Amen! Thank you very much!It's often been said that having these kind of thoughts is evidence that grace is already in action.
God bless you, and I pray you make it to confession.
There are a number of things about what you're saying that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but first and foremost:More this, than the other. I'll go into more detail on your questions later. Maybe a fellow Catholic will help.
I'm asking for several things:
1. That I actually make to confession. That I don't die in a car crash on the way to confession, and that nothings happens to prevent confession from being available.
2. That I confess my sins purely because they offend God, not because I'm scared of going to hell, although, that is sufficient for the removal of mortal sins. Ideally, one should repent of, and avoid sin, purely because it offends God.
3. That I have the desire to never sin again, this is closely related to (2), and for my asking for compunction. I want to have the grace to be really sorry for my sins, and thus have the desire to never do it again because I am so sorry over it.
Although we should desire perfect contrition, if while in the confessional we can only muster an imperfect contrition (fear of going to Hell) it would be enough. But saying the act of contrition prayer, which is required in the confessional, helps us to have perfect contrition.I've gravely offended God this morning! Please pray that I make it to confession this week, confess my sins well, with compunction and perfect contrition. And that I make a firm resolve to sin no more.
I like to think of it in this way. Confession is the ordinary way in which our Lord gave us to have our sins forgiven and that we would know, for sure, that they are forgiven. To put it another way, I would prefer to confess my sins to a the Lord's minister and have him proclaim the Lord's forgiveness over me, than confessing directly to God and then proclaiming his forgiveness over myself.
No, no, I'm confident in God's mercy. I'm more focussed on how I offended God than making it to confession. Like I said earlier, ideally one should be sorry for his/her sins, purely because they offend God, albeit fear of hell does suffice, when one actually makes one's confession.When I confess my sins to God purely and solelmy not flippantly I receive an immence sense of calm relief I never assume I am capable of generating that overwhelming sense off my own bat. I never forgive myself for things I can never forget but I trust God to have forgiven and forgotten them when I've come to Him on my knees weeping because He lets me know.
To me the sheer sense of panic and worry the OP is going through about getting to confession before a car crash that is heartaching and seems a man made burden placed on them our of all proportion. Jesus said don't worry the OP is worried for his life!
Please forgive my ignorance.
make that "all the sins you confess and are sorry for can be forgiven" and you would be right.Oh yeah—well, once you go to confession all your sins can be forgiven.
When I confess my sins to God purely and solelmy not flippantly I receive an immence sense of calm relief I never assume I am capable of generating that overwhelming sense off my own bat. I never forgive myself for things I can never forget but I trust God to have forgiven and forgotten them when I've come to Him on my knees weeping because He lets me know.
To me the sheer sense of panic and worry the OP is going through about getting to confession before a car crash that is heartaching and seems a man made burden placed on them our of all proportion. Jesus said don't worry the OP is worried for his life!
Please forgive my ignorance.
I've gravely offended God this morning! Please pray that I make it to confession this week, confess my sins well, with compunction and perfect contrition. And that I make a firm resolve to sin no more.
On the one hand it does seem like too much worry. Maybe it is. But our society is of the other mind. No worries. Be happy. I'm OK. You're OK. God loves everybody so you have nothing at all to worry about. That's the common mindset. It's a nicely paved road to hell. Sin is a big deal. It is an affront to God and a warping of our dignity. We get used to it, which we shouldn't.When I confess my sins to God purely and solemnly not flippantly I receive an immense sense of calm relief I never assume I am capable of generating that overwhelming sense off my own bat. I never forgive myself for things I can never forget but I trust God to have forgiven and forgotten them when I've come to Him on my knees weeping because He lets me know.
To me the sheer sense of panic and worry the OP is going through about getting to confession before a car crash that is heartaching and seems a man made burden placed on them our of all proportion. Jesus said don't worry the OP is worried for his life!
Please forgive my ignorance.
If this is the repeat of an old sin, please do mention that in confession. Often we need to reform habits, get ourselves out of the environment where temptation has succeeded against us in the past. It's a matter that the priest may counsel you on. Perhaps by asking you to make small steps willfully to overcome. Of course we have to do that all of our lives, but there is a sort of victory in every small resistance to temptation.No, no, I'm confident in God's mercy. I'm more focussed on how I offended God than making it to confession. Like I said earlier, ideally one should be sorry for his/her sins, purely because they offend God, albeit fear of hell does suffice, when one actually makes one's confession.
On the one hand it does seem like too much worry. Maybe it is. But our society is of the other mind. No worries. Be happy. I'm OK. You're OK. God loves everybody so you have nothing at all to worry about. That's the common mindset. It's a nicely paved road to hell. Sin is a big deal. It is an affront to God and a warping of our dignity. We get used to it, which we shouldn't.
You come to God on your knees weeping over your sins. Most people excuse their sins blithely and move on to engage in the next sin, with self talk about how God really understands the circumstances and it isn't so bad anyway. Not like the sins of those other guys, such unlikable guys. It's an easy trap to fall in to.
So I think it is good to have a lively sense of sin. To go to confession. To be contrite. To have a firm purpose to avoid that sin in the future. To hear the words of absolution and have those words come in the ears and resonate within the mind and soul. And at the same time the confessor can discuss whether anything is out of proportion. There is an opportunity for counseling and an opportunity for spiritual direction inside of confession. We can have our opinions, but a person with authority to forgive sins as Christ forgave sins is also a person who can teach as Christ taught. That's what the priest can do.
@tadoflamb, do you think you could in more detail explain the nature of your prayer in this regard?
I guess...why are your intentions and your prayers insufficient?More this, than the other. I'll go into more detail on your questions later. Maybe a fellow Catholic will help.
Well don't worry about quoting sacred scripture to me - my question to you really speaks more to your intentions and motivations. As I've understood it, prayer is quite a lot like 'communication to god', so I was wondering if you could explain what it is you'd say to god with respect to "you praying for JesusLovesOurLady" in this particular circumstance.
I guess...why are your intentions and your prayers insufficient?
Ok but isn't a fundamental part of god's will to be 'take care of JesusLovesOurLady'? Do you not already know with absolute certainty that the answer to that heard prayer is "yes tadoflamb I'm already on that."?My prayers don't have a lot of words. The best I can put it is that I'll have an intention in mind such as 'take care of JLOL' and that intention then springs from my heart towards God. It always come with the faith that the prayer will be heard and answered but it also comes with the qualifier, 'Thy will be done'.
Could you explicitly explain in what way you hope or expect god to intercede in this case? To me, it sounds like JesusLovesOurLady is asking, very explicitly, for god to change JesusLovesOurLady's own will (e.g. to change his will from 'wanting to sin' to 'not wanting to sin'). Is that also a part of the 'take care of JesusLovesOurLady' prayer?My friend JLOL is a big fan of formal prayer, especially Marian prayers, so as we're praying a rosary together I'm sending the same petition as above to Our Lady so she might intercede for my friend as well. Again, this comes with the confidence that any prayers answered will be for the common good and not a lot of words, just a prompting from the heart.
The thing I've found about these prayers without words is that they're efficacious. I simply send up a prayer and step back and watch God go to work. I'm not surprised anymore that this happens. These days, I expect it happen, or as I like to say, 'if you're going to pray for rain, bring an umbrella'.
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