What To Do Between the Sin and the Reconciliation

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buddyjack

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Peace of Christ,

The people on this forum have helped me beyond measure, and i was wondering if they could do it again.

My question is this: When I sin during the week (mortal sins), I am not able to go to confession till at the earliest Saturday. Most of the advice I have gotten from this forum tells me that i should go to confession as soon as possible. Saturday is as soon as possible as I can go, but, all the time leading up to Saturday, I feel out of the touch of God, I feel like I don’t deserve to be happy, or to share happy experiences with others. I have already made a firm vow not to sin again, I’ve laid out a new plan to avoid sin, but I haven’t recieved absolution in confession. Should I let myself be happy before I receive absolution, or do I not deserve happiness till I am with God again?

Thank you again
 
It is not a matter of deserving to feel happiness. It is OK to feel happiness, but when one is carrying feelings of guilt, properly so if one has sinned gravely, it may be difficult to feel happiness. If one is truly repentant and has made a firm intention to not sin again and has the intention to confess as soon as possible, God is not sitting up there ready to zap you into hell if you should die. It is not a bad thing to be uncomfortable until one can go to confession.
 
Hey my friend,
Dont grant that no good devil his wish and get depressed. Keep your eyes focused on Jesus. Remember when Peter took off walking on the water to Jesus…when he got nervous he looked down and began sinking. Its a wonderful thing that you have done away with pride and realize you are in need of mercy. Talk with Jesus…your doing great ! 😉
 
Don’t do what I did the first time i had a serious hangup and stop praying right after. I was mortified and terrified to pick up my rosary…my G/F had to force a hail Mary out of me!

But that was the first time i recognized what temptation was for real, my own weakness. If i beat one vice, it’ll just get replaced with something else, and when you fall it is because you are weak.

What I do ( i can usually only make it on the weekend for now) is I try not to feel too bad, pray a little, and I say an act of contrition. Then until the confession, i reflect on the circumstances that led to my defeat, identify them, and remember for next time to cut off the thought before it grows.

It is best to go right away, because that’s when i am the most penitent and distressed. By Saturday, I’ve reflected very much, prayed very much, and my confession, while necessary, is kind of lukewarm.

Oh well…

-revelations, DONT GET DISCOURAGED!
 
Yes, I suffer with these same feelings. I even believed that God doesn’t want anything to do with me until I’m absolved. I believed that God was happy with all of the “saints” and just cast me aside. While I still struggle with these feelings, I believe that IT IS BECAUSE we are so sorry and know how much we offended God. The last thing that God wants is for us to ignore Him when we need Him the most. There have been a few times when I called the rectory to schedule a mid week confession because I could not go on with myself. While I know that confessing mortal sins as quickly as one can is good, I also know that God is infinitely merciful and knows our hearts better than we do.

I am 48 years old and was raised with a lot of the “Catholic guilt”. But, in reality, God is not legalistic. That is what Jesus stressed with the Pharisees. He is a loving Father and he knows that you intend to go to confession as soon as you can.

Keep your eyes focused on Jesus, as one poster said, and move on with prayer and love. Despair is the devil’s best friend. God wants us to be happy. Our being unhappy is in the knowing of what mortal sin can do if not repented. But God is God and He died for us and will do anything in His infinite justice and mercy to find us reconciled to Him…Pray for me as I will for you…God Bless…teachccd 🙂
 
buddyjack said:
Peace of Christ,

The people on this forum have helped me beyond measure, and i was wondering if they could do it again.

My question is this: When I sin during the week (mortal sins), I am not able to go to confession till at the earliest Saturday. Most of the advice I have gotten from this forum tells me that i should go to confession as soon as possible. Saturday is as soon as possible as I can go, but, all the time leading up to Saturday, I feel out of the touch of God, I feel like I don’t deserve to be happy, or to share happy experiences with others. I have already made a firm vow not to sin again, I’ve laid out a new plan to avoid sin, but I haven’t recieved absolution in confession. Should I let myself be happy before I receive absolution, or do I not deserve happiness till I am with God again?

Thank you again
Click to expand...
PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!
 
St. Therese of Avila wrote that it happened to her that when she thought she had sinned, she felt she was unworthy of even talking to God, so she did not dare to pray or even go to the Chapel of her convent until she had received absolution. But then, God made her realize she was staying away from the only Doctor that could heal her precisely when she was most ill! God told her never to stop praying, talking to Him, etc.
And the same applies to all of us.

