If one is in the practice of confessing one's sins to God in prayer and asking for divine forgiveness, what would one do when one goes to Confession? Would you confess the same sins to the priest that you already confessed to the Lord and requested forgiveness of? And if so, when the priest pronounces forgiveness of those sins, would they be forgiven twice? That sounds ridiculous, so I am wondering what is conferred when the priest pronounces you forgiven.
A question about Confession
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ZooMom
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I may be a bit confused, but are you referring to converts? If so, I would say that they should confess everything that is still weighing on them since their baptism. As well as asking forgiveness for the things they can't remember. That's what I did.
I thought the Orthodox practiced sacramental Confession. No?
The priest acts in Christ's stead during Confession. We are asking Christ's forgiveness, not the priest's. By virtue of Apostolic Succession, the priest has the authority to forgive or retain sins.
John 20:
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Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
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And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
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If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven
God bless...
Sandy
I thought the Orthodox practiced sacramental Confession. No?
The priest acts in Christ's stead during Confession. We are asking Christ's forgiveness, not the priest's. By virtue of Apostolic Succession, the priest has the authority to forgive or retain sins.
John 20:
21
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
22
And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
23
If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven
God bless...
Sandy
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What I mean is that if one is in the practice of repenting and praying for God's forgiveness upon awareness of sin, then what sins would you confess to the priest except those sins which you have already repented of and asked God for forgiveness? And if you then confess what you have already asked, and presumably receieved, forgiveness for, then what occurs when the priest pronounces forgiveness?
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nyj
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There is no doubt that God will forgive us our sins if we repent of them no matter where we are and under whatever circumstances we might find ourselves. However, the truth of the matter is, is that Jesus Christ gave us the priesthood as the normal and recommended means with which to receive the graces of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
And you forget that the Sacrament is not just about seeking forgiveness, it is about seeking repentance. We go to the priest to receive not only absolution but a penance so we can make reparations for the damage we instilled upon the body of Christ. If I do not go to a priest to receive absolution and a penance, I will eventually have to serve that penance elsewhere (ie: purgatory). To be crude about it: Pay me now or pay me later.
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The sacrament of penance exists in the Church to allow for the repentance and reconversion of Christians who have fallen away from the life of faith.
There are three main elements to the act of formal penance. The first is a sincere sorrow for sins and for the breaking of communion with God. The second is an open and heartfelt confession of sins. At one time this confession was done publicly before all men in the midst of the Church, but in recent times it is usually done only in the presence of the pastor of the Church who stands in behalf of all. The third element of penance is the formal prayer of absolution through which the forgiveness of God through Christ is sacramentally bestowed upon the repentant sinner.
I was unaware that any further payment was necessary, as you had so "crudely" put it. Of course, if the situation warrents some action, such as estrangement from my brother, then we should do something, such as reconcile myself with this brother. But what are these reparations for the damage we instilled upon the body of Christ? The damage was my removal from the life of faith, and the damage was healed by my return to in through sorrowful repentance and confession of my sin, and the forgiveness of my sins through the priests prayer of absolution.
There are three main elements to the act of formal penance. The first is a sincere sorrow for sins and for the breaking of communion with God. The second is an open and heartfelt confession of sins. At one time this confession was done publicly before all men in the midst of the Church, but in recent times it is usually done only in the presence of the pastor of the Church who stands in behalf of all. The third element of penance is the formal prayer of absolution through which the forgiveness of God through Christ is sacramentally bestowed upon the repentant sinner.
I was unaware that any further payment was necessary, as you had so "crudely" put it. Of course, if the situation warrents some action, such as estrangement from my brother, then we should do something, such as reconcile myself with this brother. But what are these reparations for the damage we instilled upon the body of Christ? The damage was my removal from the life of faith, and the damage was healed by my return to in through sorrowful repentance and confession of my sin, and the forgiveness of my sins through the priests prayer of absolution.
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nyj
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Further payment, as illustrated by God's dealings with David in the Old Testament, is necessary. We must make reparations to God for the damage we have caused. When David committed adultery (and murder), the penalty he had to pay was the life of his newborn son. Even though David was thoroughly sorry for the sins he commited, God still sought restitution.
As it was for David, so it is for us.
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I'm not clear on this concept of "payment," nyj. Christians believe that the death and resurrection of Christ was FULL payment for all sins. I'm grappling for a proper analogy here, and perhaps Wolseley can give us an appropriate one. I'd liken it to the redemption of Christ providing us with the admission to a banquet: our ticket is "paid" but we still are wearing grubby rags and penance is our means to clean ourselves up so we can be acceptable dinner partners at the LORD's table. That's the concept of Purgatory, to my understanding. Whatever penance we receive for our confessed sins on earth still leaves us with tarnish that must be "purged" before we are worthy to enter the presence of God.
Hello, Wols?
Peace be with you,
~VOW
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Wolseley
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You've pretty much got the concept right, VOW. The analogy I always use is the one of the kid throwing a baseball through Dad's picture window. Dad freely forgives you for smashing the window (meaning that he isn't going to paddle your behind for doing it), but he still expects you to get a paper route to earn enough money to pay for replacing it.
This one suffers, as all analogies do; but the main thing to remember about Purgatory is that it is not divorced from Christ's redemptive death on the Cross, but rather is a part of it. Purgation from the effects of remaining venial sin is simply the last step of the redemption of the soul before entering heaven.
Does this help?
Blessings,
---Wols.
This one suffers, as all analogies do; but the main thing to remember about Purgatory is that it is not divorced from Christ's redemptive death on the Cross, but rather is a part of it. Purgation from the effects of remaining venial sin is simply the last step of the redemption of the soul before entering heaven.
Does this help?
Blessings,
---Wols.
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nyj
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I understand your concern about using the word "payment" VOW, but it was the only word I could come up with at the time. I didn't mean to imply that through works we can acheive salvation, but I did mean to convey that God does expect us to acknowledge our sinful nature. This is a key ingredient in any proper confession and without this acknowledgement we cannot truly seek reconciliation.
If we acknowledge our sinful nature, it is only fitting that we would seek some means to make appropriate corrections, no matter how futile the attempt might be. We all know that we will fall short of the mark, which is why the Word became flesh in the first place, but the Catholic Church does teach that we need to cooperate in our own salvation. That was all I was trying to convey, as it pertains to the Sacrament of Confession.
If we acknowledge our sinful nature, it is only fitting that we would seek some means to make appropriate corrections, no matter how futile the attempt might be. We all know that we will fall short of the mark, which is why the Word became flesh in the first place, but the Catholic Church does teach that we need to cooperate in our own salvation. That was all I was trying to convey, as it pertains to the Sacrament of Confession.
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