Bringing you the "Good News" of Jesus Christ and His Church While PROMOTING CATHOLIC Apologetic Support groups loyal to the Holy Father and Church's magisterium
Home About
AskACatholic.com
What's New? Resources The Church Family Life Mass and
Adoration
Ask A Catholic
Knowledge base
AskACatholic Disclaimer
Search the
AskACatholic Database
Donate and
Support our work
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
New Questions
Cool Catholic Videos
About Saints
Disciplines and Practices for distinct Church seasons
Purgatory and Indulgences
About the Holy Mass
About Mary
Searching and Confused
Contemplating becoming a Catholic or Coming home
Homosexual and Gender Issues
Life, Dating, and Family
No Salvation Outside the Church
Sacred Scripture
non-Catholic Cults
Justification and Salvation
The Pope and Papacy
The Sacraments
Confession
back
Relationships and Marriage situations
Specific people, organizations and events
Doctrine and Teachings
Specific Practices
Church Internals
Church History

James Martinson wrote:

Hi, guys —

Before I ask my question, I first want to say that I struggle with severe scrupulosity (OCD).

I went to Confession a few weeks ago and was confessing a sin, and changed the word to make it a little easier to confess (ex. "lustful" instead of "sexual"), but I don't know if I purposely thought to change the word and confessed it as if I was hiding a sin. At the time, I think this was a scrupulous thought, but I don't know.

  • What should I do?

It's been on my mind constantly 24/7 for the last couple of weeks.

P.S. I figured out that the sin I was confessing wasn't a mortal sin while I was confessing it, though at the time I thought it was.

Thanks,

James

  { Since I have harsh scrupulosity (OCD), should I worry if, during Confession, I changed a word to make it a little easier to confess? }

Bob replied:

Dear John,

This is your scrupulosity acting up.  The fact that you euphemistically shaded the sin does not negate the Confession ("lustful" and "sexual" both insinuate the same fundamental matter).  Unless you deliberately withheld a sin altogether, you are fine.  You did not do that—God knows all the dirty details about the matter, and truly most priests don't need to hear all the nitty-gritty in every thought or action.  

If you said,

"I had adulterous thoughts and entertained them deliberately for a long time,"

or anything like that, the priest would know enough.  You wouldn't need to describe the details of what you imagined.  

  • Do you see the difference in the basic framework?

If he were to need more detail to understand the nature of the sin, he would ask for more; keep in mind, the priest has heard it all, so he is happy to get the gist of it and move on.  God is pleased that you got yourself into the confessional and are doing the work to try to hand over the mess; He is a loving Father, and we need to remember that when we are wrestling with our shame, He only wants to build us up, not tear us down.  

Scrupulosity tends to have a negative effect, so always balance that with a good grasp of God's Mercy.

Peace,

Bob Kirby
Please report any and all typos or grammatical errors.
Suggestions for this web page and the web site can be sent to Mike Humphrey
© 2012 Panoramic Sites
The Early Church Fathers Church Fathers on the Primacy of Peter. The Early Church Fathers on the Catholic Church and the term Catholic. The Early Church Fathers on the importance of the Roman Catholic Church centered in Rome.