Sacrement of Confession

[glynn_cragin]

I have been a Catholic for 72 years and have studied both Old and New Testament.
When Jesus died, the curtain int the temple was torn in two exposing the Holy of Holys. to me this meant that we all have access to the Father, to Jesus. So, why is it I need to confess my sins to a priest? Why can’t I pray directly to God for forgiveness?
Thanks

 

[LittleHannah]

Jesus said to his disciples ‘‘Whose Sins you forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you retain they are retained.’’ Jesus himself instituted the Sacrament of Penance by giving his Apostles the Authority to forgive sins in his name. God bless

 

[YoungTradCath]

Because Jesus gave the Apostles the power bind and loose sins, meaning, the power to forgive and retain sins. Our current-day bishops are the Successors of the Apostles, and when they ordain priests, they grant them the power to bind and loose, or forgive and retain, sins.

I can’t really explain it in any other way than this: Jesus made it so. We can’t change that, and that is what we must do.

There is nothing preventing you from asking God to forgive your sins, and frankly, there is nothing wrong with it. But how do you know if He has or has not? You don’t. You might get a feeling and it might be the most convincing feeling in the world, but you can’t guarantee yourself that your sins are forgiven. The only way for you to have guaranteed forgiveness is to confess. There is also something called perfect contrition that also forgives sins, but when you do this, you must make a firm resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.

We know that God doesn’t only act through the Sacraments, but we do know that the Sacraments are the only way that we can be 100% sure of receiving God’s grace. Everything else is left up to chance and individual circumstances. If you are doubting your need to go to confession, please go anyways. Confession is never going to “go away” or anything. The Church isn’t going to “update,” because She can’t.

I just wanted to cover this from several angles.

 

[LittleHannah]

Because Jesus gave the Apostles the power bind and loose sins, meaning, the power to forgive and retain sins. Our current-day bishops are the Successors of the Apostles, and when they ordain priests, they grant them the power to bind and loose, or forgive and retain, sins.

I can’t really explain it in any other way than this: Jesus made it so. We can’t change that, and that is what we must do.

Well said there.

 

[IesumPerMariam]

Jesus said to his disciples ‘‘Whose Sins you forgive, they are forgiven, and whose sins you retain they are retained.’’ Jesus himself instituted the Sacrament of Penance by giving his Apostles the Authority to forgive sins in his name. God bless

And James urged the faithful to remember this.

“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” (James 5:16).

 

[Dorothy]

And James urged the faithful to remember this.

“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” (James 5:16).

And, that is a good statement, but it doesn’t eclipse the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The priest is a stand-in for Jesus, (in Persona Christi) and the Church has authorized that forgiveness and grace is given through the Sacrament in that way. Of course we can pour out our heart to the Lord directly, and even to good friends if we so desire, but we need to remember that Our Lord Jesus Christ gave authority to the Church to teach us.

Those who believe in Scripture alone are not following the mandate of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We have a three-legged stool…Scripture, Magisterium (God-given authority), and Tradition with a capital “T”.

Scripture alone is a one-legged stool. That doesn’t stand up like the three-legged stool.

 

[Pitcharan]

I have been a Catholic for 72 years and have studied both Old and New Testament.
When Jesus died, the curtain int the temple was torn in two exposing the Holy of Holys. to me this meant that we all have access to the Father, to Jesus. So, why is it I need to confess my sins to a priest? Why can’t I pray directly to God for forgiveness?
Thanks

Try both options and you will clearly know for yourself the big difference. In fact when you hear the priest pronounce absolution it will be like actually hearing God.

 

[105lynne]

And, that is a good statement, but it doesn’t eclipse the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The priest is a stand-in for Jesus, (in Persona Christi) and the Church has authorized that forgiveness and grace is given through the Sacrament in that way. Of course we can pour out our heart to the Lord directly, and even to good friends if we so desire, but we need to remember that Our Lord Jesus Christ gave authority to the Church to teach us.

Those who believe in Scripture alone are not following the mandate of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We have a three-legged stool…Scripture, Magisterium (God-given authority), and Tradition with a capital “T”.

Scripture alone is a one-legged stool. That doesn’t stand up like the three-legged stool.

Great analogy! I’ve never heard that, but will use it in the future! Interesting how those three things are in place to guide our Church, and three in the Trinity. I guess God likes things in 3s.

 

[Bendzi]

As Catholics we are called to confess our sins on 3 occasions.

Every day we should examine our conscious and ask God forgiveness for the actions we have committed whether venial or moral.

