The Confessional Dilemma

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This has kept me away from receiving for about 10 years.

I have been meaning to talk to my Parish Priest about this but having found this wonderful forum maybe I can get some opinion’s thoughts and possibly solution’s.

The Eucharist problem is fairly straightforward.
I don’t think I’m good enough to receive it.

The confessional problem is a bit more complex.
This is just an example but say for instance I use a swear word, I can confess I use it, I may even be able to guess how many times but I also know that chances are I will use it again and again.

So in a nutshell,I commit a sin,I confess and I do it again, I know that before I go in so eventually I stopped going because I felt it hypocritical to confess knowing I am going to do the same thing over and over.
Maybe the act of confessing cleanses me but it hasn’t in the past.

Any idea’s,thoughts,solutions gratefully received.

Michael.
 
Well, first of all, no one is “good enough” to receive the Eucharist. But Jesus knew that, and he told us to, anyway. Why not do as He says, just because He said so? 🙂

Secondly, it is unconfessed mortal sin that prevents us from receiving Holy Communion. We all struggle with venial sins, and most of us with the same ones over an over. All this means is that you’re human, like the rest of us. It’s not hypocritical to admit that.

(Oh, and when confessing venial sins, the number of times isn’t required.)
 
By all means, talk with your parish priest and go to confession…NOW! We are all sinners and will be as long as we’re on this earth. As long as we’re truly sorry for our sins and have the INTENTION of not repeating them, we are forgiven. God knows we’ll fall again. He just asks that we keep coming back and ask his forgiveness as we make EVERY EFFORT to change our behavior. Talk with your priest about those habitual sins and how to work to overcome them. But NEVER DESPAIR of God’s forgiveness!
 
Michael,

We all have certain things we struggle with personally. For example; some have a terrible time with fidelity while others accept it with ease and comfort. My mother often said ‘Our Lord fell three times’ if I kept on making the same mistake and grew disheartened. 🙂

Until you confess your ‘regulars’ and do so regularly (fortnightly confession is as good a place to start as any) it won’t be ‘foremost’ in your mind and you won’t be praying and meditating upon your sin and how to overcome it. I prayed for YEARS to overcome anger associated with my ladytime and confessed it every month for that length of time. Often to the same priest! 😦

As it’s been awhile; make a solid examination of conscience (Google for help) and just bite the bullet. There seems little sense in mourning the lack of grace to succeed in overcoming your trouble while also declining to go and get that grace. 🙂

You’ve been away too long. Now make arrangements, my dear and receive communion as quickly as you can after you’ve been absolved. Then take up your cross daily and put one foot in front of the other.

Bless you, Michael. x
 
Dear Michael know that you’re not alone.
I know how depressing it is when one commit the same sin over and over again.
It’s frustrating really to confess it one day and fall again within only days.
But as long as we fight it, we refuse to give in to the sin.
I think each one of us has our own trouble areas, I have some you don’t and the other way around Im for sure.
Some swear alot others has lust issues.
Remember that hopelessness isn’t of God, but from the evil one.
He is the only one that gain something when we stop confessing our sins and when looking at it that way I get the feeling “no way he is going to win!”.
So I urge you to confess and confess over and over again then it will decrease in time.
Everyone of us confess sins we’re likely to commit again later, but that doesn’t mean we’re not sorry for them at the point of confession.

And don’t be to worried about wether or not you’re truely sorry for what you did I mean honestly, we are sorry for our sins if we go to confession isn’t it obvious?
I don’t like to confess so the fact that Im actually in the confessional anyway shows that the Holy Spirit guided me there out of either love for God or fear of hell. (The 1st option is the preferred one).

And when it comes to the holy communion I have to agree with a previous poster that neither one of us are worthy.
But it’s the sick who are in need of a doctor, remember that.

Yours in Jesus and Mary
  • MarianCatholic
 
NiceEnough said:
So in a nutshell,I commit a sin,I confess and I do it again, I know that before I go in so eventually I stopped going because I felt it hypocritical to confess knowing I am going to do the same thing over and over.
Click to expand...
If you get sick do you avoid going to the doctor because what’s the point when you know you’ll get sick again in the future?

Maybe if you see the doctor you’ll get some advice on how to avoid the illness in the future. At the very least you’ll deal with this particular bout with it.
 
Thank you all so much,I am gaining strength and insight with each post.

I wish with all my heart I had found this forum sooner.

Michael.
 
