SOS - Help Confession Confusion!

[JillianRose]

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The above passage bugs me. I am a devote catholic and studing from my Catholic Family Life Edition. I am still tring to understand why we confess to Preists? Does this passage mean I don’t have to go to confession. What is the Catholic interpretation of this verse?

HELP Please !!

 

[Jay53]

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The above passage bugs me. I am a devote catholic and studing from my Catholic Family Life Edition. I am still tring to understand why we confess to Preists? Does this passage mean I don’t have to go to confession. What is the Catholic interpretation of this verse?

HELP Please !!

I’m sure someone more knowledgeable will chime in here, but I will give you my opinion on this (for what it’s worth).

No, this passage does not mean you don’t have to go to confession. And technically we don’t confess TO priests - we confess to GOD, through His priests. The priest is acting in persona Christi, in the place of Christ. Confession can be/often is a very humbling experience in that we are admitting our own sinfulness out loud - which, IMO, is often a stumbling point for those who don’t want to partake of this sacrament. (Not speaking of you, just in general. ) But the forgiveness and grace we receive is worth infinitely more than any discomfort we may feel.

There is also a link to the Apologist’s section that might help you.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=362128&highlight=confession+to+priests

 

[Planty_Pall]

The passage affirms the truth that without Christ we would be without hope of redemption. As God and man, He was distinctively qualified to accomplish the task. It doesn’t contradict the passages that speak to the fact of priests.

Here is what the Haydock Bible…which is available on line comments:

The sense then of this place is, that as there is but one God, who created all, so there is but one mediator, who redeemed all. But yet the name of mediator is not so appropriated to Christ, but that in an inferior and different sense the Angels and saints in heaven, and even men on earth, who pray to God for the salvation of others, may be called mediators, intercessors, or advocates; and we may apply ourselves to them to pray, intercede, and mediate for us, without any injury to Christ, since we acknowledge that all their intercession and mediation is always grounded on the merits of Christ, our Redeemer. The same word for mediator, in the Greek as well as in the Latin, is given to Moses, God’s servant. (Galatians iii. 19.)

haydock1859.tripod.com/id228.html

Other Catholics have made shipwreck by misunderstanding one verse without seeking counsel. Good for you for asking. One has to take into consideration the entire record of God’s revelation, and by so doing the Catholic will never be disappointed, but will rather be delighted to discover that the faith that has been handed to him is the faith of the centuries.

Jesus commissioned His Apostles and instituted the Sacrament of Penance which has been continued through the priests and bishops the Apostles ordained for the task. It took place after the Resurrection. It is recorded in St. John’s Gospel:

Now when it was late that same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them: Peace be to you. And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

—John 20:19-23

What do you think this is saying if it is not affirming that for His own good reasons, Jesus has authorized his minsters to hear our sins and that if they pronounce forgiven, it is ratified in heaven! What wonderful news. Notice our Lord’s theme. Twice he says, “Peace be to you.” How He wants us to have peace of mind with a clear and unperturbed conscence. Knowing our infirmities, He has given us this Sacrament so that we may as it were, hear the voice of Christ forgiving our sins through the priest, and know that heaven rejoices with us when we hear the words of absolution from Christ’s priest. Isn’t that lovely?

I hope that helps. Its Lent…we need to make our confessions don’t we?

God bless you Jillian Rose.

Planty Pall

 

[oneGODoneCHURCH]

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The above passage bugs me. I am a devote catholic and studing from my Catholic Family Life Edition. I am still tring to understand why we confess to Preists? Does this passage mean I don’t have to go to confession. What is the Catholic interpretation of this verse?

HELP Please !!

NO it does not mean you don’t have to go to confession. Christ told the apostles to go and forgive sins. That what they bond on earth is bond in heaven and what they lose on earth is lose in heaven. He gave them the authority to do so I his place. This is pased on to to day in Holy Orders. the Preist recives from through the Holy Spirit the same authority to act as Christ gave the Apostles.

 

[valentino]

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The above passage bugs me. I am a devote catholic and studing from my Catholic Family Life Edition. I am still tring to understand why we confess to Preists? Does this passage mean I don’t have to go to confession. What is the Catholic interpretation of this verse?

HELP Please !!

We confess to priests because Christ said "whatever sins you absolve they are absolved,which ever sins you retain they are retained"He was speaking to Peter and the Apostles.Christ make Peter the visible head of the Church.He wanted his Church on earth to be run through the Spirit of the Holy Ghhost.He gave Peter the keys to the kingdom.Catholics musst get to Heaven through His Church.

 

[JillianRose]

Dear Fellow family in Christ:

Thank you so much. I appreciate the time you took out of your life to answer my question. Have a wonderful Easter!!!

In Christian Love,
Jill

 

[laszlo]

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The above passage bugs me. I am a devote catholic and studing from my Catholic Family Life Edition. I am still tring to understand why we confess to Preists? Does this passage mean I don’t have to go to confession. What is the Catholic interpretation of this verse?

HELP Please !!

