Confession... does it scare some people away from Church?

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Confession does not scare people way from the Church. Satan drives people away from Real Confession.

Now, on Yahoo, it runs a video about non-Catholic wanting to confess online. Hmm! Why do you have to confess online if you think you only need to confess to God?
 
Charlie_Zeaiter said:
We shouldn’t be scared of confession. We are richer for having this sacrament.

Protestants won’t agree - they think it is sacrilegious to have a priest absolve you of your sins.
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Distinguendum est between Protestants!
True, no Protestant church has confession as a sacrament, but Lutheran orthodoxy places a HUGE value on confession - and, having gone to confession only a couple of days ago - I see why.
 
J_C said:
my understanding, and please someone correct me where I am wrong, is this:

the priest forgives in the name of the Church, in the sense that the Church itself has been wronged by my sin. He gives a penance assignment, which may include making amends to others who were wronged.

He can bind or he can loose, he has this authority from Jesus, the head of the Church.

Since this authority comes from Jesus, it is actually Jesus doing the forgiving, but the authority has been delegated by Jesus to the priest, who pronounces the forgiveness from God.

Even after this spiritual forgiveness, There may yet be temporal consequences of the sin that will have to be removed either in life on Earth or in Purgatory before entering the beatific vision of God.

Is that correct?
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I suspect the apparent confusion over who is doing the forgiving throughout this thread is really a matter of semantics. But I am not going to argue with anyone about it. I know who it is that is forgiving me for my sin. 🙂

And yes, it is true that while our sins may be forgiven, we may still have some further purification needed in Purgatory.
 
I believe God knows exactly what we need so He gave us this sacrament. i afirm that is scary not because of itself but because of our pride and because we do not want to admit our wrong doings. we think we can dodge God on this one by saying you can tell Jesus, but Jesus hears when we obey Him by confessing our sins to our priests. but once you did it, it is like a miracle you are truly healed. the modern world has almost taken this away from us, but as catholics i believe we need to be faithfull to this sacrament at all cost. we should be very greatful to God for this sacrament.
 
First of all, Anglicans/Episcopalians have Confession. Not many people go to it though. I think it may even be called a Sacrament, though it is differentiated from the two explicitly ordained by Christ (Baptism and the Eucharist).

My problem with Confession is the idea that when one joins the Church they have to make a lifetime confession. (I have the same problem with the Orthodox, as they require the same thing.) My thought on that is that I have confessed these sins to God and been forgiven. I don’t need to bring them up again. Yes, sins can be forgiven by God through a priest. I don’t think the priest is necessary for sins to be forgiven.
 
HannahLisa said:
I don’t think the priest is necessary for sins to be forgiven.
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I hope you are not offended, but if you don’t understand the priest’s role in Confession, then you aren’t ready to be a Catholic, anyway. It is better for you to remain a Protestant until you understand, or at least come to a place where you can accept, this teaching of the Church.
 
jmcrae said:
I hope you are not offended, but if you don’t understand the priest’s role in Confession, then you aren’t ready to be a Catholic, anyway. It is better for you to remain a Protestant until you understand, or at least come to a place where you can accept, this teaching of the Church.
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That would be part of why I’m not Catholic. 🙂 No offense taken!

I don’t know for sure if I understand the priest’s role in Confession. No one’s explained it to me and I don’t recall ever specifically looking it up. I’m about to look it up though.
 
HannahLisa
HannahLisa said:
First of all, Anglicans/Episcopalians have Confession. Not many people go to it though. I think it may even be called a Sacrament, though it is differentiated from the two explicitly ordained by Christ (Baptism and the Eucharist).

My problem with Confession is the idea that when one joins the Church they have to make a lifetime confession. (I have the same problem with the Orthodox, as they require the same thing.) My thought on that is that I have confessed these sins to God and been forgiven. I don’t need to bring them up again. Yes, sins can be forgiven by God through a priest. I don’t think the priest is necessary for sins to be forgiven.
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My understanding is that the priest does not only speak on behalf of Christ, but also on behalf of his body the Church. Remember you were joined to his body trough baptism, and that any sins committed since then have hurt that body (both its members and its unity).

