Confession-HELP

[Lola8]

What would you say if somebody called you a fool for believing that once you tell your sins to a priest then your sins are forgiven? (A Christian told me this and I since I’m just starting to learn about Catholicism I couldn’t find the way to defend my faith )
Thank you!

 

[Trishie]

Priests received the right to hear Confessions from Jesus through His first priests, the apostles when He said:
**“Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” **[John 20:23]

Lola, welcome to Catholic Answers Forum.
And may the Holy Spirit be with you as you are drawn gently into the Catholic faith.

Warm regards, Trishie

 

[Tim_Kirchoff]

Don’t worry too much about being able to answer everything thrown at you. If nothing else, you could tell them what you’ve told us- that you’re new at this sort of thing. Don’t let it bother you too much- just take it as an opportunity to learn more about your own faith.

You could also remind them that calling you a fool isn’t exactly the best or most loving way to convince you

As for the answer to your friend’s question, there are others here who could answer better than I. I’ll leave it to them. God bless.

 

[ready]

Your sins are forgiven by God, for sure. A carnal soul can not accept things of the Church because they just do not live with supernatural grace in their souls, which allows them to accept Truth for what it is: Truth.

 

[Gerard_Nadal]

Priests received the right to hear Confessions from Jesus through His first priests, the apostles when He said:
**“Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.” **[John 20:23]

Lola, welcome to Catholic Answers Forum.
And may the Holy Spirit be with you as you are drawn gently into the Catholic faith.

Warm regards, Trishie

Lola,

Building on the Scripture quote from Trishie, you will come to know that all of what we teach is Scripturally based. Don’t argue or debate. Invite them to come to Mass with you. Invite them to come and meet your priest for a discussion over a cup of coffee. Show the same enthusiasm as the woman at the well. She ran to her townfolk and said, “Come and See!!!”

Welcome. You are in my prayers.:tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat: :tiphat:

 

[Fergal]

The Psalms always give great rebutts without having to go into doctrine or anything.

See Psalm 11(10) where it says “You may mock the poor man’s hope, but his refuge is the Lord!”

 

[RosaryFan]

What would you say if somebody called you a fool for believing that once you tell your sins to a priest then your sins are forgiven? (A Christian told me this and I since I’m just starting to learn about Catholicism I couldn’t find the way to defend my faith )
Thank you!

Well, technically, your sins aren’t forgiven just because you tell them to a priest. You also have to be sorry. But that aside,

I would ask them that if they blieve a priest pouring water on a baby’s head takes away original sin, why can’t they believe the words of absolution from a priest takes away our personal sins? Reconciliation is a sacrament (just like Baptism) where Jesus comes to us through the priest who is acting in the person of Christ.

 

[teachccd]

What would you say if somebody called you a fool for believing that once you tell your sins to a priest then your sins are forgiven? (A Christian told me this and I since I’m just starting to learn about Catholicism I couldn’t find the way to defend my faith )
Thank you!

In tomorrows Gospel (Mark 2:1-12) we see many of the Jews didn’t think that the Son of Man could forgive sins. Jesus, being fully God and fully man, in verse 10 says," But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins…" Here we see Jesus opening the door for man to have the authority to forgive sins. Remember that in many other Scripture texts Jesus mentions that all authority is given to Him from His father. This leads to His first post resurrection encounter with the apostles (John 20:19-23), noted above, where Jesus then gives this authority to His apostles (the Church).

Many times when there is frustration people will resort to name calling. We might think that your Christian friend is a “fool” (and Jesus used this word in Luke 24:25 in the Road to Emmaus story) for not believing in the Eucharist but that will not move him/her into a better understanding. Tell your friend that there are those who think that you both are fools for believing that a Man can rise from the dead. Does that negate the fact that He did? Of course not and so being called a fool does not negate the fact that the priest has the God given authority to forgive sins. Pray for your friend and show him/her all of the love that you can…teachccd

 

[teachccd]

I would ask them that if they blieve a priest pouring water on a baby’s head takes away original sin, why can’t they believe the words of absolution from a priest takes away our personal sins? Reconciliation is a sacrament (just like Baptism) where Jesus comes to us through the priest who is acting in the person of Christ.

Unfortunately this friend most likely does not believe in infant baptism or the fact that baptism removes sin. Most non-Catholic Christians believe that baptism is merely a public display that the person has accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and they refer to Baptism as an ordinance. Some mainline Protestants will refer to baptism as a sacrament but not with the theological understanding that we Catholics have…teachccd

 

[RosaryFan]

Unfortunately this friend most likely does not believe in infant baptism or the fact that baptism removes sin. Most non-Catholic Christians believe that baptism is merely a public display that the person has accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and they refer to Baptism as an ordinance. Some mainline Protestants will refer to baptism as a sacrament but not with the theological understanding that we Catholics have…teachccd

Good point. Well, then I guess I would tell my friend that you’re not actually telling your sins to a priest, but to Jesus through the ears of the priest. If they say “why not just tell Jesus privately, in prayer”, then I’d say because your sins are never private - they are against God, yourself and the church, so simply confessing privately is not satisfactory. As Catholics, we believe the sacraments are outward signs institued by God to give grace. Grace in the sacrament of reconciliation helps to AVOID the sin in the future, in addition to removing the sin from our soul. All the sacraments are tools for the job - the job being getting to heaven.

That is the best argument for reconciliation I can come up with. Unfortunately, when someone has their mind set against confession, that explanation is not nearly good enough (none ever is). But you know what they say… For those who have faith, no proof is necessary. For those who do not, no proof is good enough.