How do I repent?

[JohnMcloughlin]

How do I repent from sin?(I’m a Christian not a Catholic) Jesus says to trust in him and repent and you shall receive salvation but what is repentance? Catholicism says if you go to a confessional and tell the priest your sins and try not to do them in future(as long as you’re contrite) you will be forgiven, but what did Jesus say in the Bible? How did he define repentance? I say this because I used to be a Catholic but I recently converted to christianity and now I’m wondering if going to a confessional really will grant me forgiveness for my sins.

 

[elohimrules]

Repent is to have a change of mind and behavior and to turn in the other direction. Basically once you are convicted of sin you have a change of heart and turn in the other direction, renounce Satan and move the other way! Run! But the fullness of forgiveness comes through the Catholic church as Peter and the church were given the power to forgive sins or to retain them. Confession heals our soul. So not only to we tell God and then change the behavior we go to confession to let Jesus heal our hurts forgive our sins. Sorry I am no theologian but I hope that helps.

 

[RKS89]

Catholics are Christians, so you can be assured our way of doing things is based in both Scripture and the practices the Apostles passed on to the Early Church. Confession has always been a part of the Church. It’s changed a bit (it used to be publically auricular), but the act of confessing sins to a priest has always been there.

That being said, as Catholics we understand we are on a journey to Heaven which begins at Baptism. Christ asks us to continually deepens our conversion which requires we have a means to confess our mortal sins that we may continue on in friendship with Him and His Church. Repentance is a part of that process- as our hearts become more pliable by God’s grace we begin to understand the gravity of all sin, and we desire to no longer break our friendship with Christ out of love for Him. Yet, we know we are not yet perfect and will continue to fail, so we require Confession, penance and mortification to help us cultivate virtue, fight sin and grow in Faith, Hope and Love.

To repent you’ll need to know what you’ve done is a sin, understand it’s hurt your relationship with God and resolve to do your best (with God’s grace) to avoid it in the future. You can walk into the confessional and not feel an overwhelming sorrow or emotional reaction to your sins and still be absolved- no need to beat yourself up or break yourself down to artificially “feel bad” for your sins. However, those moments do come as you grow nearer to God, an endeavor made immensely easier with the Church’s gift of confession and guidelines for penance and mortification.

So it isn’t necessarily a matter of “I did X, now I just do Y to be ok again”, which is I think what you’re getting at with asking about repentance. Sorry for the long-whinded response.

 

[Edward_H]

Repenting is first a firm decision of the will. A decision to not do xyz again under the same circumstances. It’s not a feeling.

Catholicism is actually really smart about it.

It recognizes the fact that a person has different “faculties”…the intellect…the will…the body…the appetites…emotions.
It recognizes that these faculties can become disordered and out of synch…not just with each other, but with God and His will.

So think about what happens when a Catholic decides to “go to Confession”. Rather than just mumbling “I’m sorry” in their brain/heart…a Catholic has to start “reconciling” on several different levels.

The intellect compares the person’s behavior against criteria in the conscience…and does a set of tests. Determining a “failure” the intellect tells the will “we need to go to confession”.

The will then tells the body…“let’s go”…the body gets the keys and hops in the car and goes to confession, consulting with the intellect about “is confession underway at Church xyz”?

The body, the intellect, and the will all go to confession (reconciliation)
They wait for a time in the box…the body gets ordered by the will to enter the box…and the will orders the intellect to form words and sentences around the self-accusation the person is about to make to the priest.

All this is interior reconciliation; a reordering according to the truth that is in the intellect…behavior xyz was bad.

The intellect then gives the words to the body…and the body spits them out.

a penance is given…say, 3 hour fathers…and all three have to coordinate to say these prayers.

so the person’s interior faculties are “reconciled”…all working on the same page again…
and the person is also reconciled with God and His Church.

Done.

 

[guanophore]

I say this because I used to be a Catholic but I recently converted to christianity and now I’m wondering if going to a confessional really will grant me forgiveness for my sins.

Catholics are the original Christians, John. If you were baptized Catholic, then you are Catholic. You may be a lapsed Catholic, but of course you can go to confession, and of course God will grant you forgiveness for your sins. Say an act of confession:

Act of Contrition - Prayers - Catholic Online

Then do an examination of conscience

http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-wor...entals/penance/examinations-of-conscience.cfm

Then call the priest in a parish near you and explain that you have been away from the church and need help in making a good confession. He will guide you.

 

[JohnMcloughlin]

I believe the Bible is the word of God but doesn’t Catholicism twist the Bible slightly? Thats why I’m having doubts about catholicism. The Bible says you must place complete trust in Jesus to receive salvation but Catholicism rejects this and says you must Confess your sins, believe in Jesus, be baptised, receive the eucharist along with other sacraments, obey the decrees of the Roman Catholic church, not die with any mortal sins, perform meritorious works etc etc etc. They reject the Bible in a way even though it is supposed to be the infallible word of God. They also created things such as mortal sins, praying to mary etc which are not mentioned in the Bible. And wouldn’t praying to mary be idolatry?

