littleflower+JMJ Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 BumP! not everyone has voted and i want to make sure all the posts are read because there are some very important ones in there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catholic Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I personally voted for transubstantiation, but of course the best things about the Church are the sacraments, apostolic succession and the papacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TempleofVesarius Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Apologist ....what exactly is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Someone who defends the faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TempleofVesarius Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 ahhhhhhhhhh....... depends on who I am defending it to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodsGrace Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 hey Jake....a friend once told me that if you go to confession & you say father forgive me of the sins I choose NOT to mention....although it is hard to believe you can say that, I'm going ask you that!!..can you say that & still be forgiven. B/c there is ONE sin that I have never been able to bring myself to say infront of a priest. Not like thay've never heard it, but b/c I'm sooooooembarrassed & b/c it's just a stupid thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodsThespianChic Posted July 18, 2003 Share Posted July 18, 2003 Yeah, you can do that, because I did that when I went to confessionn with Fr. Gary on Sunday night. He was like "You basically said it, but God knows you're sorry, so..." and then he went on with the absolvation (or whatever you call it). Ya know how Fr. J gives the cool penances? Like not the traditional ones? Well, Fr. Gary is like that and I love it!! But the answer is yes. Because I did it. And Fr. Gary told me I was forgiven anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodsGrace Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 so I can just say, can I be forgiven of sins I don't want to mention? b/c I tried that on an old priest of mine & he like butted me out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodsThespianChic Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 Well, then just go to Fr. Gary for confession. Or Fr. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Posted July 19, 2003 Share Posted July 19, 2003 GodsGrace, I think you need to learn a little more about confession. I would highly highly suggest you put this question up for discussion on the debate table. If you don't want to I will. Just let me know. I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about confession. Joyful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qamidalash Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 I chose the Eucharist (isn't it gr8 that nearly all of us knew what that meant??!!) b/c that's what makes the CC so unique! To actually have Christ's body inside of us is such a blessing... btw, joyful, I love your quote!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Thanks Qamidalash! JP2 is just too cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Huether Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 So sorry not to get back to you sooner. I've never heard of that before. If you have a sin on your conscience, then the Sacrament of penance is to confess that sin. And confessing that sin, as I understand, is specifying which sin. If you simply say, "I want to be forgiven for the sins I cannot mention" (i.e. cannot confess) then I don't think that that is a licit confession. Albeit, if the priest grants you forgivness, then you have been forgiven. But the point of confession is to confess. I could be wrong, you should talk to the priest about it, but if you don't mention your sins, how can the priest help you to overcome the sin? You see, this Sacrament is a benefit to us not only because we KNOW for sure that we've been forgiven when the priest says, I absolve you of your sins..., but it is a great benefit because the priest can counsil you on how to better avoid these sins. This particular Sacrament is troublesome for many people, because it requires a great amount of humility. But the humility, or humiliation, isn't what makes it a Sacrament. It isn't "God's punishment". Confessing to a priest, the representative of Christ, is a special benefit to us, granted by God. I'd like to make clear, however, that when you confess (generally speaking) you don't make a shopping list of every single specific sin you've commited. What I do is go through an examination of conscience (they should have these note papers available at your church), and I look for the main sins. If you axamine yourself you should notice that there are certain sins that are the root of other sins. Take for instance the sin of Lust. Say you are addicted to masterbation, and it's causing you to look with lust on girls, or at magazines, or whatever. Then when you confess, you don't need to make note of all the specific sins that fall in line. The main root of the problem is the sin of lust. Sometimes the priest will ask for specificts in order to counsil you on how to avoid the sin. And that's the time you can mention specifics. I hope that answers your questions. In sum: I wouldn't recommend asking for forgiveness without confessing the sin. Although you will be embarassed, you will no doubt feel the weight lifted off your shoulders. Also, you will benefit from the advice the priest can give. If it is truly embarassing, then just go to confession at another parish. I have a backup parish that does confessions behind the screen for my really ugly sins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GodsThespianChic Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 That's a good idea, Jake. I was able to confess a lot of things on a retreat a couple months back, because we had a couple of priests that aren't from our parish and it was a lot easier like that. I guess the main fear is basically like seeing the priest later, and feel like you're being judged. Or if you are somewhat close with your priest, like me and my friends are to Fr. J, it can be hard to say those things, because you feel like you're letting them down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Thanks Jake! I agree with what you said. One other thing I would add~ If the reason you won't confess that sin is because of embarrassment, have you ever thought about Satan's role in that? Satan wants us to think that the priest will judge us or that by audibly saying it out loud it makes us a bad person. He would do anything to keep us from receiving the forgiveness that we deserve. This may sound sooooo dumb, but whenever I don't want to confess out of embarrassment, I consider it as Satan attacking me. I then tell myself that by going to confession and being honest, I'm doing my part in the war of good vs evil. Sounds soooo dumb, I know, but sometimes it takes that to get me to do it. Then afterwards, when I can just feel the grace a-flowin' I know what true forgiveness is. GodsGrace, I know how hard it is and good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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