[ozaukeemom]

I take that to more mean to share with others. I, personally, believe that a priest is simply another person, not someone with the ability to give me forgiveness. I should have phrased it better. I go directly to God to confess my sins and ask for forgiveness.

[Salvation]

But you do not know if your sins are forgiven.

In the Sacrament of Penance we know that God forgives our sins and then forgets them.

The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: The Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:

God, the Father of mercies, through the death and the resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[editor-surveyor]

.
Confessing to your peers is the important part.

It seals your honesty to them.

Its the opposite of being a ‘pharisee.’
.

[Salvation]

Are you not familiar with Christ telling the apostles, "Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them. Whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."????

Those powers are passed down from Christ through the Bishop when he ordains a priest.

You might want to do a little more research on this matter.

[editor-surveyor]

.
We must be fully open and honest with everyone.

Confessing to Yehova does little, since he already knows of our sins.

[mylife]

The church is full of sinners and saints