In your case I would also advice this:
  1. First of all ask yourself why is it that you seem to take for granted that you commit a mortal sin every week. Along with repent one must do whatever is necesary not to commit that sin again. For instance, if a guy sins because he watches pornographic films on tv during the week, it is not enough to go to Confession on Saturday, he should also get rid of those films and not watch them any more. (I’m not implying this is your case, of course, just making a point here).
  2. When you commit a mortal sin and you experiencie true contrition, that is, you truly repent from the bottom of your heart of having broken your friendship with God, He aknowledges that and He forgives you, but you still need to go to Confession in order to receive not only His forgiveness but also a sanctyfing grace that strengthens you to overcome the temptation to sin again.
3.Pray to Mary. Pray the Rosary. Ask your Heavenly Mother to pray for you and keep you in her loving embrace, so that you do not fall into this very common temptation, to think: ‘what the heck, I am already fallen, I will keep on sinning until I go to Confession on Saturday’. Remember every sin has consequences, one of which is that it makes it easier for you to fall again. So do not yield to that temptation and do not keep un sinning.
  1. Ask for the intercession of the Saints, particularly of those whom you know fell into what makes you fall.
  2. Do not miss going to Confession. If you start thinking: ‘it is no use, why waste the priest’s time, I will fall again anyway’, do not pay attention to those thoughts!! Make a firmer decision still and do not miss the opportunity of going to Confession.
I’ll be praying for you, that you may experience at all times, that God never ceases to love you, no matter what you do, and that His infinite mercy for you be what draws you nearer and nearer towards him and farther and farther from sin.:hug3:

:blessyou:

Alma
 
Repent. Be truly sorry for having offended God. Know that God loves you. Plan to go to confession when you can.

See links
link
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link
 
I really believe God knows when we are truly sorry for our sins and He would not want us to carry guilt. Maybe it would help to say a prayer to God and ask Him for forgiveness until you can reconcile in confession. Try to make things right with the person we hurt and this can help too. Know that God loves us and He loved us so much that Jesus shed His blood on the cross to cover our sins. God is a forgiving, loving God and I know He is aware of the guilt we carry in our hearts. He knows if we are repentant for our sins because He knows the number of hairs on our heads. God bless you.

Deborah
 
Call you priest and ask for an appointment for confession before Saturday.
 
buddyjack said:
Peace of Christ,

My question is this: When I sin during the week (mortal sins), I am not able to go to confession till at the earliest Saturday. Most of the advice I have gotten from this forum tells me that i should go to confession as soon as possible. Saturday is as soon as possible as I can go, but, all the time leading up to Saturday, I feel out of the touch of God, I feel like I don’t deserve to be happy, or to share happy experiences with others. I have already made a firm vow not to sin again, I’ve laid out a new plan to avoid sin, but I haven’t recieved absolution in confession. Should I let myself be happy before I receive absolution, or do I not deserve happiness till I am with God again?

Thank you again
Click to expand...
Thanks for asking the question! This is something I’ve struggled with too. And thank you to those who posted answers. Good sound advice by all!

Witness To Hope
 
My DW is still giggling mightily (and so am I) as she realized the post SHE just left was while I was still logged on under MY screen name.
 
revelations said:
What I do ( i can usually only make it on the weekend for now) is I try not to feel too bad, pray a little, and I say an act of contrition. Then until the confession, i reflect on the circumstances that led to my defeat, identify them, and remember for next time to cut off the thought before it grows.

It is best to go right away, because that’s when i am the most penitent and distressed. By Saturday, I’ve reflected very much, prayed very much, and my confession, while necessary, is kind of lukewarm.

Oh well…

-revelations, DONT GET DISCOURAGED!
Click to expand...
That is excellent advice. As the others were on this thread – thank you.

One thing I do is keep a journal that does what you suggested – identify the reasons why I fell down. This really helps and I’ve been able to make good progress by just reviewing my notes – looking for the areas where I can improve.

The time between the sin and confession can be frightening. That is good and bad. It’s good because our conscience is still sharp and not dead. It’s bad though because as another poster said, we might even be afraid to say a single Hail Mary.

That’s actually a very bad thing. Getting too depressed is easy. Getting too frightened is easy also – we don’t want to do that.

It’s important to express your sorrow to God – say an act of contrition. But then remember that God knows you, He sees your sorrow. Remind yourself that you ARE a good person, you’re becoming a saint! These falls and failures hurt, but this is your proving ground – you’re being tested and as long as you keep battling, you will not only be successful but you’ll be better than you can imagine.

These humiliating and sometimes fearful sins that we can fall into are a great means of humility.

Also, make sure to check other sins surrounding the mortal sin that you’re focusing on. Sometimes, the mortal sin is only the symptom of other sins (selfishness, pride, love of ease … etc).

It can feel like a long week until Saturday. But what a great experience to receive sacramental absolution!. 🙂
 
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