P
pmoo
Guest
What a wonderful story. I also love the feeling of peace from confession. That nun was definitely right!
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F
fellowChristian
Guest
Confession has been around since Adam and Eve. God knew what sin Adam and Eve had committed yet He asked them so that they might confess.
Genesis 3:11
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
They did confess. And because of their sin death entered into the world. God killed animals to make for them clothes.Blood was spilled because of their sin.
Genesis 3:21
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
**Sin turns us away from God. Confession brings us back to Him. It reconciles us back to God’s love.
During the time of Moses…**
Leviticus 4
27’Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,
28if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed.
29’He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.
30’The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
31’Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
**Because of our sins God gives us these instructions. Sin is in the blood. But God loves us and does not wish for us to die. He offers us a way to make peace with Him without dying.An animal must take our place and die for the sin which we had comitted.
Under the Old Covenant , God used priests to minister forgiveness and atonement for the sins of others.
**
Genesis 3:11
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
They did confess. And because of their sin death entered into the world. God killed animals to make for them clothes.Blood was spilled because of their sin.
Genesis 3:21
The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
**Sin turns us away from God. Confession brings us back to Him. It reconciles us back to God’s love.
During the time of Moses…**
Leviticus 4
27’Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty,
28if his sin which he has committed is made known to him, then he shall bring for his offering a goat, a female without defect, for his sin which he has committed.
29’He shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slay the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering.
30’The priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.
31’Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar for a soothing aroma to the LORD. Thus the priest shall make atonement for him, and he will be forgiven.
**Because of our sins God gives us these instructions. Sin is in the blood. But God loves us and does not wish for us to die. He offers us a way to make peace with Him without dying.An animal must take our place and die for the sin which we had comitted.
Under the Old Covenant , God used priests to minister forgiveness and atonement for the sins of others.
**
F
fellowChristian
Guest
New Testament
John 20:21
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
** As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors to forgive sins.**
John 20:22
22And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
The Lord “breathes” on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins.
The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord “breathes” divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place.
John 20:23
23"If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear. The apostles were bishops.Bishops ordain priests.Priests are under bishops. They “minister” to the people.
Matthew 9
6"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"–then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”
7And he got up and went home.
8But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
**Christ forgave sins as a man (not God) to convince us that the “Son of man” has authority to forgive sins on earth. **
Matthew 18:18
18"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
The apostles are given authority to bind and loose. The authority to bind and loose includes administering and removing the temporal penalties due to sin. The Jews understood this since the birth of the Church. What the apostles/bishops forgive here on earth is forgiven in heaven and what the apostles/bishops don’t forgive on earth is not forgiven in heaven.
**2 Corinthians 2:10 **
10But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
**Paul forgives in the presence of Christ (some translations refer to the presences of Christ as “in persona Christi”). **
2 Corinthians 5:18
18Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
This ministry of reconciliation refers to the sacrament of reconciliation, also called the sacrament of confession or penance. Now with the ministry you must have someone to “minister” it and that is what a bishop does.And just like in the book of Acts when the apostles/bishops ordain the 7 deacons to help in their ministry, bishops also ordain priests.
Epistle Of Saint James
14 Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.
Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins. He is the Lamb lead to slaughter and the High Priest that made atonement for our sins. But because we continue to sin… God set up a ministry to heal us, to reconcil us back to Him. We take our sins to the priest who is acting in persona of Christ and humble ourselves by confessing to God through His ministers.
John 20:21
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
** As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors to forgive sins.**
John 20:22
22And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
The Lord “breathes” on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins.
The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord “breathes” divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place.
John 20:23
23"If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."
In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear. The apostles were bishops.Bishops ordain priests.Priests are under bishops. They “minister” to the people.
Matthew 9
6"But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"–then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”
7And he got up and went home.
8But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
**Christ forgave sins as a man (not God) to convince us that the “Son of man” has authority to forgive sins on earth. **
Matthew 18:18
18"Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
The apostles are given authority to bind and loose. The authority to bind and loose includes administering and removing the temporal penalties due to sin. The Jews understood this since the birth of the Church. What the apostles/bishops forgive here on earth is forgiven in heaven and what the apostles/bishops don’t forgive on earth is not forgiven in heaven.
