Catholic Question..At confession, when you tell the Priest your sins...he forgives you...Why? That's what God?

wow.... what a good question.... i won't lie it has been asked repeatedly but you just seem truly sincere in your asking.... God bless you for that!!!

I know i will run out of space so here's a start:

2 Sam. 12:14

Neh. 9:2-3

Sir. 4:26 - God tells us not to be ashamed to confess our sins, and not to try to stop the current of a river. Anyone who has experienced the sacrament of reconciliation understands the import of this verse.

Baruch 1:14

1 John 5:16-17; Luke 12:47-48 - there is a distinction between mortal and venial sins. This has been the teaching of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years, but, today, most Protestants no longer agree that there is such a distinction. Mortal sins lead to death and must be absolved in the sacrament of reconciliation. Venial sins do not have to be confessed to a priest, but the pious Catholic practice is to do so in order to advance in our journey to holiness.

Matt. 5:19

James 5:16. Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James doesn't talk of excuses here as a way of life, but, confession and prayer.

read john 21-23

2 Cor. 5:18

James 5:15-16

1 Tim. 2:5 - Christ is the only mediator, but He was free to decide how His mediation would be applied to us. The Lord chose to use priests of God to carry out His work of forgiveness.

James 5:14-16

Acts 19:18 - many came to orally confess sins and divulge their sinful practices. Oral confession was the practice of the early Church just as it is today.

Matt 3:6

Mark 1:5

Num 5:7

2 Sam 12:14

Neh 9:2-3

1 John 1:9

Sir. 4:26 - God tells us not to be ashamed to confess our sins, and not to try to stop the current of a river. Anyone who has experienced the sacrament of reconciliation understands the import of this verse.

the priest is there to hold you accountable and give you the ability to physically speak as we are instructed, without the fear of condemnation or "tattling". the priest listens for the sincere repentance. when we confess we are confessing to GOD our Father but the priest is there to help us along and (as mentioned) make us accountable. the priest will also help guide us if we are faltering or in need of guidance. while God does speak to all.... sometimes He uses a person to share His Words. i have often gone to confession just to seek counsel. i remember one time, was about to travel with my parents for 5 days and was terrified of my short temper with my mother..... that's always a big challenge. i went to confession and also talked with the priest about that.... he gave me scripture to keep handy and words of encouragement and such.... the trip was wonderful. t

oops i digress..... the prayers given after aren't always prayers.... sometimes they are actions one has to take - just depends but generally it IS a prayerful reflection on your repentance.

you write <now hush and learn...this is how you learn about how other religions believe....> BRAVA!! you are correct. while you may still not "accept" confession into your life.... you now see why we do.... you may not agree but at least you understand. that is something i was fortunate to have been taught in HS by this great nun -- Sister Martin in our world religions class. "learn about those who are like minded and welcome them.... do good and avoid evil. learn about those who embrace evil to know how to keep them at bay and learn how to communicate to them with love." I'm still working on the communicate to them with love.... once you're around this site enough you will see that the majority of people who are not Catholic are not like you.... curious and wanting to learn. they unfortunately present themselves as uneducated bigots who only look to cause strife and spread their lies. it's too bad really as instead of learning they close their minds and hearts.

1 Corinthians 2:14

14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

one of the beautiful things about that simple piece of Scripture..... you are a beautiful example of someone who accepts our differences and looks to understand.... that is a joyful adventure when done with the Spirit. doesn't mean we have to walk the same way just understand and accept one another :)

Hi bindysdogs,

Catholics do believe and know God forgives us for our sins, but He does this through the priest.

Just as God certainly marries two people, but it is through them and the priest/pastor.

The act of contrition is a statement of sorrow, repentance and a promise to sin no more. These are what are necessary for forgiveness.

After we are given forgiveness, we have a penance to do. Usually this is in the form of prayer, but it can be almost anything, I have had a half hour of Adoration before the Eucharist.

We see in the Bible that repentance is not enough. With David he repented, begged forgiveness, but God still demanded penance to be served--in his case the death of his son.

Thus the Catholic way is repentance, confession, forgiveness and penance.

