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

Neither should we read "priest" into presbuteros because priests, as we know them, did not exist in the first century and would have been unrecognizable to the first century writers of the Bible.

And the oak looks nothing like the acorn.

Are you a priest, NYer? That’s hoe I interpret your message.

No but I am a Soldier of Christ!

That is close to Catholic understanding. However, the priest is a human being with authority to absolve or not absolve. If he decides to absolve, he will pray for and with the penitent for God’s forgiveness, and he has an assurance from Christ that it will be given.

A councel cannot do that. On the other hand, a priest may direct the penitent to enter professional counceling, or act himself in that role if he is professionally equipped.

"In John 20:21, before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, "as the Father sent me, so I send you." As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors forgive sins. In the next line, John 20:22, the Lord "breathes" on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord "breathes" divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place. Jesus then says in John 20:23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear."

So I guess that what you are saying is that since Christ "breathed authority (or power)" to forgive sins onto a group of human beings, He must have intended that penitants confess their sins to those human beings.

And I guess that you would also say that Christ thereby commanded all of His followers not to confess their sins directly to Christ (or to God the Father), but instead to this group of human beings that have the authority to forgive sins.

If I understand you correctly, you are saying that Christ, in John 20:21-23, is saying, "I command you, my followers, never to confess your sins to Me or to my Father who is in Heaven. You must, instead, confess your sins to this group of ordained human beings who have the authority and power to forgive sins -- and only to them. When you pray, never ever confess your sins to me or to my Father. Such prayers are of no value to you, and I will not hear them. Instead, you must confess to a human being."

I'm a little confused by that particular interpretation of John 20: 21-23.

It seems to me that in sort of contradicts Jesus' response to a question posed to him about how to pray. In his response, Jesus, when showing his disciples how to pray, says, "Forgive us our trespasses (or debts) as we forgive those who trespass against us (or our debtors).

Doesn't Jesus commend praying directly to "Our Father", and in that prayer, seeking forgiveness for sins?

If I understand you correctly...

Uh, no.

No, in fact, an acorn does not look anything like an oak. And if I say the squirrel ate an acorn I don’t mean that he ate an oak tree.

I’d probably have no problem if it were made clear that forgiveness comes from God, but the minister is simply there to pray with the person and to point out the need to change one’s life.

The priest is there to hear the confession and guide the penitent - yet - but also to administer absolution, "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". There have been several saints who were granted the grace of being able to 'read souls' and even smell sin. Saint Faustina, a Polish nun to whom our Lord appeared, was told to write the following in a diary, on the topic of Confession. (red text is that of our Lord)

Today the Lord said to me, Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls. (1602)

My daughter, just as you prepare in My presence, so also you make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyse what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light. (1725)

Confession of sins in the Sacrament of Penance

The priest is like a screen with Christ as the listener and absolver.

"The priest is like a screen with Christ as the listener and absolver."

What, again, is the real need for such a screen?

Is it that Jesus is unable to hear a confession from a penitant unless there is some sort of screen between Him and the penitant? Is Jesus too busy to hear a confession?

Or is it that the penitant is unable of knowing -- really knowing -- the he or she is forgiven unless a priest gives him or her such assurance?

Please.

Do correct my understanding of what was said.

[Sacrament of]Confession

Make a Good Confession

Those in Mortal Sin Can't Go to Communion, Says Pope

Holy Week Recovers Celebration of Penance (at St. Peter's Basilica) - photos!

Reasons for Confession [Sacrament of Reconciliation]

Lesson 19: Confession (Part 1) BY FATHER ALTIER

Lesson 20: Confession (Part 2) BY FATHER ROBERT ALTIER

Serious about God? Then get serious about confession

St. Ephraim the Syrian: On Repentance

What happened to confession – Changing mores reflective of use

Repentance and Confession - Introduction [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

The Spiritual and Psychological Value of Frequent Confession

Pick a sin, any sin (Confession gone awry)

The Early Church Fathers on Confession / Reconciliation - Catholic/Orthodox Caucus

Catholics called from the idiot box to confession

Benedict XVI Extols Sacrament of Penance - Says Priests Need to Make It a Priority

Confession’s Comeback

Priests say more Catholics returning to confession

Pope Hears Confessions of Youth

MESSAGE FOR ALL CATHOLICS (in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday - April 15)

Salvation: Just click and confess

CONFESSION AND CONFUSION

Get Thee To A Confessional! (beautiful insight for those who dread going to Confession)

Emerging Trends: The Return to the Confessional

Confessing to 'sins' is booming in America (Evangelicals and Protestants take up practice)

What You [Catholics] Need to Know: Penance (Reconciliation, Confession) [Catholic/Orthodox Caucus]

A Comeback for Confession

MORTAL SIN and HOLY CONFESSION - The Antidote of Death

Thinking Inside the Box: An Attitude for Confession

Confessional Advice

The Epidemic and the Cure [The Sin of the World and the Sacrament of Reconciliation] (Confession)

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

I wouldn’t be comfortable taking it any farther than I’ve already spelled out.

Here are the actual words of the priest in Absolution. You get only one guess as to who forgives a Catholic's sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation!

Did you guess?

Here's the answer (the highlighting/bolding is mine):

enter the Table of Contents of the Catechism of the Catholic Church here

1449 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.

Thank you for your post.

But now I am confused.

Earlier, another poster directed me to John 20: 21-23, and said this about that portion of Scripture: "In John 20:21, before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, "as the Father sent me, so I send you." As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors forgive sins."

You understand my confusion, I trust.

Did Christ grant the apostles and their successors the authority to forgive sins, or didn't He?

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p2s2c2a4.htm

Happy to help.

That is sooo funny - you haven't heard of "indulgances." I remember a poor family in New York Mills MN in 1975 who were promised their crops would fail for sure unless they caughed up $500 to the local priest. Sick.

Prove it.

I don’t know, we don’t get to see the heart of the sinner. God knows and if the person is continuing in his sin and ignoring reparation and amendment one would hope that the Holy Spirit would convict him of his sin and allow him to recognize it.

Did Christ grant the apostles and their successors the authority to forgive sins, or didn't He?

Yes, but to do so by the power of the Holy Spirit, as the prayer says, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Joh 20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.

Thank you for your link to the portion of the Roman Catholic Catechism concerning the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church.

It does still seem to me as though the Roman Catholic Church is saying that a penitant must never ever confess his or her sins directly to God, and that doing so is completely without effect. In other words, it appear that the Roman Catholic Church is saying that God will not hear prayers of people who want to confess their sins directly to Him, and that God will not forgive any sin that is confessed directly to Him.

"1456 Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance."

"1461 Since Christ entrusted to his apostles the ministry of reconciliation,65 bishops who are their successors, and priests, the bishops' collaborators, continue to exercise this ministry. Indeed bishops and priests, by virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders, have the power to forgive all sins "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Doesn't that mean that God will not hear a confession made directly to Him?

And so wouldn't that also mean that, as I posted in post #44, that the Roman Catholic Church is teaching that "Christ, in John 20:21-23, is saying, "I command you, my followers, never to confess your sins to Me or to my Father who is in Heaven. You must, instead, confess your sins to this group of ordained human beings who have the authority and power to forgive sins -- and only to them. When you pray, never ever confess your sins to me or to my Father. Such prayers are of no value to you, and I will not hear them. Instead, you must confess to a human being."

Thank you for your link to the portion of the Roman Catholic Catechism...

Inaccurate. I gave you a link to a portion of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.