At every Mass we pray with the entire congregation together for our sins in the Confiditeor. So not only are you praying for those sins but so is “the Blessed Mary ever virgin, all the angles and saints, and you my bothers and sisters”

And finally at confession, right to the priest who acts in persona Christi.

The forgiveness of sins is the central point of Catholicism

 

[mcshade725]

If one had an operation and cannot speak, how would it be best to confess one sins?

 

[englishredrose]

I have been a Catholic for 72 years and have studied both Old and New Testament.
When Jesus died, the curtain int the temple was torn in two exposing the Holy of Holys. to me this meant that we all have access to the Father, to Jesus. So, why is it I need to confess my sins to a priest? Why can’t I pray directly to God for forgiveness?
Thanks

In the Anglican Church - Church of England. You can and we all do. But some of also access the Sacrament of Confession because it strengthens our faith and helps us to turn our weaknesses into strengths. Sometimes we need that 3rd party if you like, a human figure to share our secrets with and relieve us of the anxiety of sin or to tell us it not actually a sin…

I know many Roman Catholics say that is how sins are absolved.

 

[Dorothy]

If one had an operation and cannot speak, how would it be best to confess one sins?

I suppose he could write it down, hand it to the priest, and then have the writing destroyed.

God is just and merciful ,and understanding of our circumstances. Suppose one could not speak, or move and was lying down in bed and was terminally ill. I would guess that the priest would ask him if he was sorry for all his sins, mortal and venial, and then give absolution.

Same when they are unconscious. the priest can speculate that the person said his sorry to the Lord when conscious, and can then confer the Sacrament of the Anointing.

If this needs clarification or if I have said anything not quite right I would appreciate a response from someone who totally knows.

 

[Lancer]

First, when we sin…we sin against God and his Church…the Head and the Body of Christ are sinned against…Christ is One Person…Head and Body.

1440 Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically** by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation**.38

Second, Our Lord Jesus wants it that way…its His Church…its His authority…in all the Liturgies of the Church (Mass, Sacraments, etc.)…the Pope, bishops or priests or deacons are acting*** in persona Christi…Capitis…in the person of Christ…The Head*** …you are, in Christ’s own mysterious way, being ministered to/being forgiven directly by Christ himself.

1548 In the ecclesial service of the ordained minister, it is Christ himself who is present to his Church as Head of his Body, Shepherd of his flock, high priest of the redemptive sacrifice, Teacher of Truth. This is what the Church means by saying that the priest, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, acts in persona Christi Capitis:23

It is the same priest, Christ Jesus, whose sacred person his minister truly represents. Now the minister, by reason of the sacerdotal consecration which he has received, is truly made like to the high priest and possesses the authority to act in the power and place of the person of Christ himself (virtute ac persona ipsius Christi).24
​

Christ is the source of all priesthood: the priest of the old law was a figure of Christ, and the priest of the new law acts in the person of Christ.25

1484 "Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful** to reconcile themselves with**** God and the Church**, unless physical or moral impossibility excuses from this kind of confession."95 There are profound reasons for this. Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He personally addresses every sinner: "My son, your sins are forgiven."96 He is the physician tending each one of the sick who need him to cure them.97 He raises them up and reintegrates them into fraternal communion. Personal confession is thus the form most expressive of reconciliation with God and with the Church

553 Jesus entrusted a specific authority to Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."287 The “power of the keys” designates authority to govern the house of God, which is the Church.** Jesus, the Good Shepherd, confirmed this mandate after his Resurrection: "Feed my sheep."288 The power to “bind and loose” connotes the authority to absolve sins, to pronounce doctrinal judgements, and to make disciplinary decisions in the Church.** Jesus entrusted this authority to the Church through the ministry of the apostles289 and in particular through the ministry of Peter, the only one to whom he specifically entrusted the keys of the kingdom.

Third, when you receive Holy Communion…are you absolutely certain that you are truly receiving the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of your Risen and Glorified Lord Jesus Christ?..what makes you so certain?..so sure? Might it be because Christ says so through/in Peter and His Church…the same Peter and Church that He says to confess your sins to the priest in the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation? In other words, why should I believe the Church in the great mystery of the priest’s power of transubstantiation…bread and wine changed in substance into the Body and Blood of Christ…and not believe in the priest’s power and authority in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

Lastly, Jesus said this to the apostles he sent out:

Luke 10:16****New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
16 “He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

For your consideration.
Pax Christi
p.s. all numbered** quotes** from The Catechism of Catholic Church

 

[TheRealJuliane]

If you do not believe in confession of sins, you are not a Catholic. Your question tells me that you probably aren’t.