God bless you
TL
 
Green_Tea said:
I think I understand better now, but why confess to a priest specifically? I mean, it makes sense that a priest is a respected person of the faith, so it makes sense in that regard, but why not confess to any other respected person of the faith instead?

As a Protestant considering Catholicism, the notion of confession does not really “scare me away,” but it certainly makes me a bit nervous or uncomfortable about the Catholic Church – not in a “I would be ashamed to do that” sense, but rather in an “that is weird that they do that” sense. As with other dimensions of Catholic faith and practice, though, it seems that the more I learn the less “scary” or uncomfortable things become, even if they were initially foreign.
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For one thing, our priests are the dispensers of the Sacraments and that is the way it should be. Priests cannot divulge what you tell them in a Confession to anyone…for any reason. Exception, when the person confessing gives permission to do so for good reason…that is it. No lay person could do that for good reason…they can’t keep their mouths shut. Besides, priests are trained councelors and can give good advise and get to the root of a problem quickly. Your priest is your best friend in these issues.
 
HannahLisa said:
That would be part of why I’m not Catholic. 🙂 No offense taken!

I don’t know for sure if I understand the priest’s role in Confession. No one’s explained it to me and I don’t recall ever specifically looking it up. I’m about to look it up though.
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google’ The forgiveness of sins" Catholic Answers, read this. and it should help. Keep reading and I recommend the Catechism hugely. You are getting there, don’t give up. Because something seems strange at first should not discourage you…everything new is strange…at first.
 
It took me some time to go to my first confession after becoming Catholic.

Yet I had already done a few fourth steps in recovery, so I knew that I was not afraid to confess my sins to god and another human being.

I think I was still looking for solidity on the topic, and I found it after reading John 20:21-23 and then seeing it scattered about thrroughout the NT.

thank God for confession!

My father says that he doesn’t like catholicism because they can go to confession and go out and sin the same sin the next day.

I had to let him know that if they confess there sins and have the intent of committing them again, they are not forgiven.

It is not a carwash for the soul. It is a removal of sin from within the soul, truly, white as snow, and that if you were to die after making a good confession, you would go straight to heaven. BAM!!!

allelujah! I told a gentleman that at a retreat one time, and he ended up converting because he couldn’t wait for baptism and confession and the Eucharist!
 
One more question about confession, if you don’t mind:

What you have said about the priest vs. other people makes a certain amount of sense. But why is it required to confess to a priest as opposed to confessing directly to God?
 
It wouldn’t stop me from going to church, just confession, I hadn’t been to confession for so long I couldn’t remember How long, 😊 (about 12 years) I worried so much about saying it’s been 12 years since my last confession it took me several months more to get the courage to go. I was sure i wouldn’t remember what i was supposed to do. Other than that in small communities where the priest knows everyone it could be hard to fess up to something embarrasing.
 
Green_Tea said:
One more question about confession, if you don’t mind:

What you have said about the priest vs. other people makes a certain amount of sense. But why is it required to confess to a priest as opposed to confessing directly to God?
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Well you are confessing directly to God when you go to confession. You need to remember that God Himself set up this sacrament. He is there. 👍
 
melmac said:
It wouldn’t stop me from going to church, just confession, I hadn’t been to confession for so long I couldn’t remember How long, 😊 (about 12 years) I worried so much about saying it’s been 12 years since my last confession it took me several months more to get the courage to go. I was sure i wouldn’t remember what i was supposed to do. Other than that in small communities where the priest knows everyone it could be hard to fess up to something embarrasing.
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I remember when I finally went back to confession, it had been ten years. I was so nervous i thought that the priest would get so mad at me, but he was so over joyed that I came back home, that it felt so wonderful to be wanted back home.🙂

I go every month now sometimes more. I love it.😃 God is so good to me.
 
st_lucy said:
I remember when I finally went back to confession, it had been ten years. I was so nervous i thought that the priest would get so mad at me, but he was so over joyed that I came back home, that it felt so wonderful to be wanted back home.🙂

I go every month now sometimes more. I love it.😃 God is so good to me.
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There is something about confession that makes me feel like a naughty child:D I too thought i would be roused on.
 
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