 

[RKS89]

The Church, and Christianity, existed well before (centuries, in fact) we had what today we recognize as the New Testament. So prior to that there was no Scripture except for the Old Testament.

St. Paul writes about sins that are unto death (mortal), and you can see in the early writings of the Church that there has always been an understanding that some sins can be mortal, hence the need for Confession.

You’re correct in that Scripture does instruct us to trust in Christ and believe in Him, yet Christ chose to leave us a Church and not merely a book. In fact the Church comes first and then was responsible for declaring which books would be included in the New Testament Canon. So the Bible you are referencing is actually a product of the Church you are currently questioning.

And we do not “pray to” Mary, but as our spiritual mother we give her due reverence and ask her to help the faithful along in our spiritual journey home. Of course you can find answers to all of your objections to the Church on this website, and I’d urge you to look deeply into these areas.

 

[guanophore]

I believe the Bible is the word of God but doesn’t Catholicism twist the Bible slightly?

No. the New Testament was written by, for, and about Catholics. Everything in it is Catholic.

Thats why I’m having doubts about catholicism. The Bible says you must place complete trust in Jesus to receive salvation but Catholicism rejects this and says you must Confess your sins, believe in Jesus, be baptised, receive the eucharist along with other sacraments, obey the decrees of the Roman Catholic church, not die with any mortal sins, perform meritorious works etc etc etc.

I understand I also was drawn out of the Church founded by Christ because I was not well formed in my faith. Putting complete Trust in Jesus means that we will follow those He has placed over us to care for our souls. Saving faith is faith that obeys, faith that confesses sins, faith that produces good works. If your faith is not one that is obedient and fruitful then it is not a saving faith.

They reject the Bible in a way even though it is supposed to be the infallible word of God.

I am afraid you lost me here. It sounds like someone has been feeding you a pack of lies.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— 9 not because of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10

Here is one of those Catholic verses. How do you know you are doing the good works that God has prepared that you should walk in them? Jesus founded the Church to guide you in that.

They also created things such as mortal sins, praying to mary etc which are not mentioned in the Bible. And wouldn’t praying to mary be idolatry?

You are bringing up a lot of slander that has been fed to you about the CC, probably too much to get into all in this thread. Suffice to say that mortal sins is in that bible, written by Catholics. Three are a lot of aspects to the faith that are not contained in the Bible, and there was never any attempt made to make the New Testament a full compendium of the faith. It sounds like you have been contaminated by Sola Scriptura people.

No, praying to Mary is no more idolatry that Jesus conversing with Moses and Elijah during the transfiguration.

What would it take to get you away from these people, who are misleading your into error?

 

[Kei]

I believe the Bible is the word of God but doesn’t Catholicism twist the Bible slightly?

No.

The Bible says you must place complete trust in Jesus to receive salvation but Catholicism rejects this

This is not true

and says you must Confess your sins

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16
"Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20: 21

believe in Jesus

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born from God. Everyone who loves the Father also loves his children. 2 We know that we love God’s children when we love God by obeying his commandments. 3 To love God means that we obey his commandments. Obeying his commandments isn’t difficult 4 because everyone who has been born from God has won the victory over the world. Our faith is what wins the victory over the world. 5 Who wins the victory over the world? Isn’t it the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5

be baptised

“having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Colossians 2:12 (THERE’S TONS MORE VERSES ON BAPTISM!!)

to be continued

 

[Kei]

receive the eucharist along with other sacraments

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” John 6:56
“Do this in memory of Me”

obey the decrees of the Roman Catholic church

“If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” Matthew 18:17, speaking about true authority
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” Matthew 23, speaking about true authority

not die with any mortal sins

"If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
1 John 5:16

perform meritorious works

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
James 2:14

To be continued

 

[Kei]

They also created things such as mortal sins, praying to mary etc which are not mentioned in the Bible. And wouldn’t praying to mary be idolatry?

If you were Catholic I am guessing you were never taught about your Faith. No, praying to Mary is not idolatry. We are to ask people to pray for us, as told in the Bible. There is even an angel that delivers the prayers mentioned…in the Bible.

Who you’re talking to is twisting Scripture and quite likely our beliefs. The Bible is a very Catholic book. You repent by turning from your sins, out of love of God.

You specifically have fallen to the idea that the Bible alone is sufficient, but this isn’t in the Bible. Who has revealed this idea to you? A prophet? Nay, but like the Jews we have Sacred Tradition and proper authority and apostolic succession.

 

[JohnMcloughlin]

Thank you all for the responses. I now realise I have been led astray by many different sources.