Thinking about receiving the Eucharist

[vivagesu]

Hi everyone,

I am a young girl who’s been struggling with masturbation since I was 9 years old. I’ve
never been able to stop. Even though I go to confession as soon as I can after every fall, I still do it pretty much everyday, sometimes many times in the same day. The only parish tthat offers confession is one hour away from my home, so I can’t get there everytime I fall.

I feel ashamed and disgusted with myself. I’m often scared to go to Hell… It seems there is no way out of this. The parish I go to with my family doesn’t have confessions, so I often have to abstain from receiving the Eucharist when I go to Mass, and some of my family members ask me why I stay in the pew. It makes me even more ashamed. And then, when I get home, I fall again…

I’ve thought about this today. Maybe I’m addicted. Maybe it’s not a mortal sin anymore, since I can’t stop… I feel bad when I think of this. I don’t want to be too permissive with myself. But at the same time, I want to be true to myself. If I’m addicted, truly addicted, the Church says this can reduce culpability. Of course, the act itself is bad, and I will keep trying to stop. But tomorrow, I will go to Mass with my family, and really want to receive Jesus. I’m pretty sure He’s the only one who can help me, now…

But I don’t want to commit a sacrilege.
So I know you can’t really judge the state of my soul, but I ask for your advice.
Do you think this is still a mortal sin ?
Be honest.
Thank you.

 

[DeniseNY]

Would it be possible for you to make an appointment with your parish priest to talk to him?

Don’t give up. I think masturbation is probably one of the the most confessed sins, and it can indeed be a very hard habit to break from.

 

[beleg]

Talk about it with your confessor. If it is indeed an addiction then it would only be a venial sin - but still something you need to try to break. But that’s not a decision you should make for yourself.