more amazing qeustions about penence

[Ziggamafu]

1. Is it a grave matter (thus, possibly a mortal sin) to intentionally post-pone your assigned penence to a later, more conveniant, date?

2. In the confessional, must we list the sin by its most specific name? Or can we name the nature of the sin (and thus lump any other specific sins of the same nature into that same bucket) we committed? For instance, a confession of "sexual impurity" could mean anything from adultery, to masturbation, to beastiality, to fornication, to homosexuality, to pedophillia, to pornography (and there are many forms of pornography that could be specified -- it may cue the priest in on other disorders to know that the pornography used was homosexual in orientation, for instance), to entertaining lustful thoughts, to going to strip-clubs, to prostitution, etc., etc.. Likewise, I've heard of the practice of naming the commandment or beattitude infringed upon and the times it was infringed. This would be even more ambigious, as "thou shalt not kill" could either be a confession of first degree muder or "mere" hatred of someone. So how specific must we be? Is the name of the commandment/beattitude infringed enough?

3. Must sin be [i]mortal [/i]to exclude you from Eucharist? Or need it only be [i]grave[/i]? (Since a "grave" sin does not neccessarily mean a "mortal" sin)

4. Must there be a conscious desire to seperate oneself from God for a [i]grave [/i]sin to be [i][b]mortal[/b][/i]? Is that what the CCC means by "deliberation", "free choice", "full understanding", and "sufficient knowledge"?

5. If a priest only assigns, say, a prayer as penance for a sin that harms someone else (directly or indirectly, with or without their knowledge), must one still "make ammends" with the offended party in order to be in a state of grace? Or can one decide to do the penence and "forget" as much as is possible the offended party?

[cappie]

By way of introduction:

Sacramental satisfaction is some penitential work imposed by a confessor in confession, through which atonement for sins is made to God and the penitent is granted a remission of the temporal punishment due to sin.

It is an integral part of the Sacrament and must be imposed by the confessor and accepted by the penitent.

The penance must be in keeping with the number and nature of the sins confessed, but with due consideration of the ability of the penitent. Intense sorrow of the penitent or the danger that the penitenant will not perform a large penance is some of the reasons that the confessor may be excused from imparting a grave penance.

In itself it is a grave obligation for the penitent to accept and perform any reasonable penance imposed upon him in a valid confession.
It is a mortal sin not to perform a grave penance which has been imposed for mortal sins. If the penitent before receiving absolution is minded not to perform the penance his confession would be invalid. It is a venial sin to omit a light penance.

If one forgets the penance imposed, he is strictly speaking not obliged any penance. It is advisable if possible to return to the confessor and ask what the penance was. If the priest cannot remember then he can say as a penance the prayers usually imposed.

In itself there is no definite time prescribed for the performance of a penance. If the confessor says that the penance prescribed should be said before leaving the church then it must be done then.

1. No, unless the priest has imposed the penance to be said immediately before leaving the church and then it depends on the type of sin confessed.

2 All mortal sins are properly confessed only when their number and species together with the circumstances are indicated.. The reason for naming of the sin or species is so that the penitent can recognise the gravity of the sin.

3 Can. 915 Those upon whom the penalty of excommunication or interdict has been imposed or declared, and others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin, are not to be admitted to holy communion.

Can. 916 Anyone who is conscious of grave sin may not celebrate Mass or receive the Body of the Lord without previously having been to sacramental confession, unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.

The source of this canon is the doctrine of St Paul 1Cor 11: 28-29 about receiving the Lord unworthily.

4 CCC1857 For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: "Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent."

The Code of Canon Law suggests there are 2 types of sins Grave and venial the word mortal is not used in the Code of Canon law so one would presume that the wording of canons using "grave" can be used concurrently and understood as mortal by the Catechism because all mortal sin has grave matter.

5.The penance assigned is all that is required. If it is possible the one may still make an attempt at reconciliation, this woulkd be spiritually advisable but unless the priest has required it as part of the penance then it need not be done.