Confession after Absolution

[Mrs. Timmy]

Maybe I'm being scrupulous (and if I am, please tell me), but I need to know what to do the next time I seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

When I was caring for two homebound people, I was rarely able to go to Mass. When the time came for me to call a priest to give Timmy viaticum, Father gave all three of us (Timmy, my mom, and me) absolution and the Holy Eucharist. What a blessing it was! But it does leave me with one question.

When I next go to Confession, what do I say to the priest at the start? Normally, at the beginning, we say "...it has been [insert time here] since my last confession." However, the last time I went to confession was long before the last time I received absolution. How do I accurately begin with my confessor the next time I go?

(BTW, now that it's just Mom and me, we can go to Mass together on the weekends again. Thanks be to God!)

[gherkin]

Me, I'd just say how long since my last confession and ignore the absolution. At least, that's what I'd do unless I were told otherwise by someone I trusted. I don't know how that kind of absolution "works," so to speak, but I think in general I'd still want to confess those unconfessed sins, and unless I was talking with my spiritual director or some priest who knows me well, and from whom I want a much more detailed and personal kind of guidance, I wouldn't bother muddying the waters by talking about that absolution. Just my knee-jerk response. So to speak. Since I have no knees.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

Ummmmmmm ... I have to say that, for you, that absolution was probably not valid. In the case of a dying person who is not able to make a confession, it's not unusual to give them absolution on the hopes that they are sorry. But in general, for those who are able to make a confession and absent extraordinary cases (like those for which general absolution is permitted), absolution's effectiveness outside of confession is dubious at best.

[Mrs. Timmy]

Hoo whee, Father, I had no idea. The priority level for reconciliation just got cranked up to 11. Thank you for setting me straight!