**2 Corinthians 2:10 **
10But one whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ,
**Paul forgives in the presence of Christ (some translations refer to the presences of Christ as “in persona Christi”). **
2 Corinthians 5:18
18Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
This ministry of reconciliation refers to the sacrament of reconciliation, also called the sacrament of confession or penance. Now with the ministry you must have someone to “minister” it and that is what a bishop does.And just like in the book of Acts when the apostles/bishops ordain the 7 deacons to help in their ministry, bishops also ordain priests.
Epistle Of Saint James
14 Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man: and the Lord shall raise him up: and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him.
16 Confess therefore your sins one to another: and pray one for another, that you may be saved. For the continual prayer of a just man availeth much.
Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins. He is the Lamb lead to slaughter and the High Priest that made atonement for our sins. But because we continue to sin… God set up a ministry to heal us, to reconcil us back to Him. We take our sins to the priest who is acting in persona of Christ and humble ourselves by confessing to God through His ministers.
G
Gamera
Guest
We must confess directly to God as part of sacramental confession. That part is called the Act of Contrition, and it’s indispensible to sacramental confession. You can’t confess to a priest “rather than” confessing directly to God. Just the opposite: you can’t confess to a priest without confessing directly to God.
C
clmowry
Guest
Great Point!
I
Ignatius
Guest
Because Jesus told us to! Haven’t you been taught about this? Don’t you know about the Gospel of John?
T
Tantum_ergo
Guest
Bella56, may I ask why you identify yourself as ‘Catholic’ in your profile yet the 3 posts you have made are all thread starters like this one (in which you say you
), a post here forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=230775 which asks
, and a post here forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=230512 in which you ask "
What is the deal, indeed?
C
Crumpy
Guest
Post #22 says quite a bit, but there’s much more to say.
Yes, Leviticus has the instructions for what you might call “Jewish Confession.” So many people find the Book of Leviticus difficult to read. Might I suggest that you nevertheless do that. It’s not that long. Read all the commands of God.
Read Leviticus, if you are spiritually mature enough to do so. Yeah, you can forget the animal stuff but look at all the rest of the things that God commanded through Moses.
Read Ps 119, the longest psalm, which exults that we know and that we have God’s commands. Hurray, we can get forgiveness for our sins.
At age 58, I am just now reading the entire Bible from beginning to end. IF there is one message in the Old Testament it is, obey God’s commands, all of them. Of course, the New Testament revises a lot of the commands of the Old Testament, but it does not change the basic command to repent, to be humble and contrite, to confess our sins at the Mercy Seat (see Hebrews), etc.
As far as your confessing sins to a priest. Oh, boy. By whatever means you have, look up the history of Aaron and his sons, who were later ordained to be the priests of the tabernacle. They were guilty, let’s leave it at that. It was no different then than now. The priests are prone to sin, but they are ordained. The first sacrifices they offered in the tabernacle were for their own sins. Their job now as then is to see that the confession is done correctly, as well as to administer absolution in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Yes, Leviticus has the instructions for what you might call “Jewish Confession.” So many people find the Book of Leviticus difficult to read. Might I suggest that you nevertheless do that. It’s not that long. Read all the commands of God.
- you must confess your sins to the priest to receive forgiveness (see especially Lev 5:5).
-strictly speaking, you are coming “to” the mercy seat of God.
-Then, as now, you deal with the ordained priest who is a mediator.
-then – you could not come for forgiveness without bringing with you to sacrifice – today – that is the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross
Read Leviticus, if you are spiritually mature enough to do so. Yeah, you can forget the animal stuff but look at all the rest of the things that God commanded through Moses.
Read Ps 119, the longest psalm, which exults that we know and that we have God’s commands. Hurray, we can get forgiveness for our sins.
At age 58, I am just now reading the entire Bible from beginning to end. IF there is one message in the Old Testament it is, obey God’s commands, all of them. Of course, the New Testament revises a lot of the commands of the Old Testament, but it does not change the basic command to repent, to be humble and contrite, to confess our sins at the Mercy Seat (see Hebrews), etc.