Because that is what Jesus told His Apostles to do, forgive or retain sins (John 20:21-23). And it's not the Bishop or Priest that is forgiving the sins it's God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). And it was Jesus who began the Ministry of Reconciliation (Matthew 9:6).

The real question should be why did Jesus give to His Apostles the Ministry of Reconciliation? Well consider that if you commit a sin you might no longer be in God's Grace (1 John 5:13-20). Now if you pray to God there is no guarantee that God will hear your prayer because God only hears the prayers of the righteous and your a sinner. And the Bishop or Priest on behalf of His Church gives you a Penance to preform afterward. Well your sins are forgiven by God after Confession, but you still need to amend for the harm you caused because of those sins that is what preforming Penance is about.

Reconcile your sins through His Church and you are forgiven by God.

The Act of Contrition (Perfect) is asking God through His love to forgive you of your sins. The Act of Attrition (Imperfect) is pleading to God to forgive you of your sins in fear of damnation. It's self explanatory if you recite the prayer to yourself.

God does forgive sins in the confessional.

Jesus instituted the sacrament of confession for us. He gave his apostles the authority to forgive and retain sins. Think about this...why would Jesus give this authority if it was not necessary?

Jesus came to earth as a human being. God could have just saved us spiritually, but he didn't. He took on flesh, a tangible life, suffered and died, and rose from the dead. He did this for us. The same type of design is seen in the sacraments. An earthly, tangible element, coupled with the spiritual benefit.

A sacrament is an outward sign of and inward grace. The sacrament of confession allows us to spend time thinking about our sins and how we have offended God. It gives us a tangible exercise to use as a means to receive God's forgiveness and grace, it allows us to know his forgiveness and to do penance as a means of reparation.

I was Protestant for most of my life. I know that when I didn't think about sin often unless I committed some obvious sin, and then in my prayers I'd mention that I was sorry for whatever I'd done. I can honestly say there was no real contrition on my part, more of an offhanded "sorry God" type of expression.

However, with the use of the sacrament of confession, I spend time before hand praying, thinking about sin, and how I have offended others and most importantly God. I then go before his ordained priest, and say my sins out loud, and express my sorrow. The words of absolution strike right to the core, and are beautiful to hear.

It has nothing to do with the priest. He is an instrument of God. Just like a judge or police officer is the instrument of the government. They are not personally any different than you, but they have an authority given them by the government to pass judgment or to arrest you. So it is, sort of, with the priest. He is just a human being, as we are, but he has the authority given him by God, to forgive or retain sins. This is given him in order that he might serve the Church, and help the faithful on their journey to holiness by following Christ.

I'll try and spare you the long long reads , basicaly the father is there to guide you , help you overcomne those sins , the sin doesnt go away by itself , its the act of regret (act of contrition ) and the prayers that does the deed , you ask god for forgiveness and god being all forgiving forgives you ( as long as you really are sorry)

Let me answer the question this way. Don't you realise that by claiming the priest has no authority, you make Jesus Christ a liar?

John 20:23 "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."

The sins of those who make a true and meaningful confession are forgiven because it is by God's authority. The priest is simply a minister of that forgiveness.

As what you gathered from the YA posters, the priest is just a conduit for Jesus. It is Jesus who forgives as long as you truly repent/contrition, restitute and do not do it again. We always say the Jesus Prayer after the confession and thereafter, either at the hour of temptation or not.

http://www.orthodoxprayer.org/Jesus%20Prayer.html

Jesus Prayer - Prayer of the Heart, The Jesus Prayer is very simple:

"Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner,"

(say it unceasingly]

The Jesus Prayer according to numerous Church Fathers is "essential" to our spiritual growth. The Jesus Prayer proclaims our faith and humbles us by asking mercy for our sinfulness. The Jesus Prayer is thought to be as old as the Church itself.

