Necessity Of Confession

[jswranch]

Would I be justified (hypothetically) in calling the parish afterhours phone if I was in mortal sin and desired confession? The priest's 24-hour cell number is for 'sacramental emergencies.'


From a quote in a lil Red post:
[quote]3. Confess all mortal sins committed since your last confession by kind and number. You may also confess any venial sins.[/quote]

If I knew I was in mortal sin, I would be tempted to (a) not leave the house, (b) lock the doors and windows to prevent possible theives or swarms of killer bees, © not eat or drink [choking/poison dangers] and (d) call a priest to come to my home ASAP. None of this waiting for Saturday for me.

Am I off somewhere? Too legalistic? I suppose I really, really wouldn't want to go to hell.

[Nathan]

That's too bad that you have to wait for Saturdays. At my campus parish (and a few neighboring parishes in Toronto), Confession is available twice daily. It rocks. This practice also encourages receiving daily Communion -- for me, anyway.

The reality is that the faithful is in need of the Sacrament of Reconciliation at different times. Every parish that has daily Mass should have daily Confession, at least ten minutes before the start of each Mass. There are few things in this world that are more important.

[Resurrexi]

Make an act of perfect contrition.

[quote name='The Catechism of Pope St. Pius X']15 Q. If an adult in mortal sin was baptised without such sorrow, what would he receive?
A. If an adult was baptised in mortal sin without such sorrow he would receive the character of Baptism, but not the remission of his sins nor sanctifying grace. And these two effects would be suspended, until the obstacle is removed by perfect contrition or by the sacrament of Penance.[/quote]

[Franimus]

AFAIK, PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong: True intent to go to confession will be fine until you actually make it there. For instance, if you were driving to confession and you died, since you were intending to make a good confession, it counts. This does [u]not[/u] mean that you can get away with not actually going to confession for a month because you haven't gotten around to it but are meaning to go at some point. [i]Unless you are dying or in serious danger of dying[/i], I would [u]not[/u] call the parish to set up a confession appointment with the priest for 5 minutes from now. I would, however, do what I could to cancel any plans I had for Saturday during the earliest confession time I can make it to, and plan on going on Saturday.

As was kind of mentioned above, even if your parish doesn't officially offer confession regularly immediately prior to daily Mass, you could call your priest during normal business hours one day and set up a confession appointment for the [u]next[/u] day a few minutes before a daily Mass. But, if I were you, I'd still impatiently wait for Saturday.

[storytime]Once, I looked up confession schedules on www.masstimes.org, and saw that a parish near me offered confessions 15 minutes prior to each Mass. So, I went to that parish, for the first time in my life, wanting to go to confession before Mass. When I got there, I found out from the priest that they hadn't offered confession immediatly prior to each Sunday Mass for years. But, he still heard my confession that morning before Mass. (I would've gone Saturday, but I was probably busy or something)[/storytime]

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='jswranch' post='1203808' date='Feb 24 2007, 04:56 AM']Would I be justified (hypothetically) in calling the parish afterhours phone if I was in mortal sin and desired confession? The priest's 24-hour cell number is for 'sacramental emergencies.'
From a quote in a lil Red post:
If I knew I was in mortal sin, I would be tempted to (a) not leave the house, (b) lock the doors and windows to prevent possible theives or swarms of killer bees, © not eat or drink [choking/poison dangers] and (d) call a priest to come to my home ASAP. None of this waiting for Saturday for me.

Am I off somewhere? Too legalistic? I suppose I really, really wouldn't want to go to hell.[/quote]

I'd say to chill out Christ didn't give us the sacraments just to enslave us in a cycle of fear. As a good, orthodox priest told me, if you have the honest intention of going to Confession soon, then just confess the next time. No need to let anxiety steal the joy out of your relationship with Christ, which is exactly what Satan tries to do with some people.

[jswranch]

Thanks for the input guys,

What I have taught so far agrees with STM's perfect contrition. I am under the impression 'perfect contrition' is simular to 'no attachment to sin,' ; only great saints aquire either state of heart. Since I am not a great saint, I do not think I am the type of person whose intent for confession can suffice. Therefore, my only hope is confession.



Remember this is only theoretical.

[Noel's angel]

Intent suffices. If you intend on going to Confession at the first opportunity the parish makes possible, that's enough. To be a Saint requires a person to die in a sinless state, therefore you can't say that intention suffices only for great Saints, because if they're in a state of mortal sin they aren't Saints. People aren't born Saints. God wouldn't condemn you to Hell if you were walking to Confession and got knocked down by a car and died. God is mercful to those who seek Him.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='jswranch' post='1206166' date='Mar 1 2007, 01:46 AM']Thanks for the input guys,

What I have taught so far agrees with STM's perfect contrition. I am under the impression 'perfect contrition' is simular to 'no attachment to sin,' ; only great saints aquire either state of heart. Since I am not a great saint, I do not think I am the type of person whose intent for confession can suffice. Therefore, my only hope is confession.
Remember this is only theoretical.[/quote]

I'd emphasize that our hope is in Christ alone, and maybe that's the Evangelical in me speaking, but the Catholic in me also emphasizes that we personally meet Christ through Confession (and every sacrament, though also in other ways since God is not restricted to the sacraments). Even if you had no access to any sacrament except Baptism, you would still have Christ. Everything He gives us is for the purpose of helping us "have life and have it to the full." If it's a few days (or better yet, a week or two) before you can make it to Confession, thank God that you have this time to examine your conscience more thoroughly. Perhaps treat each day as if you're going to Confession tomorrow, writing down the sins, habits, attitudes that God convicts you of. The more we examine ourselves, the more God is going to reveal. Then look forward to confessing your sins, allowing Christ to crucify them for good! After all, sacraments are a time for celebration, not mourning.

[Franimus]

[quote name='jswranch' post='1206166' date='Mar 1 2007, 01:46 AM']What I have taught so far agrees with STM's perfect contrition. I am under the impression 'perfect contrition' is simular to 'no attachment to sin,' ; only great saints aquire either state of heart. Since I am not a great saint, I do not think I am the type of person whose intent for confession can suffice. Therefore, my only hope is confession.[/quote]
We are all called to be great saints. Perfect contrition is true sorrow for sins because you have a true desire to avoid sin and to please God. Imperfect contrition is sorrow for sins because you're gonna go to Hell if you aren't sorry for your sins (to put it perhaps too bluntly). Both are still contrition, and still suffice in the sacrament of Reconciliation (although obviously perfect contrition is waaaay better).
Also, STM's quote from the Catechism of Pope St. Piux X is irrelevant since it is talking about Baptism only.

Finally, to be a saint requires that one is in Heaven, not that one dies in a completely sinless state. Otherwise, there would be virtually no saints. That's what Purgatory's for; in case you die in any sort of sinful state (even if your only sinfulness at the time is something really really small).