Was my confession invalid???

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steubenville

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Hello everyone. This is my first post on CAF. Unfortunately, the reason I am writing is to receive sound advice over something that has been deeply troubling me during the past 24 hours.

About one year ago, I experienced a series of incessant lingering doubts about having committed mortal sins and feared eternal hellfire because I believed I was constantly in the state of mortal sin. By the grace of God and with good priests who offered strong advice, I was able to shake my scrupulous condition…for a while.

But then yesterday, (Saturday) I went to confession to confess a sin that I believed to be serious. While I was in confession, I was explaining the context of my sin and I sort of told an untruth to the priest. At least, I didn’t tell him the whole truth.

I told him that I was going to avoid playing a certain sport for a certain period of time. However, in truth, I was really planning on avoiding playing this sport FOREVER, and not just for a certain period of time like I told the priest. The reason I told the priest that I was planning on not playing the sport only for a certain period of time was because I thought this priest would think I was being too extreme. So I was too ashamed to tell the priest the entire truth.

During confession, shortly after I realized I had sort of misled the priest, I vowed to correct my half-lie after the priest was through giving me counsel. The problem is that the priest was giving me advice about dealing with my problem but never really paused to allow me to confess other sins and instead immediately asked me to say the Act of Contrition, which I did.

So I thought to myself that it was not really essential at this point to tell the priest that I was planning on not playing this sport FOREVER since that really would not have affected the advice that he gave me.

In the end, I said my act of contrition, received the absolution, and left the confessional.

Now, however, I feel like I have told a lie in confession and, thus, have committed a sacrilege. It’s been nagging me all day today (Sunday) and I felt so guilty that I did not receive communion this morning during mass.

Can somebody please help me with this situation? Did I commit a sacrilege? I really would like to go to daily mass this week and receive the Eucharist. Confession here occurs on a Saturday, though I could schedule an appointment with a priest at a local parish. But I’m just thinking that if I confess this story to a priest, he will think I am being ridiculous.
 
Don’t worry about the priest thinking you’re ridiculous. I’ve had priests yell at me for taking sins too lightly and other priests tell me I’m looking for sins under every rock I can find. In either case, I survived their opinions and, more importantly, resolved my questions and recieved absolution. So I would try to talk to the priest. Besides, he’ll probably help you understand more about the sacrament and what constitutes a good confession. And then he’ll forget what you said to him and who it was who said it – he’s got a million other things on his plate.

In the meantime, realize that God knows your heart and your concerns. Believe me, He wants to forgive you and assure your salvation even more than you do. Trust in His mercy and make the appointment with the priest. That’s my .02.

God bless,
Dan
 
I agree with Dan. God knows your heart and true intentions, and I don’t think this “period of time” vs. “forever” will be a major stumbling block at the Throne. I would just mention it to your priest next time, and see what he says. The Lord gave His own life for your salvation, and I doubt He’d let something like this ruin it for you. He loves you very much.

God bless.
 
What you did wasn’t a lie. Maybe somewhere you were having second thoughts about never playing that sport again. Now, if you would have said your last confession was a month ago and it was really 2 years, that would be a different story. Frequent confession is good, but don’t be too hard on yourself. God knows we are human and that we are not perfect, but be thankful that in His great mercy for us He allows us endless 2nd chances to get it right and He gave us confession to help us. Just ask for His guidence and He will grant it. :yup:
 
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