What is to stop people from sinning then

[Oblaidon]

What is to stop people from sinning then confessing their sin afterwards? They commit the sin knowing they can confess it and have a clean slate. Such as a married person becoming sterile, or commiting other so called “victimless crimes.”

I have a friend that says he had a Catholic girlfriend with whom he had sex with. He said she would go to confession every week to get cleansed.

I asked him if he was much better. He doesn’t claim to be religious and has no guilty feelings for his actions. I got the feeling he was bashing the Catholic faith though.

Oh, and one or both were married at the time.

I, myself, don’t like to go to confession. I like receiving the host. I don’t like admitting to sin, but others might not have the same attitude.

 

[passus]

There is such a thing as abuses of the sacraments and what you have described here would seem to be a prime example.

Necessary for a worthy confession is repentance, without which one’s sins are not forgiven. Inherent to repentance is that one intends to resolve his ways and avoid committing those same sins again.

For this friend of yours to have weekly confession with the intent to walk right out of the confessional and go right back to his fornication is not only an abuse of the sacrament of Penance (a sin in itself), but he was never forgiven for that sin in any of his previous confessions either.

 

[srferdave]

I agree with the previous response. In order for the confession to be valid, one must intend with all his/her heart not to sin again. This friend of your needs some serious guidance.

 

[LilyM]

To abuse the sacrament of penance in this way not only invalidates the confession and absolution, it’s a further grave (potentially mortal) sin, the sin of presumption, if there’s no sorrow for sin and no genuine desire to cease sinning in future.

And for yourself, you are obligated to go to Confession at least once a year during Lent. And you sin further if you receive Communion when in a state of grave sin. Not that you necessarily are, but it’s a rare person who’d go from one year’s end to another without committing a mortal sin!

 

[Monica4316]

confession is a wonderful gift from God, and it’s based on repentance. we need to be repentant. if we love God, we wouldn’t want to offend Him. we would feel deep contrition for sin.

what you describe sounds like an abuse of grace…

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

They’re all right. You can only make a good confession and be forgiven if you intend to not sin again. You may know your weak and will likely sin , but you must resolve with all your might not to. The Holy Spirit is in the confessional and you may fool the priest but you cannot fool Him. Jesus shed His blood to give us this wonderful sacrament and we certainly should use it as often a we need , but we must never abuse this great gift from God. Are you truly a friend of God if you abuse His greatest gifts? No.
I must say our priests need to teach every one what the church teaches about confession and sin. That would make the world of difference. But the trendy priests will not change until the bishops tell them.

 

[xAlisonx]

o b l a i d o n.
i definitely have to agree with everyone who has posted before me. if someone truly loves God, then the last thing they would want is to offend or hurt Him—and God is most definitely offended and hurt by abuse of the Sacraments. what is to stop people from sinning, then immediately confessing their sin? love for our Father. if someone truly loves Him, they will have a contrite heart, an attitude of repentance and a sincere desire to abstain from sin when they go to Confession. even if they haven’t yet reached the point of perfect contrition, fear of Hell is sufficient—yet what your friend is doing to abuse God’s grace and His precious Sacraments seems to me like a serious sin. like someone posted before me, not only is he sinning through abusing the Sacraments, but if he is not truly sorry for his sins, then they have not been forgiven, even if he has previously confessed them. it sounds to me like your friend is in desperate need of guidance, and i will definitely keep him in my constant thoughts and deepest prayers.

if someone deliberately commits a sin with the specific intention of confessing it immediately afterwards, then they show no respect for God, mock His grace, mercy, love and forgiveness and will not be forgiven even if they confess it. they do not become a “clean slate,” but continue to become stained by sin, perhaps to the point of a hardened conscience that is no longer convicted of sin.

