[metmom]

The penitent confesses his sins to God through the priest. If the seal were to be broken under some circumstances, it would put people off the sacrament and thereby prevent them from receiving the grace that they need in order to repent and amend their lives.

God gives grace to the humble. Nobody needs to go through another human being to receive grace to do anything. If God doesn't give it freely, it's not grace, it's something earned which makes it wages.

Doing something (going to confession here) to receive grace nullifies grace by having to perform an action to receive it.

[Judith Anne]

I thought that repentence and contrition, both of which are actions, were necessary for the grace of forgiveness. Are you saying that those actions nullify the grace of forgiveness, by being “actions,” ie “doing something”?

[smvoice]

I'm confused as to what exactly penance and forgiveness is to the Roman Catholic Church. According to a Sunday Mass Reading, August Devotion-The Immaculate Heart of Mary, SHE is the be-all, end-all of everything anyway.

"Sweet heart of Mary, be my Salvation", it says.

"Be thou the way which leads to Jesus, and the channel through which we receive all the graces needful for our salvation", it says.

Who needs a priest, a pope, a mass, Jesus Christ, or saints when Mary is the channel for our salvation?

[Iscool]

God gives grace to the humble. Nobody needs to go through another human being to receive grace to do anything. If God doesn't give it freely, it's not grace, it's something earned which makes it wages.

God gives grace to the humble. Nobody needs to can go through another human being to receive grace to do anything. If God doesn't give it freely, it's not grace, it's something earned which makes it wages.