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steve_b
Guest
So is the answer true or false?
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rcwitness
Guest
This seems like a loaded question. What do you mean by “availlable”?
The whole world has the Sacraments availlable to them. But we must approach them in the manner the Church offers.
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steve_b
Guest
Members i.e. Catholics have the sacraments of the Church available to them. It’s not a loaded question.
The whole world isn’t Catholic. Maybe 14% -20% are Catholic…depending. If the remainder of the population wanted to receive the sacraments, they’d need to become Catholic. Afterall that’s what Jesus wants…correct? John 17:20-23
Point being, baptism outside the Catholic Church doesn’t automatically make one Catholic
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GaryTaylor
Guest
I think past the legalistic thinking, confession to the Priest just makes perfect sense. Should it be the case you are working through a particular issue, why would you believe it best to do this alone, when alone is how your arrived in the state of vice or habit? I don’t know, to me it just seems counterproductive. Isn’t it about honesty. So your admitting both inwardly and outwardly you are falling short. I don’t see where this can’t be anything but productive.
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Augustine3
Guest
Why do many people in this thread say people confessed their sins directly to God in the old covenant? No they did not. The book of Leviticus is filled with sacrificial requirements for sin offerings to be mediated through a Levitical priest. BTW most of these offerings prescribed were for unintentional sins. A Levitical priest was still required…
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MacQ
Guest
I think that “confessing sins directly to God” is a nice sounding rationalization. Gets people off the hook for actually having to prepare, screw up courage, and say out loud to another human being what you have done and failed to do.
The effect is very different.
The effect is very different.
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hu324b
Guest
Yes without humilty. Which you can only truely find in the presence of another human being.It makes your confession to God honest and with true sorrow - which is why a lot of people don’t want to do it.It makes your confession worthy before God because you can’t fake it.
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rcwitness
Guest
I agree in part. I think that before we get to the confessional we should have already turned our hearts from our sin. This should be in a open acknowledgement before God in secret. We can always pray to Him in a sincere heart and He will help bring us to full contrition.
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MacQ
Guest
po18guy
Well-known member
What answer? It seems to have been lost in all of this argumentation and derailing. Are they full members? No! If they do not believe that Christ is present in the Holy Eucharist (and all teachings of Christ’s Church), then they profane the Eucharist by receiving it. Yet, they are baptized into the Body of Christ and believe in Him.
This is the quandary that has plagued Christianity since the evil one inspired and incited the conditions which lead to the European rebellion in the 16th century. This division is the confounding dilemma, the nails and spear which the evil one has forcibly thrust into the Body of Christ. The Church, for her part, is rightly focused on healing, rather than on maintaining or justifying the division.
As part of that healing, it is recognized that certain Christians are truly members of Christ’s Body, but not in full communion. Currently, they are neither fully accepted, nor fully rejected, but rather, fully invited to the fulness of Christ.
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cmodrmac
Guest
today we celebrated Pentecost -3 rd most important feast day in the Church-
at the end of the Gospel reading from John - there is the statement about “Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven-whose sins you retain they are retained” -pretty clear to me- but was the Lord giving the franchise on the forgiveness of sins purely to the Apostles -( and by those who the Apostles layed on hands and so forth) or could a sinner bypass the Priest and go direct to the Lord-?
no answer there- we have general confession in my denomination but also can have a Private confession-but it is clear that the Priest will acknowledge the forgiveness of sins but does ot grant it-
It does make one think
at the end of the Gospel reading from John - there is the statement about “Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven-whose sins you retain they are retained” -pretty clear to me- but was the Lord giving the franchise on the forgiveness of sins purely to the Apostles -( and by those who the Apostles layed on hands and so forth) or could a sinner bypass the Priest and go direct to the Lord-?
no answer there- we have general confession in my denomination but also can have a Private confession-but it is clear that the Priest will acknowledge the forgiveness of sins but does ot grant it-
It does make one think
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bmonk
Guest
This does miss the point, at least in part. Confessing sins to another person is an apparent psychological need–look at how many confess faults to a bartender, or a stranger on a plane, and so on, without any legal protection whatsoever. But Sacramental confession is not just to another human person. The priest is there in persona Christi–that is, officially and so making present God, who is the one who, after all is said, is the only one who can forgive sins. Additionally, the priest also represents the community, which is also harmed by sin. So, by having the status of a minister of Christ, the priest is able to mediate or represent all the injured parties, outside of the sinner him- or herself, and is an ideal agent for reconciliation.
