Confession question

[sherilo]

Hi all,

I was wondering if Catholics are supposed to confess only to a priest, or can we ask forgiveness directly to God? Or does it depend on the sin? Thanks in advance.

Sheri

 

[Tom]

sherilo:

Hi all,

I was wondering if Catholics are supposed to confess only to a priest, or can we ask forgiveness directly to God? Or does it depend on the sin? Thanks in advance.

Sheri

We are called to do both, it isn’t an either/or situation, one does not substitute for the other.

 

[mercygate]

Tom:

We are called to do both, it isn’t an either/or situation, one does not substitute for the other.

Tom is correct. But when we are aware of grave (mortal) sin, we are required to confess to a priest. I see by your profile that you are “on your way home.” Welcome to the adventure!

You came to the right place for answers!

Godspeed.

 

[Ham1]

You can do either, BUT only with sacramental confession can you have the certainty that God has forgiven you. You know this because you are able to hear the words of Christ “I absolve you of your sins.”

 

[Scott_Waddell]

Ham1:

You can do either, BUT only with sacramental confession can you have the certainty that God has forgiven you. You know this because you are able to hear the words of Christ “I absolve you of your sins.”

Right on. Not to bash private confession, but the problem is our tangled minds can’t get any moral assurance that we have confessed properly, or made proper resititution, etc. So, we run the risk of beating ourselves up excessively. That is, usurping God’s divine role as judge. In confession, you must accept absolution and move on. It’s closure. Our absolution is not final because it is right, it is right because it is final.

Scott

 

[Sherlock]

Well, let me add my dittos: before I came back to the Church, I commited a number of serious (mortal) sins. I repented of them to God, of course; I was really sorry and wasn’t going to commit them again, but somehow I never felt that anything was resolved—they just continued to haunt me. It was a very destructive element in my life that just would not go away. When I finally went back and made a serious confession to a priest, I felt liberated after YEARS of carrying it around. It was liberating: the weight was gone! I have since come to appreciate confession as the truly healthy and beneficial sacrament that it is—God designed it that way.