Confession

[Miss Shy]

Why do Catholics confess there sins to a Priest, why don't they confess there sins directly to God?

I don't understand why a Priest needs to be involved, surely only God can give forgiveness to those sins anyway.........right?

 

[Jimmy P]

Hi Miss Shy,

I'm still in the beginning stages so forgive me if I can't explain very well

From what I'm learning, this is how Jesus set it up...when He told the Apostles to go into the world to preach and that whatever the Apostles would bind (not forgive) on earth, would be bound (not forgiven) in Heaven...and whatever they loosed (forgave) on earth was loosed (forgiven) in Heaven...and it's been that way since...
The Priest represents Christ on earth...

This was one of those areas I too had a hard time with...of course we can pray to God, ask for forgiveness....one thing nice with a Priest though, when you confess, you can also receive council and that can be a big help...to strengthen your bond with Jesus...

Maybe somebody else will come in and answer better...

 

[ZaidaBoBaida]

I think there is something about confessing to another person that makes it more real. If you ever go through a 12 step-program - one of the steps is confessing to another person the exact nature of the wrongs you have done.

 

[Chrystal-J]

Here is a bible verse about it:

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

 

[catholicbybirth]

Why do Catholics confess there sins to a Priest, why don't they confess there sins directly to God?

I don't understand why a Priest needs to be involved, surely only God can give forgiveness to those sins anyway.........right?

We only have to confess the mortal sins, the ones that break the relationship between ourselves and God. The venial sins, the ones that damage the relationship, but doesn't sever it, are forgiven by receiving the Eucharist. That is why receiving the Eucharist is important to do. But I digress.

We go to confession for us, not for God. We go to confession in order to spell out what we have done. For it is human nature to make light of the wrongs we do while highlighting the wrongs of others. God does not forgive us if we are not repentant. How can we be repentant is we are not thinking we did anything wrong?

We are asked by the Church to examine our consciences every day. I personally do not do this as often as I should, which is daily, but I do make sure I do so before I receive the forgiveness from God, as I do not want to forget to confess something that is apt to keep me for the fullest relationship with God that I could possibly have.

The priest stands in for Christ, in personna Christi, it is called. When he says, "I absolve your from your sins", it is actually Christ who is saying this.

This is why I am so very confused when people who are former Catholics say they never had a relationship with Jesus in the Catholic Church. How much more personal can you get than hearing Christ tell you that your sins have been forgiven?

Janice

 

[Memento Mori]

There are multiple reasons for the sacrament of confession beyond the ones most often given. For example, when we sin mortally, we not only affect our friendship with God, but we affect our relationship with the Church. When dead in mortal sin, we have to be reconciled to the rest of the Body as well as to God. So the Church is tied up in the forgiveness business because she is a real communion of believers.

 

[joshiwoshi]

Hey if you ever go to confession, you will understand. It FEELs like all your sins have been removed and you have a fresh start. That is of course if you are really sorry for your sins. It isn't what ignorant people say "a way we can do what we want and just confess" that is totally wrong. Hope I helped

 

[Eretria90]

Maybe you should open up your Bible then.

"21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, "I am sending you, just as the Father sent me." 22 Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven."" John 20: 21-23 (CEV)

In those verses, Jesus gave his disciples the "power" on Earth to forgive sins. So according to you, why can't we go receive the Sacrament of Confession via our priests?

 

[sonshine234]

Why do Catholics confess there sins to a Priest, why don't they confess there sins directly to God?

I don't understand why a Priest needs to be involved, surely only God can give forgiveness to those sins anyway.........right?

You might be interested to know that Anglicans have confession too.

 

[Rhamiel]

when we sin, we hurt the entire Church
because we are all connected in Christ
when one part suffers, all suffer, when one part rejoices, all rejoice.

we are supposed to apologize to those who we have wronged
but how can we understand how our sins affect everyone

So in Confession, the priest is standing In Persona Christi, he represents Christ
but he also represents the rest of the Church, all those who we have hurt and are not even aware of

 

[joshiwoshi]

Maybe you should open up your Bible then.

"21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, "I am sending you, just as the Father sent me." 22 Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven."" John 20: 21-23 (CEV)

In those verses, Jesus gave his disciples the "power" on Earth to forgive sins. So according to you, why can't we go receive the Sacrament of Confession via our priests?

I agree, good point

 

[joshiwoshi]

Maybe you should open up your Bible then.

"21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, "I am sending you, just as the Father sent me." 22 Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven."" John 20: 21-23 (CEV)

In those verses, Jesus gave his disciples the "power" on Earth to forgive sins. So according to you, why can't we go receive the Sacrament of Confession via our priests?

I agree, good point!

 

[joshiwoshi]

Oops double post

 

[Jimmy P]

And that makes 3 LOL....that actually made me laugh...don't worry about it, it happens

 

[truefiction1]

A tidbit of Church history:

In the beginning, when the Church was young, individuals confessed their sins openly in front of the entire congregation. It was only after Christianity was accepted as the official religion of the empire and became more mainstream, with less devout/more secular than spiritual sorts joining the congregation, that confession began to be heard privately by a priest, who stood in as a representative of the congregation. Confession has always been an important aspect of our Life in Christ, and will be until the end of times. It's a Sacred Tradition.

 

[Fantine]

This is about the most complete history I've ever seen.

http://www.resurrection-catholic.org/learn/sacraments/reconciliation/history_reconciliation.pdf

It looks like the Celtic monastics got the Church going on the right track in the 6th century--God bless the Irish.

 

[Miss Shy]

Maybe you should open up your Bible then.

"21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, "I am sending you, just as the Father sent me." 22 Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone's sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don't forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven."" John 20: 21-23 (CEV)

In those verses, Jesus gave his disciples the "power" on Earth to forgive sins. So according to you, why can't we go receive the Sacrament of Confession via our priests?

Forgive me, just trying to understand, we don't have confession at my local church, although I did know it happened in Anglican churches I thought it was rare.

Thank you everyone for the bible verses and the useful answers.

 

[Miss Shy]

The priest stands in for Christ, in personna Christi, it is called. When he says, "I absolve your from your sins", it is actually Christ who is saying this.

Janice

Forgive me if this is a silly question, but how can the Priest stand in for Christ? I don't understand, how can it be Christ saying this?

 

[Colin]

Why do Catholics confess there sins to a Priest, why don't they confess there sins directly to God?

Catholics do both .

I have just been to the Eucharist , and we began by confessing our sins in a general way to God and to all present .

When Catholics pray in the privacy of their own room a prayer of contrition they are confessing their sins to God .

When Catholics receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation they are confessing their sins to God and to the priest whom they believe has the authority to absolve them from their sins . It's a bringing down to earth of God's forgiveness within a human encounter . It's an "incarnation" of God's reconciliation for that person at that particular moment . It's how Jesus wanted it .

 

[ZaidaBoBaida]

Forgive me if this is a silly question, but how can the Priest stand in for Christ? I don't understand, how can it be Christ saying this?

The Church is the body of Christ, no? The priest is actually standing in for the whole congregation. But, Jesus most assuredly did give his followers the authority to forgive sins.