Was this a a lie?

[MacLeod123]

Recently I went to confession and re-confessed some old sins and my regular confession. At the end the priest asked me what bothered me most about what I had confessed. I think he could probably tell I was over worried about the past sins. Emotionally I was most bothered by the old sins and not feeling forgiven. But I knew I should be more worried about my biggest sin right now. So I said gossiping.

He must have known that I didn’t tell him exactly what was bothering me because most of his advice had to do with my past sins and how God forgives and loves me and to move on.

Anyway now I’m worried that I lied and ruined my whole Confession. I didn’t mean to lie. I think I was just caught off guard by his question and I think I was nervous to talk to him about it. Do I have anything I should confess from this?

 

[Vico]

Recently I went to confession and re-confessed some old sins and my regular confession. At the end the priest asked me what bothered me most about what I had confessed. I think he could probably tell I was over worried about the past sins. Emotionally I was most bothered by the old sins and not feeling forgiven. But I knew I should be more worried about my biggest sin right now. So I said gossiping.

He must have known that I didn’t tell him exactly what was bothering me because most of his advice had to do with my past sins and how God forgives and loves me and to move on.

Anyway now I’m worried that I lied and ruined my whole Confession. I didn’t mean to lie. I think I was just caught off guard by his question and I think I was nervous to talk to him about it. Do I have anything I should confess from this?

You would be obligated to confess this if you thought it was gravely wrong and still did it freely. That would demonstrate an intentional lack of charity. Only you can decide the answer to this question.

 

[Texsain]

Recently I went to confession and re-confessed some old sins and my regular confession. At the end the priest asked me what bothered me most about what I had confessed. I think he could probably tell I was over worried about the past sins. Emotionally I was most bothered by the old sins and not feeling forgiven. But I knew I should be more worried about my biggest sin right now. So I said gossiping.

He must have known that I didn’t tell him exactly what was bothering me because most of his advice had to do with my past sins and how God forgives and loves me and to move on.

Anyway now I’m worried that I lied and ruined my whole Confession. I didn’t mean to lie. I think I was just caught off guard by his question and I think I was nervous to talk to him about it. Do I have anything I should confess from this?

No, I don’t think you ruined your whole confession. It doesn’t sound like you intentionally lied, if you lied at all. You told him what you thought was true at the time. You are too scrupulous. Accept that God has forgiven you, and thank Him daily for his forgiveness.

 

[SMHW]

Recently I went to confession and re-confessed some old sins and my regular confession. At the end the priest asked me what bothered me most about what I had confessed. I think he could probably tell I was over worried about the past sins. Emotionally I was most bothered by the old sins and not feeling forgiven. But I knew I should be more worried about my biggest sin right now. So I said gossiping.

He must have known that I didn’t tell him exactly what was bothering me because most of his advice had to do with my past sins and how God forgives and loves me and to move on.

Anyway now I’m worried that I lied and ruined my whole Confession. I didn’t mean to lie. I think I was just caught off guard by his question and I think I was nervous to talk to him about it. Do I have anything I should confess from this?

You tell us if you lied.

Did you deliberately try to tell a falsehood? It doesn’t seem like it to me. Did the priest misunderstand you? From what you said, he DID seem to understand what you were truly concerned about. You mentioned the sin that I presume is the greatest problem for you right now.

Obviously you felt a disconnect between what your brain was telling you and what you were feeling. You did not deliberately try to mislead the priest. You were answering the question you thought he was asking.