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bmonk
Guest
Beyond that, it is also easy to say to yourself, “Gee, I can do that any time,” and never actually get around to doing it. By involving another person (and schedules or appointments and other sacraments, which may not be received when in a state of serious sin), we are moved to actually do it now, not in some nebulous future.
Similar to the people who claim, “I can meet my spiritual needs by a nice nature walk in the forest or on the beach.” Perhaps–but when was the last time they actually took such a walk?
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NextElement
Guest
And I do believe that ancient scriptures, although not in the Bible (Letter of Barnabas and The Didache) were written in AD 70 and mention people confessing sins at Church. That was only 40 years after Christ’s death, and people believed in Confession 
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bmonk
Guest
This shows one limit of sola Scriptura: Scripture itself is true, but it does not offer guidance as to how it should be interpreted. Even adding other references–such as Matthew 16:19b; 18:18 that come to mind–does not fully tell us how to interpret it. Only the faithful tradition of the Church can do that, under the authoritative interpretation of the magisterium as received by the community.
That said, what do we believe as Catholics? That there are two levels of sin: Mortal sins, in which we have deliberately broken with God and fallen from grace, and sin that is not mortal, which injures our relationship with God but does not break it (1 John 5:16-17).
For mortal sins, the only recourse (after baptism, which forgives all prior sin, but cannot be repeated) is sacramental confession to a priest. We might compare this to St. Peter’s case–after being warned, he denied Christ three times, which required the three-fold affirmation of faith to Jesus after the Resurrection (John 21:15-19).
For non-mortal sins (called venial, “daily”), other methods of repentance and forgiveness suffice, since the links that mediate grace are only damaged, not broken. Hence, the general Penitential Act, or even receiving the Eucharist, expressing your sorrow to God directly in prayer, even asking an injured party in the sin for forgiveness–all of these suffice to forgive the sin. Even here, the grace may be more effectively mediated by a sacramental confession, but it is not required.
So, to go back again to the original question: Confession of sins to a priest is only required when the sinner is aware of grave sin on their soul. It is encouraged for all sinners.
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TheSeeker2014
Guest
Could you confess your sins to others but not necessarily a priest? Like family or friends? Or does it have to be a priest?
po18guy
Well-known member
Certainly you can, and while God would appreciate your repentance and service of the truth, you have still offended against Him as well. What do we do about personal sin? In the scriptures, Jesus told the sinner that their sins were forgiven. Thus, there was no doubt. See Matthew 9:2, Mark 2:5, Luke 5:20 and Luke 7:48 for examples. When we confess directly to God, do we hear those words of absolution? Do we receive spiritual direction? Are we certain (remember that Jesus did not leave us orphans) that our sins are truly forgiven? How can we be unless someone with authority to forgive sins tells us, exactly as Jesus did? And, the scriptures are very clear that Jesus gave the Apostles power to forgive sin. They passed that power on and today, almost 2,000 years later, not only Catholic Priests, abut also those of the Eastern Orthodox Churches have power over sin. It is a wonderful, freeing, reconciling experience. At the same time, it is sobering, as the evil one waits for us right outside the confessional.
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MacQ
Guest
Yes. Exactly.
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MacQ
Guest
That’s what I meant by “prepare”. Examination of conscience precedes confession.
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gigi_mvn
Guest
I order for sins to be forgiven, one must come to terms and realization that he/she has sinned. To be consciously and wholeheartedly aware. Very important. There is no better assuring way to demonstrate this than to confess to a Priest. Also, a Priest has metaphorically a louder voice when communicating with God.
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