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brian
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Chicago South Burbs, Illinois USA |
| Posts: | 720 |
| First Name: | brian | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | methodist, evangelical, anglican, catholic |
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Posted: Tue Dec 4th, 2007 02:13 am |
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I have been more and more sure of the idea that obedience to ones confessor is so important and finding and staying with a good guide is of benefit to me. I read in spiritual literature fairly often that this is important to view obedience to your confessor as obedience to God, at least in religious communities. St. Faustina said that Jesus told her the priest/confessor is sort of a screen for God and whatever they tell you is what God wants to tell you.
Now I have no intention of changing confessors, but my question is, at what point is it the right thing to do. What if you were stuggling with something that you clearly knew was a sin and your confessor told you it was not? This did not happen and probably will not happen, but I think it could in some instance to somebody. At what point would it be right to switch confessors or disregard advice if you clearly knew they said something wrong. How could you view obeying them as obeying God if they told you something that was easily enough to show as being untrue? At a certain point I would think you may have to obey God directly.
This is not a problem for me and like I said, I am not about to make any such decision, bu there have been some priests I have went to where I was not sure they were exactly telling me what I might have got from another priest. It is hard to understand the whole concept of them being a screen for God when you might get two different answers from two different priests.
But just so anyone knows, I have found confession to be one of the most beneficial aspects of being Catholic thus far, and am very happy about it. I am not trying to arise any doubt, just learn more.
Brian
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Intercessor
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| Joined: | Tue Sep 25th, 2007 |
| Location: | Southcentral, Kentucky USA |
| Posts: | 859 |
| First Name: | Becky | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Southern Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Dec 4th, 2007 02:26 am |
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Moderators, please delete.
Last edited on Tue Dec 4th, 2007 10:10 am by Intercessor
____________________
"If our charity is arrested by the difficulties encountered in dealing with our neighbor, . . . our relations with our brethren are not regulated by our love of God, but by our love of self." Divine Intimacy p. 781, Fr. Gabriel, O.C.D.
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4981 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Tue Dec 4th, 2007 09:25 am |
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brian wrote: Now I have no intention of changing confessors, but my question is, at what point is it the right thing to do.
I think the answer is at the point when your confessor impedes your path to holiness rather than facilitating it. You and your confessor must be compatible. If at any point that compatibility is interrupted, as can happen with personal growth, it is time to find a new confessor.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it is done for the right reasons.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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David W. Emery
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| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 1714 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Tue Dec 4th, 2007 10:05 am |
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The smart thing to do, Brian, is to make your investigation of the priest’s orthodoxy and spiritual acumen beforehand — before you accept him as your confessor. Then you will not be broadsided by problematic counsel later on.
What follows is a general discussion of the situation you bring up and includes a number of points that may not apply to your personal circumstances even though I use the word “you.”
If an occasion arises that a good confessor (selected according to the precaution suggested above) should tell you that what you believe to be a sin is in fact not a sin, this could be a sign that you are mistaken rather than he. First, it is sometimes true that a certain act can be sinful if done with the wrong intention, but is not necessarily sinful, regardless of what you may have heard elsewhere or how you may view your specific situation. Second, if the priest is your regular confessor, he may well discern something in you that nullifies whatever possibility of sin there may have been. He may see, for instance, that you were forced to do something that in reality was against your will, or that you have not understood the conditions for such an act to be sinful.
Scrupulosity is a condition that often places the penitent at odds with his confessor. The scrupulous person tends to see certain acts as sinful, or as “probably sinful,” just because of his obsession with the details and technicalities, not seeing the wider picture or his own condition as removing his free will and thus his capability of sinning.
I have dealt personally with people who insist that they have done wrong and they must do penance when what they did was done in ignorance or was in no wise evil. But sometimes these people will insist that the guilt hangs over them, or that they can’t decide if something they did was wrong because of “so many factors.” (The exact opposite is true as well, for people with an unformed conscience. They tend to excuse themselves far too easily.) This is where their reliance on the confessor is essential. He makes the decision because through his ordination he has been given the power from on high to do so: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:23).
It does not matter if the confessor is wrong in his analysis of the penitent’s spiritual state; his judgment (forgiveness or retention of the particular sin, or the judgment that it is not a sin) is made in persona Christi, and scripture says that God will ratify that judgment. Nevertheless, if the priest’s counsel is not profitable, you have no obligation to follow it. If, after a thorough examination of conscience, you find that over time you have not advanced in grace and wisdom by following his advice, then you should seek another counselor.
I am happy to hear that you are satisfied with your current confessor, Brian. I know how you have struggled to find “the one” for you, and rejoice that you have discerned him and that all is well.
David
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