Please Advise Me?

Question

Help! If any of you read my last question it was about going to confession for the first time in 16 years. But, I am now officially terrified as the following has scared me witless. Idont even think I am worthy of being Catholic - please help!
The following is a partial list of mortal sins:

Missing Mass on a Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation through your own fault .

Permitting your children to miss Mass on a Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation.

Arriving at Mass after the priest finishes the Offertory .

Doing unnecessary manual work on Sunday.

Eating meat on Friday or other days of abstinence.

Violation of the laws of fasting.

Deliberate enjoyment of the sex passion outside of marriage -adultery, fornication, impure looks, touches, thoughts in your mind.

Willful religious ignorance- neglecting to learn the truths of God or neglecting to teach them to your children.


Quitting the Catholic Church or actively participating in the services of a man-made religion.

Superstition

Joining the Masons or the Communists after you knew it was wrong.

Perjury.

Neglecting the bodies or souls of your children.

Hatred.

Drunkenness.

The use of narcotics in a sinful manner.

Theft, fraud, damaging the property of another, not paying your just debts, wasting time, money, or property of your employer, depriving your family of needed money by gambling, drinking, or foolish spending.


Telling serious lies, seriously damaging another's reputation, serious rash judgment, revealing serious secrets.

Answer 1

Read what i wrote on your last post!!!!

There is nothing you can do that will make you worthy of God, yet He still takes you in... He loves you so much, all u gotta do is ask forgiveness and you are made right with Him, you are made righteouss again, and its nothing you can do, it everything He does.

so many think its what you dont do (dont drink, steal, kill, lie etc) that will get you into heaven...

others think that its what you DO do...(go to church, give to charity, do good to people, love people etc..)

but its not what you do or dont do, its what Jesus has already done. He paid the price for your sins, so all u gotta do is ask forgiveness and the bible promises that He will immediately forgive you and throw the sin away like it never happened. so why hold onto it, when the one that matters most, GOD, doesnt?!

if you try to do good and be good and think thats what makes you worthy, you are trying to get to God by your own self-righteousness, it wont work , and God actually hates it. YES you are meant to do the right thing, but thats not what makes you worthy. Confessing Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, believing in Him and giving your heart to Him, thats what makes you worthy, a personal relationship with God.

you have the wrong idea about God, and if the church u used to go to gave you that wrong idea, i suggest u find a church that knows the REAL God!

Fear is a sin... confess that right now, let go of it, and REJOICE that God rejoices in you! :-)

Answer 2

My friend went to leave the Catholic church and was told she would go to Hell. However, she met me, and left it anyway. The Bible teaches a god of GRACE not of law. Jesus spoke out against the teachers of the law in his day because they were making access to god too hard for the people, and many churches today are making the same mistake. I don't want to put down other faiths or Christian denominations, but maybe you should read the Bible for yourself and not let anyone tell you what you can or can't do. Once you have accepted Jesus and confessed your sins, you are accepted by God, forever, even if you should 'fall away' or commit sin again. No one sin is bigger than any other, and Jesus' death covered them all. He forgave you (if you have truly repented) for all your sins, past present and future. I can't find a good link to explain the doctrine of grace and why it means you don't have to live your life in fear of hell, but there's a book called, 'what's so amazing about grace?' by Philip Yancey that helps. Jesus is called our great high priest, he is the only one to whom you need confess your sins, and he will forgive you.

Answer 3

Is this a joke? Who told you that the church considers those mortal sins? "Perjury" is more serious than murder?

If you were serious, you just go to confession. Start out with "I haven't been in 16 years and I'm really upset". You don't havelist out everything you want to confess; a confession ends with "forgive these and all my sins".

If the priest gives you a hard time, he's the problem. It's not his place to condemn you, it's his place to help you. If he gives you a hard time, get up and leave and find another church that wants you.

Answer 4

I haven't been to confession since I was old enough to make the decision for myself. I don't believe I need a gobetween to god, particularly one who could well be sinning a whole lot more than I am.

Oh, and many of the 'sins' you mention are no longer 'sins'. EG, the church has no rule against eating meat on a Friday anymore, and I've seen priests attend ceremonies of other religions. Very out of date.

Answer 5

You seem to really feel lost,am i right?im guessing you havent had an easy life,im not saying that-its OK to do all the things you've listed,but may be you shouldnt be so hard on youreslf-and just go and confess-it will probably help you alot to feel free,but i also think you need some other help-may be therapy,couseling of some sort,to help you find out-WHY you've done all those things,get to the roots of the problem,talking to a profesional whos trained to help people to digg deep inside their soul and find the pain that started all this-and face it,and deal with it..Trust me-ive been going thru very rough time myself,and now im seeng someone whos helping me understand many things,and i DO feel much better,TRY-i know you'll be alright!Dont give up and keep your head up=)Good luck!!!

Answer 6

We are all sinners - God does not expect us to be perfect - that is why He gave us free will.

You have already started the healing process by becoming concious of doing certain things that are not good - the next step is to WANT to change - and you DO!

The thing that does most damage in life is fear and the thing we all want is love. This is not found outside of ourselves but within! we can sit in a church and give our lists of sins to others but what we really NEED to do is to FEEL repentant of those things we have done and to ask God to forgive them. Dont forget that God already knows what has happened in your life and why you have behaved in such ways

God is all forgiving when we really mean something - It is our intent that is the key to our salvation and this can be done anywhere because God is everywhere and it does not need another person or building to enable this - just your own inner desire to change.

Stop hating yourself and start loving the spiritual you, that perfect diamond that has had so many layers of hardship dumped on it that has temporarily hidden the essence of it's pure brilliance!!

Answer 7

Babes your worrying far too much!

Remember God is always around us. He knows what you've done, and He's forgiven you so why are you stressing?

You have kids right? So as a parent you know that no matter what the child does, you will love it and always be there for it.

We are all Gods children. Maybe you needed to do those things so you can learn. Now you've learnt unteachable lessons, you've returned to your faith and by the sounds of it, you have more faith than you did before.

There are reasons for everything. Yours could be simple like posting your questions, someone answering and thinking about their faith that they have drifted away from. You never know, that's why they say 'God works in Mysteries ways.'

Stop worrying about what you've done, think about what you can do to help people and to become a better Christian.

Bless. LoL xxxx

Answer 8

No disrespect intended but this list makes me glad I am not Catholic.
I can't imagine having to go every week & "confess" to any of them I had done during the week, to a man who after all is said & done is less than perfect himself by just being human.
I can't begin to understand how confessing & another man forgiving you can absolve you of all your sins.
Surey, if you confess, are forgiven & your conscience cleared then it doesn't stop you from doing it all over again but tempts you to since it will all be forgiven again the following week.
Once again, sorry if I have offended anyone but this is just how I feel.

Answer 9

Religion is not about being terrified of your sins. Confession is a chance to re-unite yourself with God. You don't have to mention every single little sin. You should be happy after confession because you've been reconciled to God. As long as you're truly sorry, you will be forgiven.

Answer 10

Why do you need to confess to a priest? Jesus has died to take away our sins and bridge the divide between us and God. If, as Christians, we are now allowed into heaven, surely we are allowed to confess direct to God. So what are you scared of? He already knows everything you've done already... it's just you confessing it to him. The priest honestly has no reason to need to know, as it's all about between you and God. If you follow this idea, then you don't really need to name every little sin, just know that you've done them, then confess that you've sinned to God and ask for his forgiveness. Then it's done. Everything is forgiven. (btw, a sin counts as anything done against God's will, so you should read the bible for yourself, not just read a list and tick of the things you've done)