Confession

Jason,
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a gift, and like all the Sacraments, it is Christ who truly performs them through the Church and its ministers. That is why the state of the minister's soul isn't a barrier to it's effect in you. Christ's Spirit was given to the Apostles in John 20, so it's not technically the ministers whom Baptize, Confirm, Marry, confect the Eucharist, but Christ Himself.

A Catholic is bound by His knowledge of this ministry to seek forgiveness of his mortal sins through Confession. However, perfect contrition is what is required for the forgiveness of mortal sins outside of Confession. An explination of some of this lies below. Think of imperfect contrition as the kind of sorrow that Judas had that led him to kill himself. It was guilt that motivated it, selfishness, not the Godly sorrow that we are told brings repentance. Can you know if you are sincere in your sorrow? Pray hard Keep in mind Confession also repairs the rift sin causes between you and the Church.


Here are a few quotes from the Catechism:

1446 Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as "the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace."[47]

Contrition
1451 Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again."[50]

1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.[51]

1453 The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be brought to completion by sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.[52]

A mortal sin is a grave sin that we commit with full consent of the will and with full knowledge of its gravity.

When we commit these sins, we sever ourselves from Christ (Galatians 5). Note here: Paul does not say it is the fact that they are Judiazers that cuts them off from Christ, but their disobedience. That's why he asks them at the end of his exhortation who caused them to disobey. Their voluntary submission in this disobedience, in the grave matter of choosing to cease following Christ's lead, led to their falling from grace (5:4). It could have been any grave sin, but as long as there was full consent and understanding that it was against Christ, the result would have still been a falling from grace.

Neal

Originally posted by Hoonbaba
So if I'm reading this correctly, then it's NOT required, since Christ is the Mediator. But is it a ministry that's used for bringing reconciliation and healing?

Would James 5:16 is relevant here:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

God bless!

-Jason

Click to expand...

No, I would say that is an incorrect reading. Any well instructed Catholic knows that the sacrament of Confession is the *ordinary means* by which our sins are forgiven, precisely *because* "There is one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ." Catholics simply do not see any conflict between confessing their sins to a priest and confessing them to Jesus Christ. The priest is a man who acts in the person of Christ, and it is Christ who acts through his priest to forgive sins. When I enter the confessional, it is precisely to encounter Christ- as I have many, many times. We are not so daft as to think that anyone other than Christ can forgive sins, and the priest himself does not either, for he says at the end of our confession: "And I absolve you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Believe me, there is a lot more going on here than mere words, for grace is ordinarily very much present.

Any well-instructed Catholic finding himself in a state of mortal sin, would -if God gives him grace- immediately repent and confess his sin to God directly, with as much love and heartfelt sorrow as he could muster. Yet, he is also obliged to confess his sins sacramentally for two reasons, because the Church (who has God given authority) commands it, because it is the ordinary means of the forgiving sins, and besides that, human beings are prey to all manner of illusion and self-deception particularly in the matter of sin. Even if a person were sure he had confessed his sin with perfect contrition, he knows that certainty is no guarantee of truth, and that God might have regarded his contrition as shot through with all manner of self-love and insincerity, and that the safer thing to do by far (eternity is a long, long, long time) is to go show himself to the priest, as the lepers in Israel were commanded to do. There, most certainly, grace is operative.

The Sacrament of Confession is not at all tied into the prayer of any righteous man, unless we are talking about the man Jesus Christ.

Although it is nice to run across a holy, wise priest- and there are many around- the holiness of the priest is not at all an issue. If I were in mortal sin, and the choice were to wait fifteen minutes to go to a holy confessor or go *now* to any of the priests who've been in the headlines lately, my choice would be instantaneous. A lot of things can happen in fifteen minutes.

Peace,

Lee

From the Catechism

1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.[51]

1453 The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be brought to completion by sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.[52]

Think of it as Godly and Ungodly sorrow.

Neal

Well put, patriarch.

Like I said in the first post, "Can you know if you are sincere in your sorrow? Pray hard "

The Church was given the power to bind and loose in Matthew 16:18 and 18:18. The Bishops, and the priests who are their representatives, are our shepards. The Church has told us as Catholics to go to Confession. It isn't a burden it places on us, but a kindly nudge for the well bieng of our souls. It knows what power lies in the Sacrament. Outside of that, she fears for us. Better safe than sorry. As patriarch said, it is the ordinary means of forgiveness. It was one of the primary duties of the Apostles an their reps;

2 Corinthians 5:18
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

Like I said, sometimes its hard having fathers, but life sure is better with them around.

Neal

Perfect contrition is being sorry for something because you love God.

Mortal sin will separate you from Christ and cause damnation if not repented of.

The Church says that those who have a godly sorrow (perfect contrition) and repent will be forgiven. In the case of a Catholic, though, a confession would be necessary to mend the rift eith the Church.

