I rather think they do if they find their way ‘into’ an Anglican Church because the priest wouldn’t turn them away and I know that to Roman Catholics our confession is different but there is a priest and have full confidentiality there and they would be guided through the confession and have full access to it and be fully forgiven.
Hi Carina,
Yes, I am currently investigating becoming Catholic and am attending RCIA. I plan to be baptized this Easter. Also, I’m lookin into religious life.
Well the above is basically what I was taught growing up in a non-denominational church. If you are truly repentant before God, then he has forgiven you. Also, every Sunday at the end of church we have what’s called the Benediction where the pastor leads everyone into a prayer confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior and repenting for our sins and asking God for forgiveness.
I’ve spoken with a priest about and with some Catholic friends. I’m still trying to understand it. I know its very beneficial because it can help keep you in check and accountable and if the confessor is also that celebrates the Mass at your church, then you can also meet with him privately if you need to be counseled more and need help on how to stop a particularly difficult sin. This semester is when we will be getting deeper into different parts of the Catholic faith so I think maybe we will get to the Sacrament of Reconciliation soon. I still don’t completely understand it, but I will be able to ask questions about it at RCIA. For example, since I was already baptized when I was 18 in the church I grew up in, I know I don’t need to get ‘re-baptized’ because that is not even possible. The church recognizes baptism from other Christian churches. But does that mean at my first confession I have to repent for every sin I’ve ever committed? Or only the sins I haven’t repented for on my own? Does the Church recognize repentence of sins that don’t involve formally confessing to a priest?
You are welcome. I don’t really get nervous about confession til right at the moment I confess the sins themselves. As an Anglican, it is something I feel should be much more emphasised in the Church of England.
While all that you say concerning the sacrament of Reconciliation is true, you are missing the most important part; the effect of the sacrament itself. Reconciliation’s primary purpose is the forgiveness of sins, not a counseling session. I think you need to explore exactly what is meant by a sacrament.
You are assuming that your personal confession to God, in lieu of the sacrament of Reconciliation, is adequate. It can be adequate, if you have perfect contrition, but only then (and perfect contrition is a very rare thing). A priest has no idea of the degree of contrition one might have had, so yes, you would need to, to the best of your ability, confess all serious sins you have committed. But this is a time for rejoicing in the mercy of God administered by his Church. All of your sins will be wiped away and he will remember them no more. It is precicely the reason that Christ gave the authority to forgive sins to the Church. Have you ever wondered why he did this?
That’s not what I meant. I meant if they are having a difficult time with a particular sin that they can meet with the priest outside of confession to discuss how to stop if they keep confessing it and haven’t been successful in stopping. I didn’t mean get counseling during confession. Just to do what people mean when they always say, “You should consult a priest about that.”
Fair enough. Just so you know I receive counseling each and every time I go to confession. I happen to have a wonderful priest who knows me very well. He tends to listen to my confession and then immediately p(name removed by moderator)oints the source of my sin (i.e. “This is all coming from pride…” ). He then gives me a penance based upon the nature of my sin, which is just incredible. I may have to recite the chaplet of Divine Mercy while contemplating the Stations of the Cross, or pray a rosary while gazing at a painting of the Blessed Virgin. Sometimes he will pick out a certain Psalm for me to contemplate. I wish all priests would pay so much attention to the penance they assign.
While Lutherans share with Catholics the belief in confession/Holy Absolution, I would never say that going to God in prayer to ask forgiveness is disasterous. Otherwise, the Lord’s Prayer/Our Father is leading folks astray.
Agreed.
I have never waited for Reconciliation to ask for God’s forgiveness after commiting a sin, in fact I think that would be an impossiblity for me. I know he reads my heart and knows the depth of my sorrow for my sins. This motivates me to seek out the Sacrament, however, as this is the means Christ intended for reconciliation with him.
At least that caught your attention Jon.
As I said, I was referring to some earlier posts where going directly to God could be disastrous. The example given was in Genesis where Adam and Eve tended to justify their sins. You can refer to those posts for the actual context. The argument here I think is similar - it gives a person some monouvering to justify one’s wrongdoing. As the example in Genesis shows, if the only method is to go to God directly then that can happen to us too. However during confession the sin is to be confessed and the priest being the second person to know the sin would agree/disagree whether it is sin or not, and to give absolution. What do you think?Well done My Friend!
I read a lot of your post, Reuben.
I see what you’re saying. The pastor/confessor can guide us in our confession, our faith, our repentence, and our sanctification, etc.
Jon