There’s something truly humbling about confessing the same sin time and time again - especially to the same priest. It’s hard enough to admit that we’ve stuffed up at all (and that we’re sorry) and harder still to admit that we made the same mistake, in the same way, as before. Of course, besides being humbling it can also be frustrating - St Paul puts it well when he says: “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” All we can do is just resolve to keep going back no matter how many times it takes, knowing that God’s forgiveness is limitless and that with His help we will overcome our struggle with sin.
 
None of us are good enough to receive the Eucharist, but it is not our goodness that makes us worthy to receive the Eucharist- it is God’s goodness. God is so good He makes us worthy. “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed” 🙂

As for confession, I can relate to struggling with committing the same sin over and over. But it is better to go to confession again and again, sincerely seeking God’s help for it, than to commit the same sin again and again and struggle with it alone. Avoiding the confessional isn’t going to stop us from repeating the sin- going to confession is exactly what we need to fight sin. It might not happen right away, but God does heal us during confession.He is waiting for us in confession so that we can let Him forgive us and heal us. 🙂
 
NiceEnough said:
This has kept me away from receiving for about 10 years.

I have been meaning to talk to my Parish Priest about this but having found this wonderful forum maybe I can get some opinion’s thoughts and possibly solution’s.

The Eucharist problem is fairly straightforward.
I don’t think I’m good enough to receive it.

The confessional problem is a bit more complex.
This is just an example but say for instance I use a swear word, I can confess I use it, I may even be able to guess how many times but I also know that chances are I will use it again and again.

So in a nutshell,I commit a sin,I confess and I do it again, I know that before I go in so eventually I stopped going because I felt it hypocritical to confess knowing I am going to do the same thing over and over.
Maybe the act of confessing cleanses me but it hasn’t in the past.

Any idea’s,thoughts,solutions gratefully received.

Michael.
Click to expand...
I daresay MOST people find themselves confessing the same sins over and over. That just makes us aware of what we are prone to do.
So confess…and confess that it’s a habit and say how you’re feeling about it.

Then go and take the Eucharist. As others have said, it’s not about us being good enough to receive it. It’s about being willing to receive it.
You might want to visit your priest and ask about this…“scruples” could be involved too…nothing to be ashamed of…lots of us have been there too!

May the Lord Bless you and keep you.
 
It is so important to go to confession. Admitting our weaknesses in the presence of Our Lord is the very balm you need to get back on track and be healed. Try and go as often as you can to obtain the graces that are part of the sacrament of Confession.
It might be a good idea to make a time with the priest to make a general confession.
I think we’ve all been in your shoes in one way or another at some stage in our lives.
I prayed for you 🙂
 
Michael, Michael, Michael, you said** Maybe the act of confessing cleanses me but it hasn’t in the past.**

Maybe you haven’t felt cleansed but you have indeed been cleansed. The sacrament does not depend on nor does it automatically dispense good feelings. Trust in the mercy of God and the covenant He has made with us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He has promised us His forgiveness if we come to him and it will not be denied us.

If you have made a confession in the past year and have no mortal sins on your soul, return to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, receive Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. If you have mortal sin, or if venial sin is weighing you down, go to confession first, but please, come home!

Be at peace!
 
agnes_therese said:
Well, first of all, no one is “good enough” to receive the Eucharist. But Jesus knew that, and he told us to, anyway. Why not do as He says, just because He said so? 🙂

Secondly, it is unconfessed mortal sin that prevents us from receiving Holy Communion. We all struggle with venial sins, and most of us with the same ones over an over. All this means is that you’re human, like the rest of us. It’s not hypocritical to admit that.

(Oh, and when confessing venial sins, the number of times isn’t required.)
Click to expand...
This poster is right. Jesus loves you and forgives you! Nobody is good enough to receive but God has given us this great gift as Catholics- his own body and blood to redeem us.

Speak to your Priest about going to Communion and ask his advise on this issue- you say you have not received in 10 years? Speak to Father about it and see what he says.
 
Thank you all again so much!!

I will speak to my priest about it.
Besides being an extremely nice man he is very caring,compassionate and knowledgeable and I know he will guide me.

I have returned to Mass again after not going for about a year.

I now know I am doing the right thing and if I can get the Sacraments in place I think that may help me find some peace.

Thank you all once again.

Michael.
 
The Divine Mercy of Our Lord is what you and all of us need. One of the things that Our Lord told St. Faustina was that Satan is thrilled when people stay away from confession because they are afraid that they are beyond its healing power.
 
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