The priest acts in the name of Jesus Christ either when he celebrates the Mass, and when he listens to confessions.

We are bodily beings, and in need for bodily signs. The priest is not the mediator only an agent acting in the name and power of the only mediator: Jesus Christ.

 

[JillianRose]

I know that we are Forgivin thru grace, but what I think this passage means is that I can go straight to God and ask forgiveness. That the tradition of confessions to Priest ended with the final sacrifice of the Lamb of God.(Jesus). Is this wrong? I can’t ask for forgiveness on my own?

Thank you again for your patients with my questions. I do not want to miss out on Gods true message intended for us.

Sincerely,
Jill

 

[Usagi]

I know that we are Forgivin thru grace, but what I think this passage means is that I can go straight to God and ask forgiveness. That the tradition of confessions to Priest ended with the final sacrifice of the Lamb of God.(Jesus). Is this wrong? I can’t ask for forgiveness on my own?

Thank you again for your patients with my questions. I do not want to miss out on Gods true message intended for us.

Sincerely,
Jill

Of course you may (and we all should) confess our sins immediately and sincerely to God.

But notice the citation of John 20:21 that someone posted above. Jesus Himself delegated the power to forgive sins to His apostles. That was the beginning of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Jesus is the one mediator, yes. But He is the one who chose that the ordinary means of absolution should be via His human agents.

Usagi

 

[pablope]

I know that we are Forgivin thru grace, but what I think this passage means is that I can go straight to God and ask forgiveness. That the tradition of confessions to Priest ended with the final sacrifice of the Lamb of God.(Jesus). Is this wrong? I can’t ask for forgiveness on my own?

Thank you again for your patients with my questions. I do not want to miss out on Gods true message intended for us.

Sincerely,
Jill

Julie…I will recommend a book…excellent one…“Lord Have Mercy” by Scott Hahn. It will have everything you want to know about confession, from the OT to today and the reason for it.

In a nutshell, God wants a true confession and repentance from us sinners, hence He did not want confession to be easy.

One of the hardest for us human sinners to do is to go to confession. To have a true contrition, we must first acknowledge we have sinned, recognize the sin, accuse ourselves of the sin we have committed, and account for that in the confessional.

Once on the confessional, we must account for the sin orally, in essence, we are accusing ourselves to the priest, who is acting “in persona Christi” here on earth.
Hope this helps.

 

[ephesians2]

The passage affirms the truth that without Christ we would be without hope of redemption. As God and man, He was distinctively qualified to accomplish the task. It doesn’t contradict the passages that speak to the fact of priests.

Here is what the Haydock Bible…which is available on line comments:

haydock1859.tripod.com/id228.html

****PlantyPall, would it be safe to assume that the word “mediator” was used for Moses because he was set apart to deliver the Law to God’s people? His work of mediation was not one of ultimate reconciliation. Whereas Christ’s was. Consequently, the Book of Hebrews refers to Christ and His task as Mediator and Chief HighPriest.
There were in addition to Moses, others in the OT that filled the role to a lesser degree, as mediators; other priests and prophets. I am having difficulty in locating any scripture that refers to these mediators as someone I should pray through, though.

 

[Link0126]

The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord. He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

it says here he was talking to the disciples, which would have included women… how do we explain this? What I mean is, it doesn’t say Apostles it says disciples.

 

[Monica4316]

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The above passage bugs me. I am a devote catholic and studing from my Catholic Family Life Edition. I am still tring to understand why we confess to Preists? Does this passage mean I don’t have to go to confession. What is the Catholic interpretation of this verse?

HELP Please !!

Jillian, yes we need to go to Confession. This passage does not go against Confession at all. It just means that to get to the Father, we need to go through Jesus, we can’t go through Buddha etc. It needs to be Jesus. Well when we are at Confession, - it’s not just the priest, - we are confessing to Jesus and He forgives us. The priest just acts “in persona Christi” - but it all happens through the Cross. That is the part that I wish Protestants would see but - there’s actually a passage in the Bible that talks about Confession - Jesus told the Apostles, whatever sins they forgive will be forgiven, and whatever sins they don’t forgive, won’t be. He gave them the authority to forgive sins in His name… and the Bishops/priests are their successors.

God bless

 

[obliviuossquire]

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.” - 1 Timothy 2:5-6

The above passage bugs me. I am a devote catholic and studing from my Catholic Family Life Edition. I am still tring to understand why we confess to Preists? Does this passage mean I don’t have to go to confession. What is the Catholic interpretation of this verse?

HELP Please !!

We must remember that when we sin we not only do so against God but also against our neighbor. All sin in some way affects the whole family, the Catholic Church, as we are in communion with each other through prayer and the Holy Spirit. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. This being said, the priest is acting in the person of Christ as he physically prays for and blesses the penitent during this sacrament as well as being the representation of the Church. This enables the penitent to confess to God and the community, therefore out of God’s infinite love and benevolence we are assured that we are absolved of our sin and reconciled to God and His faithful.

May the Lord belss you and keep you always!