 

[3shamrocks]

I have been reading alot about our Catholic Faith of late and was so happy to come across this thread. I went to Catholic Schools all my life and remember quite vividly when I was in High School being told that going to Confession was no longer necessary because of the prayer we said during mass. I must admit I fell away from the Church, but have come back with a much greater appreciation and drive to learn. As I was reading I found this statement below, not all together obviously, in regards to Vatican II and the changes in the mass. I think this is were people can believe they no longer have to go to confession, as I did. I wonder how many of us were told that because of the prayer in the mass, we no longer had to enter the Confessional?

Pope Paul VI promulgated the revised rite of Mass with his Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum of 3 April 1969, setting the first Sunday of Advent at the end of that year as the date on which it would enter into force.

the penitential rite or act of reconciliation with God and the community at the beginning of the Mass.“the Kiss of Peace” as a sign of reconciliation between communicants as an intrinsic part of these communicants’ preparation for Communion has been restored to all the faithful and no longer limited to clerics at High Mass.

 

[Dorothy]

I have been reading alot about our Catholic Faith of late and was so happy to come across this thread. I went to Catholic Schools all my life and remember quite vividly when I was in High School being told that going to Confession was no longer necessary because of the prayer we said during mass. I must admit I fell away from the Church, but have come back with a much greater appreciation and drive to learn. As I was reading I found this statement below, not all together obviously, in regards to Vatican II and the changes in the mass. I think this is were people can believe they no longer have to go to confession, as I did. I wonder how many of us were told that because of the prayer in the mass, we no longer had to enter the Confessional?

Pope Paul VI promulgated the revised rite of Mass with his Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum of 3 April 1969, setting the first Sunday of Advent at the end of that year as the date on which it would enter into force.

the penitential rite or act of reconciliation with God and the community at the beginning of the Mass.“the Kiss of Peace” as a sign of reconciliation between communicants as an intrinsic part of these communicants’ preparation for Communion has been restored to all the faithful and no longer limited to clerics at High Mass.

Thankfully, I was never told that because of the prayer in the Mass we no longer had to use the confessional.
Mortal sin always necessitates confession to a priest, and it is good also to go for venial sins as this Sacrament brings us the graces we need to grow stronger spiritually, if we are disposed to receive those graces in the right disposition.

Sometimes there is the possibility of misunderstanding something that was said such as something like this:

“The prayer during the Mass can help forgive venial sins”…and then that can turn into “The prayer during the Mass means we don’t have to go to confession.”

 

[IesumPerMariam]

And, that is a good statement, but it doesn’t eclipse the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The priest is a stand-in for Jesus, (in Persona Christi) and the Church has authorized that forgiveness and grace is given through the Sacrament in that way. Of course we can pour out our heart to the Lord directly, and even to good friends if we so desire, but we need to remember that Our Lord Jesus Christ gave authority to the Church to teach us.

Those who believe in Scripture alone are not following the mandate of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We have a three-legged stool…Scripture, Magisterium (God-given authority), and Tradition with a capital “T”.

Scripture alone is a one-legged stool. That doesn’t stand up like the three-legged stool.

I am well aware that Sola Scriptura is a fallacious viewpoint that only leads to heresy. St. James’s statement which I quoted, read in context, refers to the Sacraments of Anointing of the Sick and of Confession.

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 avails much. 17 Elias was a man passible like us: and with prayer he prayed that it might not rain upon the earth. And it rained not for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again. And the heaven gave rain: and the earth brought forth her fruit.

And I quoted from this saying that the Apostle reminded the faithful about the need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, not that he implied sins could be equally confessed to anyone. My apologies for any confusion.

 

[Dorothy]

I am well aware that Sola Scriptura is a fallacious viewpoint that only leads to heresy. St. James’s statement which I quoted, read in context, refers to the Sacraments of Anointing of the Sick and of Confession.

And I quoted from this saying that the Apostle reminded the faithful about the need for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, not that he implied sins could be equally confessed to anyone. My apologies for any confusion.

Thank you for clarifying!

Peace,

Dorothy

 

[AnneTeresa]

If you do not believe in confession of sins, you are not a Catholic. Your question tells me that you probably aren’t.

What the heck?!! Totally uncalled for.

 

[japhy]

If you do not believe in confession of sins, you are not a Catholic. Your question tells me that you probably aren’t.

TRJ, the original poster did not say he doesn’t believe in the confession of sins. He asked: “Why is it I need to confess my sins to a priest? Why can’t I pray directly to God for forgiveness?”

These are questions from a Catholic seeking catechesis on the sacrament of Reconciliation. What reason do you have for assuming that he does not believe in confession and is not a Catholic?