An article: "Is Confession to a Catholic Priest Necessary or Can You Go Straight to God?"

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This question comes up often, and it comes up often on Catholic answers itself. The article linked below discusses such issues as why the sacrament of confession is important and when in the Bible Christ gave authority to priests to forgive sins, and it speaks too of the times we can go straight to God and the times we should go to confession.
see marysaggies.blogspot.com/2010/09/is-confession-to-catholic-priest.html
 
The article was very insightful. Thank you for posting it.

God bless
 
This is a wonderful article especially that quote from St. Irenaeus. Thanks
 
Actually, a Catholic confession IS going “straight to God” - throught the priest, who acts “in persona Christi”.
 
The article is really good, but I would add one more important item to the last list of reasons “So, Why Go to Confession If you Can be Forgiven Without It”? This is what a former pastor told me once: when he is asked that question, he responds with the question “how often to you ask for forgiveness?”. The answer is invariably “all the time”, but when he probes, he finds that just as invariably, the correct answer is almost never. It is only through the practice of confession that people learn to make a regular examination of conscience and learn to ask forgiveness for their specific sins. It is so easy to say, “I am sorry for my sins”, but are you really sorry if you dont say “I am sorry for doing A, B, C and D”. If you tell someone else you are sorry, it would not be taken as sincere if you did not tell them what you are apologizing for.
And people who make daily examinations of conscience? They are invariably people who also avail themselves to the sacrament of confession on a regular basis.

I think this is key. People who say they can go directly to God, just don’t really do it that often.
 
tafan said:
The article is really good, but I would add one more important item to the last list of reasons “So, Why Go to Confession If you Can be Forgiven Without It”? This is what a former pastor told me once: when he is asked that question, he responds with the question “how often to you ask for forgiveness?”. The answer is invariably “all the time”, but when he probes, he finds that just as invariably, the correct answer is almost never. It is only through the practice of confession that people learn to make a regular examination of conscience and learn to ask forgiveness for their specific sins. It is so easy to say, “I am sorry for my sins”, but are you really sorry if you dont say “I am sorry for doing A, B, C and D”. If you tell someone else you are sorry, it would not be taken as sincere if you did not tell them what you are apologizing for.
And people who make daily examinations of conscience? They are invariably people who also avail themselves to the sacrament of confession on a regular basis.

I think this is key. People who say they can go directly to God, just don’t really do it that often.
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Martin Luther referred to confession as “a remedy against pride and self-deception.” [Boenhoeffer *The Cost of Grace]. If we are embarrassed to confess our sins before a man, how will we be able to stand before the throne of Grace?
 
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