confession is a good thing. Confession, in my opinion, should not be a chore that we have to do, but something we should look forward to as a way to work on those repeated sinful behaviours that we commit.

 

[Wretched_1]

Two things that might help. One, you must be in full knowledge and intention to commit a grave (mortal) sin. So if you get angry and blurt out a curse it is not a mortal sin. Also your venial sins are forgiven at the Mass.

You might be one of those rare persons that are scrupulous which is good, but remember you are incapable of NOTHING without Christ. Our LORD wants you to have the Sacrament. It is the Grace of the Sacrament that is going to prevent you from engaging in grave sin going forward. Sexual sins are pretty hard to avoid but I think it is more effective to focus on your love of Christ than how hard it is not to commit them. That is a losing battle and will put you into despair.

If your priest is trying to force you to receive, he’s straight up wrong. Apart from what you confess he has NO idea what is in your heart. You might have run over a group of children full of hatred in your heart on the drive to Mass and correctly, you are ashamed of what is in your heart before the LORD. I ask Our Lady before I receive to make my heart a worthy receptacle before reception because I know that my anger and selfishness sorrows Him whether or not I’ve technically committed a sin.

I’m probably not the best council so take anything I write with a grain of salt. It just seems like before the enemy tries to slam you he gets in your head and starts feeding you the kinds of thoughts of despair you are feeling. And he always pulls that before you are advancing to the next level of the spiritual life.

 

[1ke]

Is it okay to confess every week? Because I tried it two weeks in a row and even the priest was a little surprised and is often low on time. So would one go take communion once per month?

One should confess when one has something to confess.

If you find yourself believing you are committing mortal sins very frequently this is something to discuss with your pastor and follow his directions on regarding frequency of confession. You may have a skewed view of sin. In such cases follow your confessor’s instructions.

 

[SuperLuigi]

If you think you need to to go to Confession every week, then you need to talk to your Confessor about spiritual direction.

 

[Brendan_64]

If you think you need to to go to Confession every week, then you need to talk to your Confessor about spiritual direction.

There is nothing wrong with going to Confession every week. In my opinion Confession shouldn’t be something we go to when we have to, it ought to be something we go to when we want to receive God’s grace and healing. If that means we go once a week (or even more frequently) then so be it.

 

[SuperLuigi]

There is nothing wrong with going to Confession every week. In my opinion Confession shouldn’t be something we go to when we have to

@RKS89

Your answer is FAR too simplistic.

The fact is people who are scrupulous or unsure of what to do need to discuss the matter with their Confesso.r

 

[Bon_Croix]

A good Catholic enjoys going to confession. It shouldn’t feel like a duty (like paying taxes); it should feel like something you want to do.

I look forward to confession like I look forward to having another sip of this Mike’s Hard Lemonade on the side of my bed.

 

[RKS89]

Did I reply to this thread?

 

[Mark121359]

There is nothing wrong with going to Confession every week. In my opinion Confession shouldn’t be something we go to when we have to, it ought to be something we go to when we want to receive God’s grace and healing. If that means we go once a week (or even more frequently) then so be it.

I agree with this completely! It might surprise some here, that Saint Mother Teresa and Pope Saint John Paul II went to the Sacrament of Confession weekly. Pope Pius XII went to the Sacrament of Confession every day!!! Today, it doesn’t surprise me that most Catholics bulk at the idea of frequent confession. But many priests, and a Pope who is now a Saint promote it. See below;

The Spiritual and Psychological Value of Frequent Confession
by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
Benefits of Partaking Frequently of the Sacrament of Penance
by Fr. Wade Menezes, CPM
Ask a Priest: How often can I go to confession?
Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

The Eight Benefits of Frequent Confession

The Eight Benefits of Frequent Confession In his encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi , Pope Pius XII wrote of the benefits of fr...

thecatholicreader.blogspot.com

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope_says_frequent_confession_needed_to_achieve_holiness

 

[Loud-living-dogma]

Dare I say it?

Didn’t people go to confession a LOT more before Vatican II?
Like, there would be lines at confession times?
Priests were available just before Mass on Sundays, and would hear confessions during Mass if there was a second priest available?
I think it seemed normal at that time, because people were more serious about confession, and being conscious of their sin.

I can easily see how a young guy, might need to go to weekly Confession. Especially because we’re surrounded by tempting filth everywhere in this culture.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I stopped listening to metal because a song like highway to hell is a sin, I stopped watching movies and tv series because most of them have action and crime or sex scenes.

I think you really need to have a talk with your priest about what is and is not a sin.

I and many other Catholics are able to listen to most metal (or hard rock, because technically AC/DC are not really “metal”) and watch a lot of movies and TV without feeling that we are sinning or being led into sin, so completely abstaining from both things, rather than just avoiding the clearly sinful songs and movies (e.g. blasphemous, pornographic) is a bit unusual. It is possible that you either have some special circumstance or that you are suffering from scrupulosity. Either way, you should discuss this with your priest.