Confession question

[Sweet Pea]

I read a Catholic here say they only go to confession like once a month and they always felt better at mass the weekend after confession. It got me to thinking and I have some questions.

Does Catholics not ask God personally to forgive their sins?
Does Catholics not ask for forgiveness right after realizing they have sinned and wait to confess to a pope?
Does Catholics think that even asking God forgiveness they still need to confess to a pope to feel better?

 

[ZooMom]

I read a Catholic here say they only go to confession like once a month and they always felt better at mass the weekend after confession. It got me to thinking and I have some questions.

Some go more often, some go less often. And it always feels better to be relieved of the burden of our sins.

Does Catholics not ask God personally to forgive their sins?

Yes.

Does Catholics not ask for forgiveness right after realizing they have sinned and wait to confess to a pope?

They should. All priests aren't 'Popes'. There is one Pope.

Does Catholics think that even asking God forgiveness they still need to confess to a pope to feel better?

It's not about 'feeling' better, although that is certainly a byproduct. Very simply, Christ gave the Apostles the authority to 'bind and loose', that whatever sins they forgave on earth, God would forgive in heaven. Priests are successors of the Apostles, spiritual authoritative decendants, if you will. Just as the Apostles spoke with Christ's authority, so do priests. When we make our Confession, we are speaking to Christ. To God. The priest is there as Christ's representative on earth, to grant us absolution. The forgiveness comes from Christ.

Hope that helps. And welcome to OBOB.


Peace be with you!

Sandy

 

[stray bullet]

I read a Catholic here say they only go to confession like once a month and they always felt better at mass the weekend after confession. It got me to thinking and I have some questions.

Does Catholics not ask God personally to forgive their sins?
Does Catholics not ask for forgiveness right after realizing they have sinned and wait to confess to a pope?
Does Catholics think that even asking God forgiveness they still need to confess to a pope to feel better?

Confession is all about asking God for forgiveness, that's why Catholics go. We don't go just to tell some priest our sins. We go to get forgiveness for our sins from God and to become better Christians, which we do by confession.

Catholics ask for forgiveness from God for all our sins. Some sins, we do this simply by asking forgiveness from God. However, other sins and struggles, we feel they need to be confessed with a sincere desire to stop them.

Confession is like an appeal to God for forgiveness and a confessing of a desire to never do them again, which is done in the presence of a priest.

 

[marciadietrich]

Applicable Bible verses alluded to above :

[bible]John 20:21-23[/bible]


[bible]James 5:14-16[/bible]

Plus before you go to confession you always pray to God and the confession to the priest is a sacrament to formally be reconciled to the Body of Christ, which serious sin seperates us from both God and the Body of Christ as a whole.

I am going to also cut and paste part of a previous response on this subject as that is just easier...

Catholics also have a more physical or palpable view of the Body of Christ and union with Christ. Thus we believe that even private sins of individuals effect the entire body and Christ is the head of the Body (Paul says if we join our individual body with a prostitute - a private sin - we have joined Christ with a prostitute), so that serious sin not only seperates us from God but also the body of believers. In coming back from sin, we need to not only be made right with God but also integrated back into His Body ... the priest helps us do that.

So there are three aspects and names for "confession":

Confession: we confess our sins which the priest absolves with the authority given by Christ - God forgives the priest is a palpable part of the sacrament showing us that forgiveness. We say an act of contrition to say we're sorry for having hurt God by our sin and to ask for mercy and grace. So it isn't just going in with a laundry list with no feeling of sorrow, been many times I have cried even when I didn't expect to cry in confession.

Penance: Penance is not a punishment but more making things right. Often we are asked to say prayers, not just as some sort of rote torture but it helps us and helps others that we have hurt with our sin. Sometimes a penance might also include an action, if something was stolen the person might have to return or pay back an equal amount. It is making things right.

Reconciliation: In this process of confession and penance we are reconciled back into a state of grace and reunited as a member of Christ's body.

It isn't always easy going to confession. Still you get accountability that you will never get on your own. It helps to give a real concrete aspect to forgiveness and knowing that it effects others when we sin, and we need to look at others as we return from sin in healing the wounds we have caused.

Priests also go to confession, even the Pope goes to confession.


Marcia

 

[Skripper]

I read a Catholic here say they only go to confession like once a month and they always felt better at mass the weekend after confession. It got me to thinking and I have some questions.

Does Catholics not ask God personally to forgive their sins?

Of course, but there is no assurance of this since this is not the normative means by which God has implemented to dispense His grace for the forgiveness of sins. In going "directly to God," (and doing an end-around from what God instituted, so to speak), the sinner has no assurance other than his her own subjective feelings that his/her sins have in fact been forgiven since this is not the normative way that God has put in place to dispense His grace in the sacrament of confession/pennance.

To my knowledge, nowhere does the Bible tell us to take our sins "directly" to God and that we then have his absolute assurance of forgiveness, normatively speaking. On the other hand, God does, very clearly, tell us that his priests have the power to forgive and retain sins in His name. And the only way they have to know of these sins is through confession. And just for the record, Catholics are confessing "directly" to God, but through the means that He Himself instituted, through his ordained priests, accoring to His will. Put another way, Catholics confess according to the will of God, Protestants according to the will of self where, like in so many areas, opting to take the man-made "easy way" out.

Does Catholics not ask for forgiveness right after realizing they have sinned and wait to confess to a pope?

Catholics don't wait to confess to "a pope." But we do confess immediately, to God in our heart. But we still must go to confession because that is the normative means by which GOD established for the absolution of sins committed after baptizm.

Does Catholics think that even asking God forgiveness they still need to confess to a pope to feel better?

Again, we don't confess to "a pope." And it's purpose is not to "feel better." It its to receive the absolution promised by Christ if we obey His commands and precepts. We confess to a priest in obedience to Christ, because that is the way He Himself instituted it to be done. Unlike Catholics, Protestants rely primarily on their own subjective "feelings" of being forgiven. Whereas Catholics do not have to rely on this subjective "feeling" but instead rely on and indeed have the assurance of God's Words, promises and instructions on how the grace of forgiveness is received, through sacramental confession.

 

[DrBubbaLove]

Wow u guys were all over that! Great answers! Thanks Marcia for being the first to add the reconcilliation part of it!

 

[BjBarnett]

that would be cool to have the pope here your confessions...

 

[ZooMom]

I wonder if he does? Hear Confessions, I mean. Bless his heart, he can't have much time for it. For that matter, I wonder if any Bishops hear Confessions on a regular basis. Hmmm.