Penance And Absolution

[Guest]

This topic has my name written all over it. A year or a year and a half ago I went to confession at a parish I dont attend. I confessed some sins (although I didnt do it right because I just lumped them into categories and didnt number them) and the priest for penace told me to talk to 3 people in the church about what the eucharist means to them. Well I don't go to church there so I told myself I would do it but I never did. My aunt and uncle do go to mass there though although I dont talk to them that often and would just find it odd to ask them this question. (I dont know why though probally my pride and lack of love for God)

So anyways a few weeks ago I go to confession and make a huge list of all the sins I can remeber from wayback until now and I try to number them since I have been told here it's not valid unless I say the number of times I have commited the sins. I didn't think to tell the priest that I hadn't fullfiled my penace the other priest had given me. So anyhow the priest absolved me of my sins and I felt brandnew. Although I didn't intentionally tell the priest about the penace thing it has been on my mind that I never fullfiled the penace. Although it wasn't on my mind when I went to confession that day.

So now my question is, is this confession not valid since I didn't do my penace from before ? Although even when I did the old confession I dont even think I did it right to begin with. Thanks.

Edited April 27, 2009 by Guest

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='Delivery Boy' post='1849638' date='Apr 26 2009, 10:10 PM']This topic has my name written all over it. A year or a year and a half ago I went to confession at a parish I dont attend. I confessed some sins (although I didnt do it right because I just lumped them into categories and didnt number them) and the priest for penace told me to talk to 3 people in the church about what the eucharist means to them. Well I don't go to church there so I told myself I would do it but I never did. My aunt and uncle do go to mass there though although I dont talk to them that often and would just find it odd to ask them this question. (I dont know why though probally my pride and lack of love for God)

So anyways a few weeks ago I go to confession and make a huge list of all the sins I can remeber from my youner days until now and I try to number them to. Since I have been told here it's not valid unless I say the number of times I have commited the sins. I didn't think to tell the priest that I hadn't fullfiled my penace the other priest had given me. So anyhow the priest absolved me of my sins and I felt brandnew. Although I didn't do this on intentionally it has been on my mind that I never fullfiled the penace. Although it wasn't on my mind when I went to confession that day.

So now my question is, is this confession not valid since I didn't do my penace from before ? Although even when I did the old confession I dont even think I did it right to begin with ? Alright thanks.[/quote]

I'm not a theologian but it appears to me that this is similar to forgetting to confess any sin. The confession was valid as was the absolution, but you still need to confess this forgotten penance the next time you go to confession. You say that you had intended to do the penance but never got around to it - perhaps due more to pride (and fear of embarrassment) than from any wilful act of disobedience? Let the priest know all this, and he can tell you what to do about the missed penance and absolve you from any sin of pride or wilfulness that might have existed.

Remember that the sacrament is about reconciliation - not punishment. God wants you to be reconciled with Him for your sins and hoprefully you want to be reconciled to Him as well. This being the case, ask yourself why you failed to do the first penance, and see if you can't resolve this issue first. Once you understand why, then it will be easier to go to a priest and explain the whole situation. There is a difference between simply forgetting to do penance, and deliberately failing to do it.

[Guest]

[quote name='nunsense' post='1849659' date='Apr 27 2009, 12:26 AM']I'm not a theologian but it appears to me that this is similar to forgetting to confess any sin. The confession was valid as was the absolution, but you still need to confess this forgotten penance the next time you go to confession. You say that you had intended to do the penance but never got around to it - perhaps due more to pride (and fear of embarrassment) than from any wilful act of disobedience?[/quote]

Yea I think I intended to do the penance but I never got around to it. The key issue was embarrassment and pride. I just didnt know how to go about talking to strangers and asking them this. Although God showed me how I could ask my aunt and uncle and also the priest and that would make 3 people in the Church although I never did.

[quote name='nunsense' post='1849659' date='Apr 27 2009, 12:26 AM']Let the priest know all this, and he can tell you what to do about the missed penance and absolve you from any sin of pride or wilfulness that might have existed.[/quote]
Does it matter what priest I go to ?

[quote name='nunsense' post='1849659' date='Apr 27 2009, 12:26 AM']Remember that the sacrament is about reconciliation - not punishment. God wants you to be reconciled with Him for your sins and hoprefully you want to be reconciled to Him as well. This being the case, ask yourself why you failed to do the first penance, and see if you can't resolve this issue first. Once you understand why, then it will be easier to go to a priest and explain the whole situation. There is a difference between simply forgetting to do penance, and deliberately failing to do it.[/quote]

I think I deliberately failed to do it although it wasn't to try to "upset" God. It was just more of it being ackward and not really wanting to put my self in that situation. Lame I know.

Edited April 27, 2009 by Guest

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='Delivery Boy' post='1849691' date='Apr 26 2009, 10:48 PM']Yea I think I intended to do the penance but I never got around to it. The key issue was embarrassment and pride. I just didnt know how to go about talking to strangers and asking them this. Although God showed me how I could ask my aunt and uncle and also the priest and that would make 3 people in the Church although I never did.


Does it matter what priest I go to ?



I think I deliberately failed to do it although it wasn't to try to "upset" God. It was just more of it being ackward and not really wanting to put my self in that situation. Lame I know.[/quote]

It sounds to me like you are truly penitent and that you were simply embarrassed (which is the sin of pride, something we all suffer from!).

It doesn't matter which priest you go to - so if you know one that you can relate to easily - then choose him.

If you had no intention of "upsetting" God - and were not wilfully separating yourself from Him, then it was not a mortal sin, but it still needs to be confessed because all sin separates us from His grace.

Say an act of perfect contrition, with the intention of going to confession as soon as possible. Twice I have had occasion to actually phone up the parish and ask a priest for an appointment to confess outside normal times. In both cases the priests were accommodating, but one did tell me that I was being scrupulous because if I had no intention of separating myself from God, then it was not a mortal sin, even though it seemed serious to me -- but I would rather be safe than sorry.... if you know what I mean. I just couldn't bear the idea that I wasn't in a state of grace with God! In your case, unless it worries you a lot, perhaps you could just go to the next scheduled confession in your parish? And don't worry - Jesus came for us sinners just so we could be reconciled with God!

[Guest]

[quote name='nunsense' post='1849758' date='Apr 27 2009, 12:23 AM']It sounds to me like you are truly penitent and that you were simply embarrassed (which is the sin of pride, something we all suffer from!).

It doesn't matter which priest you go to - so if you know one that you can relate to easily - then choose him.

If you had no intention of "upsetting" God - and were not wilfully separating yourself from Him, then it was not a mortal sin, but it still needs to be confessed because all sin separates us from His grace.

Say an act of perfect contrition, with the intention of going to confession as soon as possible. Twice I have had occasion to actually phone up the parish and ask a priest for an appointment to confess outside normal times. In both cases the priests were accommodating, but one did tell me that I was being scrupulous because if I had no intention of separating myself from God, then it was not a mortal sin, even though it seemed serious to me -- but I would rather be safe than sorry.... if you know what I mean. I just couldn't bear the idea that I wasn't in a state of grace with God! In your case, unless it worries you a lot, perhaps you could just go to the next scheduled confession in your parish? And don't worry - Jesus came for us sinners just so we could be reconciled with God![/quote]

Thanks and Godbless.