Sins of my past

[english_guy]

Hello everyone,
I would like some advice on a matter that has troubled me for nearly 30 years.Before I became a Catholic,(nearly 30 years ago) I committed a serious sin.As I had no proof of baptism as a baby,(I sent off a request to my parish church in London and no trace of my baptism was found 5 years after my birth) I had a conditional baptism.
What is worrying me is I don’t know 100% if I was baptised as a baby,so is that sin still present even after my conditional baptism?.If I was baptised as a baby then surely my conditional one would not wipe out that sin?.This sin is one I am so ashamed of I honestly don’t know if I could confess it,certainly not to my own priest,(it’s not murder, rape, or drugs by the way),last week I confessed to a friar near where I happened to be working, I might try them again, he was very friendly.

             I look forward to any replies, and thank you in advance of any,
                        God Bless,
                                            Mick.

 

[LilyM]

It sounds like, regardless of your baptismal situation, this sin is weighing on your mind. Whether or not it’s already been absolved it sounds like you still need to bite the bullet and mention it in the confessional, and would benefit greatly from doing so.

When you go into the confessional bear in mind that you are not really confessing to the priest - you are confessing to Christ who is in the confessional in the person of His human agent, the priest.

Remember Christ ALREADY knows all your sins, He is just waiting for you to admit them in the sacrament and receive His absolution for them. To do less than make a full confession is cheating yourself and certainly not fooling Him!

Think of God in the Garden of Eden asking Adam ‘why are you hiding?’ and ‘did you eat of the fruit?’. Naturally He knew the answers to both those questions, so you might wonder why He even asked. It was for ADAM’S sake - He was giving Adam the chance to come clean, confess, be forgiven and healed. Instead, Adam out of embarrassment, and pride perhaps, tried to weasel out of doing so - with disastrous results.

I hope if you were seriously ill you wouldn’t let embarrassment, however great, prevent you from going to a doctor to receive treatment. Jesus is the physician of our souls and confession is the means of healing and treating the wounds our sins cause us and Him.

Priests are professionals, bound to confidentiality and discretion, just as (in fact more so) than doctors are. Most will have spent many hours in the confessional and heard hundreds or even thousands of confessions before you come to them.

There would be almost nothing that you could tell a priest in the confessional that he would never have heard before from anyone else - humans simply aren’t that inventive in their sins.

Neither, even if your sin is something the priest hasn’t come across before, is he likely to be anything less than sympathetic. I’ve known of many cases where priests, after difficult confessions, commend the penitent on their courage in confessing, rather than being harsh with them or anything.

Do confess to that friar you mentioned, or to someone else other than your regular priest, and do so anonymously, it should make things a lot easier for you. Say a prayer to the Holy Spirit for courage before you go in, and perhaps tell the priest that there’s a big sin that you want to confess but are nervous about.

But whatever you do, do confess it, because deliberately withholding a grave sin in the confessional has serious consequences in regard to the validity of your confessions.

 

[puzzleannie]

in general, when an adult is baptized conditionally, usually in circumstances like yours, this should be preceded by sacramental confession first. If you have confessed since then, all your past sins have been forgiven so be at peace. Unless you have intentionally withheld sins in confession they are forgiven. You do understand you are confessing to Jesus, who already knows your sins, so it is foolish to hold back. Please avail yourself of the peace and comfort of confessing again, including past sins you don’t recall mentioning, simply for the sake of knowing this love and joy and assurance. Jesus, I trust in You.

 

[LilyM]

in general, when an adult is baptized conditionally, usually in circumstances like yours, this should be preceded by sacramental confession first. If you have confessed since then, all your past sins have been forgiven so be at peace. Unless you have intentionally withheld sins in confession they are forgiven. You do understand you are confessing to Jesus, who already knows your sins, so it is foolish to hold back. Please avail yourself of the peace and comfort of confessing again, including past sins you don’t recall mentioning, simply for the sake of knowing this love and joy and assurance. Jesus, I trust in You.

It sounds from the OP like this particular sin never was confessed at any time before or after reversion. Sounds like it was intentionally withheld out of embarrassment.

Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, of course - it would change the situation if I was.

 

[puzzleannie]

It sounds from the OP like this particular sin never was confessed at any time before or after reversion. Sounds like it was intentionally withheld out of embarrassment.

Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, of course - it would change the situation if I was.

well I don’t know so I am not going to make a conclusion, but either way penitent has nothing but good to expect for making a good general confession now, even of sins that have been confessed in the past, simply for his own peace of mind.

 

[LilyM]

well I don’t know so I am not going to make a conclusion, but either way penitent has nothing but good to expect for making a good general confession now, even of sins that have been confessed in the past, simply for his own peace of mind.

Absolutely!

 

[english_guy]

Hi everyone,
many thanks for your replies,I have not confessed this sin because I have never been sure of my baptismal status.I cannot remember if I made a confession before my conditional baptism,I know I made some afterwards!.
But one thing is for sure,I will get around to it as soon as I can pluck up the courage, I thank you all once again for your kind advice,
God Bless,
Mick.

“I have caught the most evil cold I have had in a long while,it must be so nice living in a warm country.”
Mick.