S
s.cono
Guest
Hi brothers and sisters:
I am a new member struggling to get back into my faith. I was literally away from the church from the very beginning, however, I was Baptized, received Holy Communion, and Confirmation at the appropriate ages, and attended Catholic school. I was an altar boy as a child. It was all an illusion, though, as I don’t think at the time I ever practiced my faith correctly, or truthfully. Fast forward 50 years. I recently felt a strong urge to return to the church, to basically fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness. I was carrying around a titanic load of sins I committed over the years, especially in my alcoholic and drug-fueled young adult days. In other words many heinous sins against pretty much everyone and everything.
I basically showed up at a parish, rang the bell, and asked if I could talk to a priest. He allowed me to make a general confession the following morning. I made a list of sins that I remember committing from early childhood, then through the decades until the present. It was lengthy and took quite some time. It was weird because it was face to face and I was literally terrified, but this blessed man put me at peace and I got through it.
I have been to confession weekly, confessing the sins I forgot to confess and remembered afterwards. I’m probably still not done with the past ones, but the flow is only a trickle now.
I recently remembered something that I did not that long ago, and I am wondering if it is a bad sin. It was just this past Ash Wednesday. I went to check on my elderly parents, as I do a couple of times a day. They were sitting around watching television, and made me notice that they drew crosses on their heads with a sharpie marker. The reason is because they missed Ash Wednesday. If I had known it was Ash Wednesday I would have taken them, but it was now early evening and too late. I got an idea. There was some palm in the house left over from the previous palm Sunday. I got the idea in my head that I could burn some of it, say a prayer while doing it, and make the sign of the cross on their forehead with the ashes. I did exactly that. They were happy, I was happy, but in retrospect I don’t think I should have been doing this. Did I commit a grave sin? I’m going to confess this on Saturday, but until I am worried about what I did. I certainly was not in any state of grace or purity, because when I did this it was way before my general confession.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
S.Cono
I am a new member struggling to get back into my faith. I was literally away from the church from the very beginning, however, I was Baptized, received Holy Communion, and Confirmation at the appropriate ages, and attended Catholic school. I was an altar boy as a child. It was all an illusion, though, as I don’t think at the time I ever practiced my faith correctly, or truthfully. Fast forward 50 years. I recently felt a strong urge to return to the church, to basically fall to my knees and beg for forgiveness. I was carrying around a titanic load of sins I committed over the years, especially in my alcoholic and drug-fueled young adult days. In other words many heinous sins against pretty much everyone and everything.
I basically showed up at a parish, rang the bell, and asked if I could talk to a priest. He allowed me to make a general confession the following morning. I made a list of sins that I remember committing from early childhood, then through the decades until the present. It was lengthy and took quite some time. It was weird because it was face to face and I was literally terrified, but this blessed man put me at peace and I got through it.
I have been to confession weekly, confessing the sins I forgot to confess and remembered afterwards. I’m probably still not done with the past ones, but the flow is only a trickle now.
I recently remembered something that I did not that long ago, and I am wondering if it is a bad sin. It was just this past Ash Wednesday. I went to check on my elderly parents, as I do a couple of times a day. They were sitting around watching television, and made me notice that they drew crosses on their heads with a sharpie marker. The reason is because they missed Ash Wednesday. If I had known it was Ash Wednesday I would have taken them, but it was now early evening and too late. I got an idea. There was some palm in the house left over from the previous palm Sunday. I got the idea in my head that I could burn some of it, say a prayer while doing it, and make the sign of the cross on their forehead with the ashes. I did exactly that. They were happy, I was happy, but in retrospect I don’t think I should have been doing this. Did I commit a grave sin? I’m going to confess this on Saturday, but until I am worried about what I did. I certainly was not in any state of grace or purity, because when I did this it was way before my general confession.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
S.Cono
