Is confession necessary?

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Debora123

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If a person is truly sorry for something she has done and prays to God to forgive her but then dies before going to confession, is that sin forgiven just as much as it would have been if she had made it to confession?

If the answer is yes, then is confession truly necessary for forgiveness? Or is it something we do so that we can be strengthened, encouraged, and hopefully receive some good advise from the priest (apart from also being forgiven)?
 
Sacramental confesssion is absolutely necessary–people confessing get grace to help them fight temptation.

It is true that those who are sorry for their sins and intend to go to Confession when they die will have that intention taken into account at their particular judgement, but this is something that accompanies death.

For example, the baptism of desire does not mean that the person has had original sin wiped from their souls, but if the person were to die with the full intention of being baptized, the effects of baptism would happen at the point of death, not before.
 
St_Francis said:
Sacramental confesssion is absolutely necessary–people confessing get grace to help them fight temptation.

It is true that those who are sorry for their sins and intend to go to Confession when they die will have that intention taken into account at their particular judgement, but this is something that accompanies death.

For example, the baptism of desire does not mean that the person has had original sin wiped from their souls, but if the person were to die with the full intention of being baptized, the effects of baptism would happen at the point of death, not before.
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Alright, now let’s take the dying part out of it.

When we ask for forgiveness through prayer, does God forgive us then? Or are we not truly forgiven until we go to confession?
 
Debora123 said:
Alright, now let’s take the dying part out of it.

When we ask for forgiveness through prayer, does God forgive us then? Or are we not truly forgiven until we go to confession?
Click to expand...
Church teaching is that perfect contrition, the kind that obtains forgiveness of mortal sin, includes a resolution to go to confession. So if you have mortal sin on your soul and just say ‘God, I’m sorry’ and nothing more, that isn’t good enough, at least not for a Catholic. You have to combine that sorrow with the determination to confess yor sin.

Remember the Prodigal Son did not just feel sorrow for what he had done and tell God that he was sorry, he resolved to go home and in effect confess to his father as well as amending his life and making things right as much as he could - ie do everything that confession involves.
 
If one simply performs a confession “directly to God” and then stops and listens intently, what do they hear? Silence. There is no assurance that the sin is actually forgiven. Does that not assume that God has forgiven it? Does that not then put God to the test?

When Jesus forgave sins, what did the forgiven hear? “Your sins are forgiven.” We heard this in last Sunday’s homily regarding the paralytic lowered through the roof. We are intended to hear that our sins are forgiven. We are intended to know.

I say, suck it up and receive the Sacrament of reconciliation.
 
Praying to God for forgiveness is important. However, it can be difficult to hear God sometimes. Humans seem to have an intense need for satisfaction and reassurance, so when God does not seem to have an answer for us we can become doubtful or unsure. So I guess Reconciliation provides that reassurance, as well as offers us guidance in repentance and in avoiding a repetition of sin.

I pray to God for forgiveness, and a lot of the time I don’t hear Him answer. But faith acts as a reassurance, because I know God sees my heart 🙂 If I feel the need to confess to a priest, I do so accordingly. Reconciliation is undeniably important and positive. But for me, sacramental confession is not as significant as simply taking the time to speak directly to God with a repentant and loving heart.
 
Can God give them the grace they need in the last moments? Yes it is possible.

But while we are to have confidence …hope…we are to avoid presumption too.

Jesus tells us the parables of the Good Shepherd and the lost coin and the Prod. Son…and he also tells us to repent…and the parable of the man who builds the tower thinking he has all his life to use his stored grain (his soul is demanded of him that night!)…as well as to “watch” for we do not know the last hour…or his coming.

CCC

Contrition

1451 Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again."50

1452 When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called “perfect” (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible.51

1453 The contrition called “imperfect” (or “attrition”) is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin’s ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be brought to completion by sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.52

(PS venial sins can be forgiven in many ways such as contrition…prayer etc…though confession is highly recommended)
 
Debora123 said:
If a person is truly sorry for something she has done and prays to God to forgive her but then dies before going to confession, is that sin forgiven just as much as it would have been if she had made it to confession?