i will definitely pray for both your friend and his girlfriend. personally, part of me likes going to Confession because i love the overwhelming feeling of cleansing and love that i receive, and it’s comforting for me to talk with the priest and to be in the Presence of Jesus. part of me also doesn’t like it, though, because it’s somewhat uncomfortable for me, and difficult for me to look back on all of my sins, failures and weaknesses without falling into a depression. i love the Blessed Sacrament as well—what a beautiful grace Jesus has given us, and what incredible Love He has shown for us all, through the Eucharist. personally, i like confessing my sins so that i can receive advice, but at the same time, it makes me sad to know that i’ve failed God so many times. there are a lot of mixed emotions involved when i go to Confession.

my advice to you would be to say a Divine Mercy Chaplet (ewtn.com/Devotionals/mercy/dmmap.htm) and Rosary for the conversion and salvation of your friend, and for his girlfriend’s soul. know that they both remain in my prayers. God bless you.

love,
in the peace and love of Christ,
alison

 

[acadian]

I, myself, don’t like to go to confession. I like receiving the host. I don’t like admitting to sin, but others might not have the same attitude.

I don’t like admitting to the stupid, thoughtless, mean, selfish things I do, either. Don’t know too many people for whom that is a preferred activity. But I’m working at it - one attitude, one behavior at a time, and admitting to it is a big first step. I am very thankful for God’s merciful gift of this sacrament, even if it is uncomfortable at times.

 

[MarieVeronica]

What is to stop people from sinning then confessing their sin afterwards?

A person who behaves this way… is making a dangerous “presumption” about God’s Mercy. Don’t they think that Almighty God KNOWS what is in their hearts? Do they think He is stupid… or won’t know what they’re doing? A person who behaves this way is playing with fire. :nope:

I don’t get this… at all.

 

[Abigail]

Although it may SEEM very presumptuous for a person to willingly sin and go to confession, intending to sin again, let’s take a wider view of what’s going on here.

Here is a person who still values God’s opinion enough that s/he is willing to go out of their way to go to confession. Even if that confession is what some might consider a “sham,” it’s evidence that the person believes in God and desires, on some level, to acknowledge their sin. If they have no repentence at all, why take the time to go to confession?

Perhaps this is a situation where they have “imperfect” contrition - they go simply because they fear God’s punishment. But the Church teaches that imperfect contrition is sufficient for a valid confession. If someone goes to the trouble to go to confession, they may be saying in their heart of hearts “Lord, I wish I could stop doing what I’m doing, but I know I don’t have the strength. I know I will sin again. But I value the few days during which I will not sin enough to get in my car, go to confession, and do my penance.”

It is not for us to judge this type of contrition. Someone who has “imperfect” contrition and who continues to go to confession, will eventually attain perfect contrition. I, myself, would be very careful about making judgments about the mysterious ways of God. The fact the someone GOES to confession tells me that God has his eyes on them, regardless of how weak they may be in their fight against sin.

 

[scoobydoo6v92]

I have a question, What if you repent and try to resolve a certain sin, you slip up. and confession is two days away. and you feel heck why not do it again I am already in grave mortal sin, may as well get the most of the sin. I have done felt that way in the past. I know it isn’t a good way of thinking. But sometimes I do that. Scoob.

 

[kitkatty]

Nothing to stop these people the op described except a conscience formed by the Church. Until they learn to conform their consciences to the mind of the Church they will prob ably keep doing this. They have sinned so much and told themselves it`s okay that their consciences are deadend…

 

[Abigail]

Scoob,

I would say keep going to confession. It takes some of us many years to mature in our faith. We mess up in creative ways. But the desire to go to confession is grace. My take on it is that you aren’t trying to cheat God (you KNOW you can’t do that). You are just having difficulty overcoming temptation, and that is part of the human condition. As long as you desire confession, and continue to avail yourself of the sacrament, God will be there to guide you. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neithe is sanctity!

 

[Abigail]

kitkatty,

No one whose conscience is deadened continues to go to confession week after week! Thank God that you have so little familiarity with a deadened conscience that you think this is possible!

