The Catholic Message Board

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!)

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.

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.

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