If the answer is yes, then is confession truly necessary for forgiveness? Or is it something we do so that we can be strengthened, encouraged, and hopefully receive some good advise from the priest (apart from also being forgiven)?
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God forgives you when you ask Him to, when you sincerely regret what you have done and bring your guilt to Him.
I am totally sure of that.
However, you need to be reconciled with the Church, because when one part of the body sins the whole body is effected. You also need the grace and strength for battling the effects of sin and temptation. Jesus instituted the Sacrament so you get that grace when you receive absolution. Then again you can come to the Table… 🙂
 
The question of “is confession necessary” seems to forget that it’s a sacrament. We are a sacramental people. God’s power is there in the confessional. God’s healing is there. The Divine Physician is present and we are his patients.

It’s like a couple who love each other and decide to live together without the sacrament of matrimony. Can we appreciate the invisible God present when we come to the church and proclaim our vows? Is that different from just living together?

It’s like kids in school who are there every day. They listen to the teacher, they read their books. The test is what makes them focus at the task at hand and conquer it. People who go to confession regularly know about examination of conscience and to pay attention to our faults. If we don’t go to confession all year, the thought of our faults and sins often don’t even come to mind during our day, though we interact with people all the time and fall often in loving.

When we go to confession, we can remember to ask God to help with the people we have wounded by our faults. Many go for years without the benefit of confession and they can remember what someone said to them 20 years ago that hurt them. When asking God to help them forgive my faults, I receive graces to forgive.
 
God has bound salvation to the sacraments, but He Himself is not bound.

Confession is the ordinary way we receive forgiveness for the mortal sins we have committed. Confession is as necessary for salvation for the baptized who have sinned as Baptism is for the unbaptized. We should not presume to be forgiven outside of the means that God has revealed to us through the Church are available. But since God is infinitely merciful, He can forgive us in other ways.

The way I look at the Church’s teaching in this regard is as an invitation to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as often as possible so that I might have assurance of that forgiveness. In other words, I should not be presumptuous about my own salvation and allow myself to become lax in my spiritual life. But I also cannot presume to judge the state of another’s soul who perhaps died without being afforded the opportunity to avail themselves of the sacrament.
 
Debora123 said:
Alright, now let’s take the dying part out of it.

When we ask for forgiveness through prayer, does God forgive us then? Or are we not truly forgiven until we go to confession?
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What God does is up to Him. What we do is up to us. We have to go to Confession. If we commit a mortal sin, we should refrain from receiving the Eucharist until we have gone to Confession, even if we have said we’re sorry to God. That is the way God instituted for us to receive His forgiveness.
 
Debora123 said:
Alright, now let’s take the dying part out of it.

When we ask for forgiveness through prayer, does God forgive us then? Or are we not truly forgiven until we go to confession?
Click to expand...
I wish I had that kind of faith. I wish all people did, but unfortunately VERY few people have that type of faith where they literally can move mountains.

More often, like in the Gospels, it requires the faith of other people to move God to pity and forgive us our sins. Not only that but He requires us to be humble before we are forgiven. He also requires us to be human and not mere embodied angels.

If we were angelic being we could simply move our intellect and will to God, “I am sorry.”

We are human and so God requires us to physically get up and walk over to a person and humiliate ourselves before that other person. Ideally, this is to a person whom we believe to be in the person of Christ (assuming Jesus wasn’t a liar, a priest is (name removed by moderator)ersona Christi).

Now, someone will say I can tell my sins to anyone, and beg forgiveness from God and beg them to beg God to forgive me as well, make firm resolve there, and do penance to undue the harm that has been done. I will grant that… that is a step in the right direction.

Ultimately, I have experience on my side. And, when an elderly priest in a confessional, who has never met me, suddenly begins to list sins, in detail, as they are about to come out of your mouth, you get a heaviness in the chest and a pit in your stomach, and get convinced pretty quick! Yeah, that might be Fr. Whoever but Jesus Christ is certainly there doing exactly what He said He would do.
 
Debora123 said:
If a person is truly sorry for something she has done and prays to God to forgive her but then dies before going to confession, is that sin forgiven just as much as it would have been if she had made it to confession?

If the answer is yes, then is confession truly necessary for forgiveness? Or is it something we do so that we can be strengthened, encouraged, and hopefully receive some good advise from the priest (apart from also being forgiven)?
Click to expand...
If you repent from the heart of your sin then you are forgiven. You don’t need a middleman (priest) to repent and then be forgiven. Your sins are absolved by God’s forgiveness and a priest’s presence is not necessary to obtain that forgiveness.