 

[kitkatty]

Hello Abigail, I will have to respectfully disagree with you here. You said no one whose conscience is deadend would continue to go to confession week after week. Now I never said her conscience was dead as in having none but seriously weakened; a difference… This is a consequence of repeated mortal sin, a weak conscience. What I am saying is that she has an improperly formed conscience and ,yes ,I do agree that she is going to the sacraments and that by itself is a good thing but it really sounds like she is fooling herself in the way she is using the sacrament of confession. I also do not know the state of anyones heart and hopefully these weekly confessions will be of benefit in making her realize she has been misusing the confessional.

 

[Abigail]

Dear kitkatty,

I don’t think we disagree at all! You are hoping that her continued use of the sacrament of confession will lead her to a deeper understanding of the nature of sin. My point is that is that she is much more likely to gain that deeper understanding if she is confessing frequently, even if those confessions are seriously flawed. It is much more difficult for someone to gain that understanding if their conscience is so deadened that they no longer believe in confession and do not avail themselves of it.

Someone who goes to confession still has a connection with the Church. When they go to confession they enter a church, in which the Real Presence resides. They encounter a priest, who is God’s consecrated. The participate in a sacrament, and are obedient enough to perform the penance given. That penance itself consists of prayers which, even if hastily said without thought, place one in the presence of God and the saints. Yes, they are stubborn and sinful, but God is still on their radar.

I guess I prefer to see the glass half-full. When I see people who are sinful yet still connected somehow to God, I tend to see them as works in progress. It seems to me that they don’t have as far to go as the ones who have rejected God completely and hate the Church and the sacraments.

 

[Oblaidon]

Thank you everyone for your posts. If you go into something like a sterilization (tubes tied, vesectomy), and you know it is wrong, and you know you can go to confession for it, wouldn’t God still forgive you? God would even forgive you because you know it is wrong to plan on going to confession this way.

I am not suggesting anyone to plan this way, I guess I am just thinking this through.

I have a question, What if you repent and try to resolve a certain sin, you slip up. and confession is two days away. and you feel heck why not do it again I am already in grave mortal sin, may as well get the most of the sin. I have done felt that way in the past. I know it isn’t a good way of thinking. But sometimes I do that. Scoob.

Things sometimes aren’t as cut and dry as “heck why not do it again.” But I found myself in situation with it was easier to not go to church and I couldn’t receive communion anyways. I can see how people can get caught in a tail spin of sin.

My intention now is to go to church every Sunday whether my family goes or not. The priest told me to set an example, and that is what I am doing.

I am planning on not commiting a mortal sin ever again. I can still go to confession once a year as stated, and really nit pick on the small things.

Thanks again for your posts,

 

[MarieVeronica]

Thank you everyone for your posts. If you go into something like a sterilization (tubes tied, vesectomy), and you know it is wrong, and you know you can go to confession for it, wouldn’t God still forgive you?

My advice would be for you to question your priest about this. He can best answer.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says: “The regulation of births represents one of the aspects of responsible fatherhood and motherhood. Legitimate intentions on the part of the spouses do not justify recourse to morally unacceptable means (for example, direct sterilization or contraception)”. (2399)

God KNOWS the true intentions of our hearts. We can NOT hide our “plans” or “intentions” from Almighty God. A person can not say… “it’s ok for me to do this evil, thing… because I can go to Confession, later.”

If we decided to go ahead with a sterilization procedure… even though we KNOW the teaching of the Church on the subject; but we go ahead anyway… because we believe “God will forgive us”… then we are making a presumption about the Mercy of God.

God IS forgiving… yes. But He is also INFINITELY JUST. He cannot go against His own Nature. If we think we can “fool” God… we are deceiving ourselves. What arrogance… if we, poor little “ants” (as St. Teresa of Avila said)… truly believe that we can “pull the wool over” God’s Eyes. So… the person would have to confess not ONLY the sterilization… but also, the attempt to deceive God. And be truly sorry for it. And intend to never do it again.

Our 's are open books… which He can read.