CatholicView:
I am living a life of penance now and my whole life by living a celibate life and praying 2-3 hours of day. I have done this for 13 years now. However I looked at a fully clothed woman in a lustful way. I have tremendous guilt for doing this. I did not have any sexual experience and I am praying hours a day for forgiveness. Do i need to go to confession for this?
I know in a few days after many hours of prayer the guilt will go away but do I need to go to Confession– Thank you for your time– Bryan
Bryan:
I am sorry to hear that you are sadden by the lustful way you felt when you saw a well dressed lady and this caused you pain and guilt.
You are human and you did not act in a terrible way. However, you did see an attractive lady and the feelings caused you a major problem and you realized this caused you to keep this lady on your mind.
The penance that you are living is one that you chose. In this case keep asking the Lord to give you courage and strength to continue. Know that the Lord has seen the struggle you are going through…something that changed for a short time when you saw this lady. In your email, you say, “I am living a life of penance now and my whole life by living a celibate life and praying 2-3 hours.”
Ask God for strength for you to move ahead and understand that just looking at a lovely woman does not make you sinful. As you say,: “I did not have any sexual experience with this lady”.
Ask God to make you strong and avoid the past. Talk to your Priest. Tell him how you feel about what happened. Above all things, continue to pray. May God bless you and give you strength.
A Catholicview Staff
