Valid Confession?

[keith2002]

baltobetsy:

When we genuinely forget, the sin is forgiven, but we still have the obligation to confess it. Doing it that quickly was very wise, although not strictly necessary. Mentioning it in the next regularly scheduled confession would be enough.

Betsy

I’m not sure this is accurate. If you go into the confessional and honestly forget to mention a sin, but remeber after you are absolved, you are under no obligation to confess it later. Why? The reason being that imagine how hard it would be to keep track of all that you forgot or wasn’t specific enought about. This creates scrupulosity. Do enough of this an you spend your life wondering if you were specific enough, clear enough, sorry enough, etc. The book Understanding Scrupulosity by Father Thomas Santa is great for understaning the issue. Or go to the website and download and read older newsletters.

mission.liguori.org/newsletters/scrupanon.htm

Or you may wish to go to the Catholic Answers show archives and search Thomas Santa to find a show he did a few years ago.

 

[baltobetsy]

George, having an attraction to others of your same sex is not a sin. Homosexual ACTS are sinful. The orientation is an opportunity to overcome temptation and grow in holiness, so, in a sense, it could be considered a gift, although that’s quite a stretch.

Scrupulosity is a real spiritual condition wherein a person sees sin everywhere, even where there is no sin. A truly scrupulous person needs to go regularly to the same confessor (one who is faithful to the moral teachings of the church), and absolutely obey everything he is told, whether it sounds right or not.

Now, it gets sticky with very liberal priests who don’t really believe what the Church teaches with regard to sin. They are the opposite of scrupulous - when sin is staring them in the face, they don’t see it. And to make matters worse, when a person with a properly formed conscience comes and confesses a real sin, they sometimes accuse the person of being scrupulous.

Here is my advice. First, if you confessed what you believed were sins and the priest said the words, “I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” your sins ARE forgiven and your confession was valid, regardless of the advice the priest may have given you. Second, you need to find a priest whom you trust. Listen to homilies and find someone who preaches about sin, purgatory, hell, confession, abortion, and other tough issues without waffling. Or ask around for who has a reputation of orthodoxy. Third, do a Google search for the organization called Courage, which ministers to people with same sex attraction and is faithful to Church teaching on this subject. Finally (whew!), look up Scrupulous Anonymous and see if you recognize yourself in the description of scrupulosity. Also, do a forum search here for the words “scrupulous” and “scrupulosity.” There’s a lot of good stuff right here.

God bless you!
Betsy

 

[baltobetsy]

keith2002:

I’m not sure this is accurate. If you go into the confessional and honestly forget to mention a sin, but remeber after you are absolved, you are under no obligation to confess it later. Why? The reason being that imagine how hard it would be to keep track of all that you forgot or wasn’t specific enought about. This creates scrupulosity.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (#1456) tells us that “All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are the most secret…(and it goes on to refer to the 9th and 10th commandments).” Nowhere does it say that mortal sins forgotten are absolved and one is relieved of the obligation to tell them.

First, I don’t think that a person who recalls a forgotten mortal sin will forget it again, if the next confession occurs within a reasonable length of time. Now, if one is confessing only once a year, that may be a problem, but once a year is the BARE MINIMUM, not the recommended interval.
Second, the majority of people do not tend toward scrupulosity, and for most people, there’s no spiritual harm in keeping a few notes for the next confession. A person acting out of the love of God, who genuinely wants to express sorrow for sins and grow in holiness will want to be certain to confess everything. I agree with you, however, that the truly scrupulous person will be harmed by keeping accounts.

So, if you find yourself preparing for Confession and remember a sin you are certain you had forgotten in an earlier Confession, confess it! If you find yourself getting anxious and not sure if you confessed something properly or at all, bring that up too, in the context of asking advice on scrupulosity. Above all Confession is a sacrament of PEACE.

Betsy

 

[eeurogirly]

Oh yes,because it’s just odd,after you confessed a big thing,to keep going back to the same priest-especially because there is no screen.I go to confession all over the place,mostly because of the days that they offer it at different parishes,too.

pittsburghjeff:

Does anyone else go to confession at a different parish than one they attend mass to avoid embarrassment with a priest who knows you?

 

[Sanctus]

I see no problem with generalizing a specific sin. Do we really need to go into every detail in the confessional?

I had posted a question very similar on a different thread, and I still remember the advice one poster gave me…“Being to general is confessing that you stole a piece of rope but failing to mention that there was a horse attached to the other end.”

Hope that helps

God Bless,