You also have power to forgive sins, you yourself, in accordance to God’s mercy. Pentecost was not just for priests and bishops. It was for all of God’s people. Don’t listen to someone who tells you differently, they don’t know the truth.
 
St_Francis said:
Sacramental confesssion is absolutely necessary–people confessing get grace to help them fight temptation.

It is true that those who are sorry for their sins and intend to go to Confession when they die will have that intention taken into account at their particular judgement, but this is something that accompanies death.

For example, the baptism of desire does not mean that the person has had original sin wiped from their souls, but if the person were to die with the full intention of being baptized, the effects of baptism would happen at the point of death, not before.
Click to expand...
You don’t know the truth. God gave man the power to repent through his own admission; and by man’s own admission he gains forgiveness. He need not go through a ritual but only needs to speak from his heart. I feel sorry for you since the truth has been hidden from you.
 
Debora123 said:
Alright, now let’s take the dying part out of it.

When we ask for forgiveness through prayer, does God forgive us then? Or are we not truly forgiven until we go to confession?
Click to expand...
God hears your prayers. Why would you question him on hearing your repentance? Think logic and reason. If I can speak my repentance from the heart to God then what is the use of Confession? My point is God hears you when you pray and he accepts your repentance when you say it. You’re absolved from your sin the moment you repent from your heart not the moment you go to Confession. God is a God of Truth not a God of ritual.
 
LilyM said:
Church teaching is that perfect contrition, the kind that obtains forgiveness of mortal sin, includes a resolution to go to confession. So if you have mortal sin on your soul and just say ‘God, I’m sorry’ and nothing more, that isn’t good enough, at least not for a Catholic. You have to combine that sorrow with the determination to confess yor sin.

Remember the Prodigal Son did not just feel sorrow for what he had done and tell God that he was sorry, he resolved to go home and in effect confess to his father as well as amending his life and making things right as much as he could - ie do everything that confession involves.
Click to expand...
When one repents one divulges a part of the innermost soul–that is alot more than just saying God, I’m sorry. When one truly repents they atone that portion of themselves that reflected sin. It is not because they go to confession that this occurs, it is because they repented in the first place. It is repentance that acts not confession. God gave man the power to repent through his own admission; and by man’s own admission he gains forgiveness. He need not go through a ritual but only needs to speak from his heart. God forgives a man through his heart not a confessional.

(Prodigal Son) According to the Church only the priesthood has power to forgive sins–that is a falsehood. Jesus gave power to mankind to forgive and retain sins; otherwise what would the shedding of his blood accomplish if only a select few had that power. The blood that was shed so that sins may be forgiven? Of course then again the unrighteous do not understand the truth.
 
Sacred_Heart said:
When one repents one divulges a part of the innermost soul–that is alot more than just saying God, I’m sorry. When one truly repents they atone that portion of themselves that reflected sin. It is not because they go to confession that this occurs, it is because they repented in the first place. It is repentance that acts not confession. God gave man the power to repent through his own admission; and by man’s own admission he gains forgiveness. He need not go through a ritual but only needs to speak from his heart. God forgives a man through his heart not a confessional.

(Prodigal Son) According to the Church only the priesthood has power to forgive sins–that is a falsehood. Jesus gave power to mankind to forgive and retain sins; otherwise what would the shedding of his blood accomplish if only a select few had that power. The blood that was shed so that sins may be forgiven? Of course then again the unrighteous do not understand the truth.
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I understand your but here’s a question: What if man refuses to forgive your sins?
 
divinefaith said:
I understand your but here’s a question: What if man refuses to forgive your sins?
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Here’s another: what does Pentecost have to do with the power to forgive - which was given to the twelve alone, not all disciples, and given on an entirely separate occasion from Pentecost?
 
As a general answer to OP, I would understand that Confession is needed for true forgiveness but we don’t know when God’s mercy flows within us once we approach him with repentance. I cant imagine saying a sorry prayer to God and having him say ’ I won’t show you mercy yet’.
My view isn’t based on any Church teaching but it’s my perception. I don’t think we can understand the accurate process of forgiveness.
 
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