BUT...how can we know if we have a perfect contrition? How can we know we weren't selfishly sorry, like Judas? That is why the Church was given the ministry of reconciliation 2 Cor 5:18. Christ in His Mercy gave us a means where any lack in our sorrow would be covered through Him, in a certain manner.

Neal

To Hoonbaba:

Your confusion is understandable. Not to worry, though.

There are two kinds of sin, venial sin and mortal sin. Venial sin is the stupid stuff we all do that we know is wrong, and we should stop doing, but it sneaks out. Not giving back the money when the cashier mistakenly counts our change wrong, leaving the mess in the kitchen for someone else to clean up, screaming at the kids when it's really the crummy day at work you're upset about, giving that jerk "the finger" when you get cut off in traffic....you know the type of stuff I'm talking about here.

Mortal sin is the biggie stuff....if you die while you are committing a mortal sin, you're going straight to Hell in the proverbial handbasket. Murder is always a good one.

99% of the stupid, sinful things we do, though, fall in between those two extremes. And as you know from personal experience, when you start doing something you KNOW is wrong, it opens the door to CONTINUE doing wrong. An example would be if you were a cashier, and you "borrowed" a couple of quarters from the till to make a phone call one day....if nobody hollered at the end of the day about the shortage, then the little devil on your shoulder would say the next day, "Hey, take a couple of bucks this time to pay for lunch!"

Confession is a counseling session. Yes, there is a "routine" which is followed for the confession and forgiveness of sins, but it's changed so much from the days of the old movies where a kid would kneel in a dark confessional and say, "BlessmefatherforIhavesinned, I hit my brother twice, I stole from my mother's purse, and I spit in the mashed potatoes." The priest behind the grille would make the Sign of the Cross, mutter some Latin, and then tell the kid to say "Five Hail Marys" and that is what Confession would be.

Today, you can still use the private confessional, or you can sit in a small private room with the door closed, and be face-to-face with the priest. You tell him, "I have been *borrowing* money from the cash register at work." The priest will say, "Tell me about it."

What it will end up is that you'll talk to the priest about what happened...how it started, why it continued. You'll probably get admonished, because, LOL, you KNOW you need the scolding! The priest will say, "How much money does this add up to?" And then you'll be told to either find a way to pay it back, or maybe even contribute that amount of money to charity. You'll probably be told to change your job duties, so you aren't confronted with that temptation again.

You'll be asked to make an "Act of Contrition." You'll either pray in your own words, that you are sorry for offending God, not because He has the power to give you the eternal punishment which you so justly deserve, but because offending Him HURTS GOD, and you have no business hurting The One who loves you so much....or the priest might have a little laminated card with the formal "Act of Contrition" prayer on it, and ask you to read it out loud.

Then the priest forgives your sins.........and you FLOAT OUT THE DOOR.


Inside the Church, you'll see people in the pews, kneeling in prayer. It's dimly lit, and very quiet. You might also slip into a pew, and kneel in your own prayer. Maybe the priest has given you some prayers to think about. For me, though, I'm almost doubled over in gratitude, THANKING GOD and PRAISING GOD for His incredible love and mercy.



Peace be with you,
~VOW

To Jason:

The Catholic Church does not teach OSAS. You have Free Will, which permitted you to accept the Grace of God's gift of Eternal Life. But the Church says Salvation is a PROCESS, not an EVENT. You are on a life-long journey to Eternity. Jesus is always with you, to guide you, to comfort you, to nourish you. And when you fall down, or stray from the path, He is there, extending His hand, to help you back onto the straight and narrow. But YOU have to extend your hand back to Him, you must re-establish the connection YOU broke. You cannot be pushed away, you cannot be rejected should you stray and then want to come back. But God does not GLUE YOU to the path. You do not become "God's Little Robot," you still have your humanity, and you become even a tastier morsel for Satan to tempt.

The road is not easy, but Jesus is there, ALWAYS there to help. Did he not tell the Disciples, "Pick up your Cross and follow me." He didn't say, "Hop on My back for a piggy back ride!"

And yes, Confession does impart Grace. Confession will ease your journey, strengthen you, and guide you.


Peace be with you,
~VOW

To Jason:

"Required for salvation" is a rather sticky statement.

Let's say it's required to KEEP salvation, or better yet, MAINTAIN salvation.

Remember, Salvation is a PROCESS, not an EVENT.



Peace be with you,
~VOW

To Jason:

I believe that God gives a very personal thump in the head to the individual, and then throws a Catholic in his path.

You've read the testimonials, there are as many stories as stars in the sky.

My observation is that the Church uses SERVICE as the biggest missionary task. Providing shelter, clothing, food to the needy, care to the sick, comfort to those hurting... a person can be a missionary by just living a Christ-filled life.

Like maybe giving kind, loving answers to questions on an internet message board?


Peace be with you,
~VOW