As far as your confessing sins to a priest. Oh, boy. By whatever means you have, look up the history of Aaron and his sons, who were later ordained to be the priests of the tabernacle. They were guilty, let’s leave it at that. It was no different then than now. The priests are prone to sin, but they are ordained. The first sacrifices they offered in the tabernacle were for their own sins. Their job now as then is to see that the confession is done correctly, as well as to administer absolution in the Name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
B
bella_56
Guest
Thank you all for your positive replies. And yes I am a Catholic as I replied to my other Baptism post, but as I mentioned, I am seeking wise advice from wise folks. Thank you all for understanding and your encouraging words. We’re all a work in progess but please dont depress me by questioning by faith. God is love and is slow to anger- don’t put me down by backfiring- some people- but for the rest, I honestly thank you for taking the time to give me advice- I deeply deeply thank you.
C
Church_Militant
Guest
Since I have already dealt with this question for myself, I will just give you the links to what I have found. I hope it helps. You can always PM me with any questions. 
Catholic Confession
"I Find No Sacraments In the Bible" he said.
Catholic Confession
"I Find No Sacraments In the Bible" he said.
M
mercygate
Guest
As a convert, I say that Confession is one of the best things about being Catholic!
N
Newbie2
Guest
In all fairness, it doesn’t mention confessing to a priest, does it?
Anyway, to the OP,
A lot of it has to do with the ease and comfort of the confession, if you will. It’s a lot easier, isn’t it, to speak to someone who isn’t there (in terms of being able to see God and have him audibly converse with us). Yes, of course he is there, but it’s kinda like talking to a wall (again in terms of our limited 5 senses, no offense intended to the Almighty).
You can confess, sure, and really mean it, but actually confessing in front of another human being makes all the difference in the world.
Let’s say you do something awful to offend your spouse…and instead of standing infront of him or her, you go outside, away from them where you don’t have to interact, and say you’re sorry.
Kinda like that…sorta. Does that make any sense?
J
john_ennis
Guest
There seem to be two meanings to the question “Why?”:
That one’s a slam-dunk: because God the Son, immediately after rising, tasked his Church with forgiving sins, or not. Our sins are forgiven through the Church. (As the Father sent me, so I send you.)
- Why would God want me to?
To that question, we can speculate, but the answers are not the reason that we confess to a priest; they are only (potentially) the reasons God wants it that way.
That one’s a slam-dunk: because God the Son, immediately after rising, tasked his Church with forgiving sins, or not. Our sins are forgiven through the Church. (As the Father sent me, so I send you.)
T
Tantum_ergo
Guest
Thanks for clarifying, bella–once you’ve been on the forums for a while you will start to see that more often than not we will have ‘drive-by’ posts where a poster will claim to be Catholic but ‘question’ various aspects of the Catholic faith, often doing half a dozen or more threads on various topics. Seldom do they ‘come back’ and respond. I certainly apologize if I was an Olympic contender in “jumping to conclusions” unfairly! Mea culpa!
I know you’ve had some excellent responses on this and the other threads and hope that this will help deepen your understanding. May God bless you.
I know you’ve had some excellent responses on this and the other threads and hope that this will help deepen your understanding.
May God bless you.
V
vern_humphrey
Guest
Look deep inside yourself and seek the motive for this question – and you will find the answer to it.
We confess to a priest because when we confess to ourselves, we are too easily convinced that our sins aren’t sins at all. Or to put it another way, we don’t really confess to God when we say we confess to God.
T
teadough
Guest
I converted this year. I asked my Mom if she had any questions regarding the Catholic faith because I know there are so many misconceptions. Here are her remarks:
“I just don’t see why you have to go to Confess to the Pope”
I would be blown away if I walked into the Confession booth and Pope Benedict XVI was sitting there.
“I just don’t see why you have to go to Confess to the Pope”
I would be blown away if I walked into the Confession booth and Pope Benedict XVI was sitting there.
J
jmeyer3131
Guest
Wow. You and me both.I converted this year. I asked my Mom if she had any questions regarding the Catholic faith because I know there are so many misconceptions. Here are her remarks:
“I just don’t see why you have to go to Confess to the Pope”
I would be blown away if I walked into the Confession booth and Pope Benedict XVI was sitting there.
I’d go to confession just for the opportunity to meet him!
- Status