Faults vs. Venial Sins

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Hi everyone, How do you distinguish between a venial sin and a fault? If I had to guess I would say a venial sin is probably done once, but a fault is an ongoing problem. Would a fault be less serious than a venial sin? And do you confess your faults? Thanks,maryann

-- mparker (maryann.parker@citicorp.com), June 06, 2002

Answers

Maryann, I would say that faults and weaknesses lead to venial sin. We are all born with Original sin, and this makes us weak. We have to try to control these weaknesses and faults. It's true that if you have a tendency to commit certain sins over and over again, it's better to explain that to a priest rather than just giving him a "laundry list" of your sins. He'll then give you advice on how to control these weaknesses. An example, for instance, is impatience (one very close to my heart). This might lead you to do all types of things - yell at kids or spouse, be curt with elderly parents, curse when you mess up something, etc. So in that case, you could confess those sins, or tell the priest that you tend to be impatient. Or tell him that "I tend to be impatient, so I often yell at the kids, etc). A good confessor should pick up on your weaknesses anyway and be able to counsel you. Hope this helps.

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), June 06, 2002.

Dear Maryann,

I agree with Christina's posting. If you have an ongoing problem with a particular fault, repeating the same weakness over and over, talk about it with your confessor and he will work on that problem with you.

For instance, a priest in my parish, asks us to examine our conscience every night before going to sleep - ask ourselves what we may have done to offend Jesus during the day. If we continue to see a pattern in our offenses, we may have a serious problem and it has to be worked on. For example some people lie easily, and keep telling little lies over and over. This is a problem and the confessor can work on that problem with you - help you to recognize the patter and pray about it, become aware of how many times you lie, and the awareness can lead to resolving it.

MaryLu

-- MaryLu (mlc327@juno.com), June 06, 2002.


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