Why do Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest instead of praying straight to God? [Ecu]

Black Cordelias ^ | July 2, 2008 | bfhu

[NYer]

Q. Why do Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest instead of praying straight to God?

A. In obedience to Christ.

John 20:19-23 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

After His resurrection, Jesus, appeared to His disciples on Easter Sunday evening. He conferred the power to forgive sins by breathing on them. This corresponds to God breathing life into Adam. And so, Jesus breathes life giving power to forgive sins into his disciples. Note that this is before Pentecost and the general bestowal of the Holy Spirit. This is a special and unique pouring out of the Holy Spirit for the disciples, the first priests and bishops of the Christian Church.

And the purpose of this special dispensation of the Holy Spirit is to empower the apostles with the authority to forgive or not forgive sins in the name of Christ. This specific action cannot mean some sort of general power such as that by the preaching of the Gospel sins are forgiven or not depending upon the hearer. Jesus says, “If you forgive….if you do not forgive…” It would be impossible for the disciples to obey Jesus without audibly hearing the confessions of men and women, boys and girls.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Now this verse can be interpreted in a Protestant way to mean salvation by the preaching of the Gospel. However, we see this verse as further proof for the sacrament of reconciliation/confession. Also, James points out

James 5:13-16 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

The Greek word for elders is presbuterous. This is the Greek etymological root from which we get our English word for priest. So, James is saying to call the priests to pray for healing both physical and spiritual. Why would James specify the calling of the elders/priests for those who are sick if they had no more authority than the average Christian?

[NYer]

Fr Dwight Longenecker, over at Standing On My Head blog, writes:

This evening I was in the confessional for an hour and a half. We have the great problem in our parish of not enough priests and too many penitents.

While hearing one confession I had this sudden impression of heaven opening up and there being great joy in that small room. Then I remembered the gospel verse about angels rejoicing over one soul who repents.

Surely this is so true. Repentance is when we make a quantum leap forward with God. When our heart cracks open a little bit with repentance, we suddenly make a way for grace to get in.

[Pyro7480]

In addition to the above, a requirement for the Sacrament is a sincerely contrite before confessing your sins to the priests. This contrition is motivated by a love of God or a fear of the punishments of Hell.

One resouce for the Sacrament that I've consulted from time to time recommends that the penitent make the Act of Contrition before going into the Confessional, so the Act of Contrition is renewed before the priests gives absolution.

[Lucky9teen]

So what happens to those who repent of their sins, ask for forgiveness, offer forgiveness to others who have wronged them, but refuse to let the issues go and don’t want to make amends?

Is that truly forgiving?

[ropin71]

Never found a Bible in the pews of the RC Church either.
Only the priests are allowed to read, and interpret for us?

[shineon]

Catholics can and do pray directly to God, just like everyone else. Jesus hears every word and knows every thought and intention of the heart.

[ex-snook]

“Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain they are retained”

[Pyro7480]

Oops, that should have said, "...a requirement for the Sacrament is to be sincerely contrite before confessing your sins to the priests

[Pyro7480]

There isn't a cover-to-cover Bible in many Catholic Churches for each person in the pew, but there are missal or missalettes that have the Sunday readings, and the daily Responsorial Psalm. That isn't to say Catholic "aren't allowed" to go out and get a Bible for themselves! As long as it has ALL of the books in the Good Book and it's a proper translation, Catholics can read the Bible all they want. In fact, one can get an indulgence for merely reading the Bible for more than half an hour.

A partial indulgence is granted the Christian faithful who read sacred Scripture with the veneration due God's word and as a form of spiritual reading. The indulgence will be a plenary one when such reading is done for at least one-half hour [provided the other conditions are met].

[RexBeach]

Not exactly.

The priests, or deacons, read the Gospel. That reading and the readings mentioned below usually form the basis of their homilies.

However, only LAY people read the lessons at mass from the old and new testaments - even if the pope himself is celebrating that mass. The laity is deeply involved in the celebration of the mass.

But we,too, pray directly to God and Christ daily(at least I do!). We also pray to saints to intervene for us. At this moment, I am wearing a St. Anthony’s medal. He was a remarkable man, and a superb example of how to live a sincere and thorough Christian life.

[massgopguy]

Do an hour of Eucharistic Adoration for peace of mind.

