The Fulfillment of the Penance in Confession......Time Limit?

[Antonius_Lupus]

Dear brothers and sisters,

Earlier today I promised my little brother that I would take him to see a movie. The movie started at 4:25 PM, so I left around 3:00 PM so I could go to the confession too.

I brought my brother with me to church. After my confession, Father imposed the penance of making the stations of the cross. I realized that I would not have time to do the stations before the movie began at 4:25…there was another showing at 4:55 PM, but I told my mother we were going to the 4:25 one and my little brother was very antsy and he wouldn’t have been very good about waiting while I did the stations.

Thus, while I could have done my penance immediately…I ended up choosing not to and so I went the movies with my brother.

The entire drive to the theatre, I was racked with worry. I wondered whether I now needed to go to confession again since I had failed to do my penance immediately. Both in the car and before the movie, I tried to make the stations mentally, but when I got to the third one I felt like I wouldn’t be able to do the rest in correct order so I just stopped and resolved to do my penance when I got home and could use my prayer books.

The first thing I did when I got home was take out the trash, which took about 6-7 minutes…then I did my penance.

I have two questions that I need y’all’s help with:

1. Is it grave matter to not fulfill one’s penance immediately? I am really quite disturbed by this, and I am very worried about taking communion tommorow given this occurrence.
2. From time to time during the completion of my penance, I got distracted alot but I did complete all 14 stations…is my penance still fulfilled?

I am not absolutely certain that I have committed a mortal sin like at other times when I know I have committed a mortal sin…but it feels so hard to just “trust” that I am clean. I worry that if I let go, I might be facing the wrong end of my eternal destiny after this life.

Can y’all help me?

 

[LilyM]

One should do one’s penance within a reasonable time after it being imposed. But there is no requirement that it be done immediately, and it certainly isn’t a sin of any kind to fail to do your penance immediately. Indeed, some priests specify penances which cannot be done immediately, which they wouldn’t do if immediate performance were a requirement.

However, make sure to do so before your next confession at the latest, since *complete *failure to do your penance at all (meaning at any point prior to your next confession) without good reason, is a sin that would need to be confessed.

And no, in regard to Stations of the Cross it wouldn’t make any difference whether you did all 14 stations in one sitting or not.

 

[Spirithound]

1. No
2. Yes

 

[Antonius_Lupus]

Yeah…I’m pretty scrupulous, so sorry about the post. It probably sounds a little silly.

It is so hard for me to let go and trust in my priest’s words to me that if we are seeking the truth and are not sure of mortal sin, than we haven’t committed one.

Please pray for me that I will have the courage to receive the Holy Eucharist with faith and love tommorow.

 

[LilyM]

Yeah…I’m pretty scrupulous, so sorry about the post. It probably sounds a little silly.

It is so hard for me to let go and trust in my priest’s words to me that if we are seeking the truth and are not sure of mortal sin, than we haven’t committed one.

Please pray for me that I will have the courage to receive the Holy Eucharist with faith and love tommorow.

Remember two things - firstly that Jesus isn’t looking for reasons to condemn you for ANYTHING. He wants to save you infinitely more than you want to be saved, and is in fact looking for reasons to let you into heaven rather than lock you out.

Secondly that He not only gave authority to his Apostles and through them to our Bishops and priests, but responsibility. As St Paul put it, they have to render an account of the souls in their charge. What this means for you and me is that when a priest advises us, we can in good faith follow his advice, even if it might possibly be wrong, and God will hold it to his account and not ours. This is why obedience is a virtue.

Unless, of course, said priest is indisputably in error (like telling you that abortion is fine and dandy, or telling you that Mary is the fourth member of the Godhead alongside Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or something).