Posted on 01/15/2007 3:01:40 PM PST by NYer
Q. On a couple of occasions at our church, we've had a "general confession." The priest told us to examine our consciences and then proceed to one of several priests in different parts of the church. He then told us to confess one of the sins we'd committed to the priest and return to our pew. All of our sins were forgiven.
Also, twice when I was sick and in the hospital, a priest came to my bedside and did not ask me to confess my sins. He simply gave me absolution saying, "your sins are forgiven you." -- A.M., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
The answer to this questions by The God Squad was rather lousy and did not address at all the serious aspects of this question. I assume it was Fr. Tom Hartman who answered the questions in part by saying.
Only mortal sins that imperil a person's soul need be confessed, and only mortal sins of which the person is aware. Smaller sins, called venial sins, are not generally the object of confession.
While what he says is mostly true, I don't know why so many discourage confession of venial sins. Do they really want the only persons in line to be ones confessing mortal sins? If this was true than in some ways the privacy of the sacrament would be removed since you could automatically assume the people in line had committed grave sins. Spouses would instantly come to the conclusion that if there spouse when to confession that they had committed a mortal sin. The Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
The confession of venial sins is strongly recommended by the Church, even if this is not strictly necessary, because it helps us to form a correct conscience and to fight against evil tendencies. It allows us to be healed by Christ and to progress in the life of the Spirit.
Now as to what is the "pick a sin, any sin" to confess this is just wrong on so many levels it is hard to take seriously. Let's see I murdered someone and also felt uncharitable thoughts about someone. I guess I will confess the uncharitable thoughts and get forgiven for the whole thing. Exactly how is the priest suppose to choose the penance based on the confession of only one sin? All sins forgiven for the confession of one is not exactly the package deal the Church offers.
Last but not least was the absolution without confession which seems to me to be a serious sin for the priest in a circumstance such as this. Absolution without confession could occur in the case of General absolution where there is danger of death and not the time for individual confession.
**He then told us to confess one of the sins we'd committed to the priest and return to our pew. All of our sins were forgiven.**
Hmmmm.
This doesn't sound up to par for me.
How To Make a Good Confession (especially if you haven't gone in years)
Why Go to Confession? (Part 1) - Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Bruno Forte
Why Go to Confession? (Part 2) - Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Bruno Forte
Why Go to Confession? (Part 3) - Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Bruno Forte
Pulling Sin up by the Roots: The Need for Mortification
Reasons for Confession [Sacrament of Reconciliation]
Cardinal Stafford's Homily at Penitential Liturgy With an Examination of Conscience
**I believe the only way a general absolution can be given to a group of people all at the same time without prior individual confession is when a group of soldiers are preparing for a battle**
Or when there is an emergency -- say, heaven forbid, some sort of spreading and dangerous attack in a nearby city. (Read what you want to into my description -- I just didn't want to put the real word in print......!)
Our priests are very conscientious in the confessional -- I know my first confession took a LONG time!
Another example: A large group of firefighters were given general absolution by Fr. Mychal Judge in fron to fhte burning WTC prior to heading up the staircase on 9/11.
It brought me great comfort to know that these brave men were forgiven of their sins before meeting their demise.
mis-spell "in front of the burning WTC"
Better yet... how about eliminating the 'middle man' and do exactly what Jesus said (Lord's Prayer), i.e. pray to His heavenly father and ask Him directly for your sins to be forgiven.
I thought venial sins were wiped away after receiving the Eucharist during mass (and with a spirit of asking forgiveness).
Why not just set up a "drive-through" window on the side of the church?
Seriously, wouldn't it just be better to stop sinning?
I prefer asking God for forgiveness than some fellow human sinner.
Yes indeed but some always feel better making things 10X more complicated than they need to be... Sigh...
"Yes indeed but some always feel better making things 10X more complicated than they need to be... Sigh..."
Yea, I always thought the Lord had an open door policy.
In sales I always wanted to talk with the decision maker rather than gatekeepers who had to find ways of justifying their existance.
No one in their right mind would fall for this in the corporate world... "Well you know, I have absolutely zero authority to make any commitments or decisions, don't really know very much about the details of this deal, but you should talk to me instead of "Mr Big".. LOL!
That wouldn't be any better than what we have today. Too many just thinking they can do what they want, and that it will be OK. Oh, we might ask Jesus to forgive us the first couple of times, but we humans have a nifty way of justifying what we do, if we are not held accountable, and don't have to admit what we do to anyone here on earth. We could just slip into sinful ways, turn away from God and just keep on moving until we're so far away from Him, we don't hink we need Him at all.
That's the beauty of the confessional. It's just me and the priest, and he's not telling anyone. But I can tell him, and admit out loud in front of a witness, the sinful things I've done, and I know that God will forgive me. That keeps me on the straight and narrow, because I know I have to admit to someone else what I've done.
That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. So if a person thinks doing 'X' is not wrong, then why on earth would they confess doing 'X' to their priest? If you have a 'right' conscience and a heart to do what God wants, you would have no problem confessing to Him, otherwise you're not. Think this thru... Have you ever confessed something to a priest that you didn't think your Heavenly Father knew about or didn't see???
Thanks be to God.
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