Having been a Roman Catholic for almost 60 years now, I'd love to answer your question, but I know others of my Church here on Answers have a much better "way-with-words" as they detail the matter, so I'll just hope they see your question and come here to answer it. Some of the people are "cristoiglesia"(aka:Father Joseph), "PaulCyp", "Uncle Joe", "tebone0315", "XAndrewX", "JonM", "Marysia", "wolfeblayde", and several others. I know the answers to the questions you're asking but it's so important that you understand it correctly that I'd rather have the others give you their answers. I'll check back later and see if any of them have, and if not, I'll try to put my answer in the best words I can. It's so important that you understand the Sacrament of Confession properly because Jesus Himself established it with His words to St. Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19; Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition). God Bless you.

I can see by reading subsequent answers to mine that other Roman Catholics have answered extremely well, and those I named above have done as well. I'm sorry I wasn't able to remember everybody's names, such as "Messenger of God", "Misty", "Aleria", "Llanolyn", & "St Thecla". I do hope you've been able to see the import of the Sacrament of Confession through their wonderful answers. God Bless you, and all of them.

We confess to a priest because that is the way Jesus instituted the Sacrament. It is at His command that we confess to one another. When we sin against the Father our sins also affect our Christian family. Confessing sins to a priest is something that was a universal practice and never debated in the Early Church.

Jesus himself was able to heal not only the physically sick, but the spiritually sick as well. Christ had the power to forgive sins (see Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:5-12).

He passed on that power to forgive sins in his name to his Apostles.

"Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father." (Matthew 18:18-19)

"Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I sent you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (John 20:21-23)

Jesus entrusted his Church with the power of forgiving sins through this most wonderful sacrament. The priest is simply the one who acts in persona Christi (in the person of Christ) in the confessional, but it is our Lord who forgives our sins. The priest grants absolution (sets us free from our sins) using the power Jesus entrusted to his Church. It is through Christ, however, that our sins are forgiven.

St. Paul tells us, "And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us." (2 Corinthians 5: 18-20)

Does this mean that we shouldn’t speak and pray directly to God and express sorrow for our sins? Not at all! In fact for daily faults that is exactly what we should be doing. But for more serious offenses, for grave and mortal sins, we must repent and confess through the Sacrament of Reconciliation because that is what Christ commands us to do.

Reconciliation (also known as Confession and Penance): Penance is a Sacrament in which the sins committed after Baptism are forgiven.

Biblical references: Matt 9:2-8; Jn 20:22-23; 2 Cor 5:17-20; James 5:13-16;

Matt 18:18; 1 Jn 5:16

We do give our confession to God, thru the priest. As stated above the priest is the one who acts in persona Christi(in the person of Christ)

Catholic Christian †

CONFESSION TO A PRIEST IN THE BIBLE:

~~~~The Bible tells us God gave "Men" (plural) the power to forgive sins on earth.

Matthew 9:6 But that you may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then said he to the man sick of palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house. 7 And he arose, and went into his house. 8 And the multitude seeing it, feared, and glorified God that gave such power to men.

~~~~Jesus gave us the "Ministry" of Reconciliation.

2Corinthians 5:17 If then any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away, behold all things are made new. 18 But all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Christ; and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 For God indeed was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their sins; and he hath placed in us the word of reconciliation.

~~~~The Apostles are Christ's ambassadors (and the Priests by Proxy):

2Corinthians 5:20 For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us. For Christ, we beseech you, be reconciled to God.

~~~~St. James tells us to confess to one another:

James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.

~~~~St. James tells us that when one is sick call the Priests to pray over him, anoint him and because of this the lord forgives his sins:

James 5:14

Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should

pray over him and anoint (him) with oil in the name of the Lord,

15 and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

~~~~The Old Testament tells us that an atonement is made by the Priest to the Lord and his sins will be forgiven:

Leviticus 6:7 and the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for any one of the things which he may have done to incur guilt."

Leviticus 16:30 For on that day [the priest] shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, [that] you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.

Numbers 15:28 And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD for the person who commits an error, when he sins unwittingly, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.

~~~~Jesus gave the Apostles the Authority as well. Why would he give them this authority if they were never to use it?

John 20:23 "If you forgive the sins of any, {their sins} have been forgiven them; if you retain the {sins} of any, they have been retained."

~~~~St. Paul even forgave sins:

2Corinthians 2:10 But one whom you forgive anything, I {forgive} also; for indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, {I did it} for your sakes in the presence of Christ,

Peace be with you

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