[RexBeach]

Yes! That is a great blessing!

[marine86297]

“As in all things Catholic.......follow the money.”

That was un-called for and inappropriate!

What are the rules for the religion forums again? I can’t find them anywhere. Even if this thread is not one which is restricted, that comment was still un-called for.

If you have something against the Roman Catholic Church, then perhaps you should stop reading the threads.

[Pyro7480]

If your moniker is true, would you be upset if someone said that about the Jews?

[topher]

Confession was done in the early Christian Church.

There are stories that some people had as penance standing in front of the church outside during the service perhaps for a year. I do not know what the sins were, but there were sometimes tough penances given -- from stories handed down. But then magic, homosexuality, paganism, killing (gladiators) was common in those times...

[rbmillerjr]

...a deep emptiness in your denial

[Scythian]

But then magic, homosexuality, paganism, killing (gladiators) was common in those times...

And it isn't now?

[Ransomed]

You can find the R. forum rules by clicking on the R. Mod’s name (as in “Religion Moderator”). This is an “ecumenical thread”, and the post you responded to seems to be breaking the rules, as well as being laughably infantile.

Freegards

[NYer]

Never found a Bible in the pews of the RC Church either.

As Pyro pointed out, the missalettes in each pew contain the verses from scripture that will be read on each Sunday. For Catholics and Orthodox, the Holy Bible is so important, that it is worthy of veneration. Prior to reading from the Gospel, the priest incenses it. When he has finished proclaiming the Gospel, he blesses the congregation with the Word of God

But, from your perspective, one of the best explanations I have ever heard, comes from Dr. Scott Hahn, a former Evangelical minister.

Hahn begins by describing the first mass he ever attended.

"There I stood, a man incognito, a Protestant minister in plainclothes, slipping into the back of a Catholic chapel in Milwaukee to witness my first Mass. Curiosity had driven me there, and I still didn't feel sure that it was healthy curiosity. Studying the writings of the earliest Christians, I'd found countless references to "the liturgy," "the Eucharist," "the sacrifice." For those first Christians, the Bible - the book I loved above all - was incomprehensible apart from the event that today's Catholics called "the Mass."

"I wanted to understand the early Christians; yet I'd had no experience of Liturgy. So I persuaded myself to go and see, as a sort of academic exercise, but vowing all along that I would neither kneel nor take part in idolatry."

I took my seat in the shadows, in a pew at the very back of that basement chapel. Before me were a goodly number of worshipers, men and women of all ages. Their genuflections impressed me, as did their apparent concentration in prayer. Then a bell rang, and they all stood as the priest emerged from a door beside the altar.

Unsure of myself, I remained seated. For years, as an evangelical Calvinist, I'd been trained to believe that the Mass was the ultimate sacrilege a human could commit. The Mass, I had been taught, was a ritual that purported to "resacrifice Jesus Christ." So I would remain an observer. I would stay seated, with my Bible open beside me.

As the Mass moved on, however, something hit me. My Bible wasn't just beside me. It was before me - in the words of the Mass! One line was from Isaiah, another from Psalms, another from Paul. The experience was overwhelming. I wanted to stop everything and shout, "Hey, can I explain what's happening from Scripture? This is great!" Still, I maintained my observer status. I remained on the sidelines until I heard the priest pronounce the words of consecration: "This is My body . . . This is the cup of My blood."

Then I felt all my doubt drain away. As I saw the priest raise that white host, I felt a prayer surge from my heart in a whisper: "My Lord and my God. That's really you!"

I was what you might call a basket case from that point. I couldn't imagine a greater excitement than what those words had worked upon me. Yet the experience was intensified just a moment later, when I heard the congregation recite: "Lamb of God . . . Lamb of God . . . Lamb of God," and the priest respond, "This is the Lamb of God . . ." as he raised the host. In less than a minute, the phrase "Lamb of God" had rung out four times. From long years of studying the Bible, I immediately knew where I was. I was in the Book of Revelation, where Jesus is called the Lamb no less than twenty-eight times in twenty-two chapters. I was at the marriage feast that John describes at the end of that very last book of the Bible. I was before the throne of heaven, where Jesus is hailed forever as the Lamb. I wasn't ready for this, though - I was at Mass!