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?

[Petronski]

It does still seem to me as though the 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 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.

I don't see where it says that.

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

[tiki]

You are right, I haven’t been in a whole lot of Catholic Churches but there weren’t any Bibles in the pews.

What is there are missalettes and they contain the Bible readings for every day of the year. If you attend daily Mass in addition to Sundays, you will read and hear the Bible in its entirety in 3 years.

You are quite welcome to bring your own Bible and read along if you haven’t read the readings before Mass and pondered their significance.

Most parishes list the readings for the coming week in their bulletins. Many parishes have private Bible study groups and also Bible study with a deacon or a the priest. They also have their own private Bible reading.

The majority of the Mass is directly from the Bible.

So, no, there aren’t Bibles in the pew but there are Bible readings in the missalettes.

I have a question, don’t most Protestants own their own Bibles like Catholics do and the church has to provide them for Sunday-only reading?

[Petronski]

"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."

Why would you make up such an elaborate description of Catholic teaching about forgiveness of sins when I linked you to the ACTUAL teaching?

[tiki]

We hear those words all the time but reading them here gave me goosebumps.

I often find myself in tear at the consecration.

[tiki]

What you bind...

Whose sins you forgive...

[chs68]

"I don't see where it says that. For instance, "1456 Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance."

Does the Roman Catholic Church teach that it is possible to have a sin forgiven apart from the sacrament of Penance?

In other words, does the Roman Catholic Church teach that it is possible for a truly penitant person to pray directly to God (without any priest administering any sacrament), and confess his or sin directly to God, ask God for forgiveness?

Does the Roman Catholic Church teach that if such a person prays directly to God (with no priest and without any sacrament) that God will forgive the sin that the penitant person confesses and asks forgivenss for?

[chs68]

"Why would you make up such an elaborate description of Catholic teaching about forgiveness of sins when I linked you to the ACTUAL teaching?"

Are you saying that my earlier post is, in fact, an elaborate description of Roman Catholic teaching?

[Petronski]

Are you saying that my earlier post is, in fact, an elaborate description of Roman Catholic teaching?

Yes, it is elaborate.

[chs68]

"Yes, it is elaborate."

But, more importantly, is it a description of Roman Catholic teaching or not?

[Petronski]

Yes, it is a description of Catholic teaching.

[Puddleglum]

You want to hear a religious service filled front-to-back with scripture recitations, go the a Mass. Not just the readings, but the prayers and the psalms and the canon and the creed - all the discourse is scriptural. You want to hear a service filled with expressions of personal sentiment with Christian words thrown in now and again, go to an evangelical service (at least the ones I’ve been to). The songs and the sermons are sentimental effusions of emotion - great gushes of words - but are not as rich in the Word as the Mass. They are rich in sentiment and mawkish rephrasings to pump one up to see if one actually “feels” anything.

[Judith Anne]

I’m following this exchange and laughing. :D

[andysandmikesmom]

I have attended services in several Methodist churches, a few Baptist churches, and a few non-denominational non-Catholic Christian churches...and in not one of those churches, have they ever provided Bibles in the pews, for the use of the parishioners...the parishioners are really expected to have their own Bibles...the churches provide the hymnals, and perhaps other materials in the pews, but they dont include the Bibles...indeed why should they, Bibles can be bought anywhere...

So the fact that the Catholic Church does not provide Bibles in their pews, is nothing unusual...and there is nothing of importance, gleaned from that fact...

Most Christian churches of all denominations, may provide those materials, which are unique to that denomination...for instance in the Methodist church, they often provided little booklets called the Upper Room, which provided a short daily message with appropriate Scriptural readings...and most churches provide the hymnals, that that church prefers to use...they provide these things as they would be difficult for the usual parishioner to find elsewhere...

But a Bible?....anyone, who lives anywhere, can go to any bookstore, and have a wide field of different Bibles....indeed, most Christian churches, expect that their members have their own Bibles, for study at home, and to use to follow along in their preferred church service...each member can buy the Bible, that he is comfortable with...

So the Catholic Church does not differ from any of the non-Catholic Christian churches on this score...

I would actually be quite surprised to go into any Christian church of any denomination, to find Bibles provided for all the members in the pews...I would actually expect that situation to the unusual one...

And all of my Catholic friends, do have their own Bibles, that they take with them to Mass...in fact, all of my Catholic friends, are encouraged to read their Bibles daily...

So I dont really understand why you would make a point of mentioning that the Catholic church does not provide Bibles in their pews, when this is also the situation in most non-Catholic Christian churches...and I also do not understand the true point of the conclusion you draw, that because the Catholic Church does not provide Bibles in the pews, somehow the ordinary layman is not allowed to read the Bible....that conclusion, makes absolutely no sense at all...

[Petronski]

That’s because grammar doesn’t make you dizzy.

[steve86]

Does the Roman Catholic Church teach that if such a person prays directly to God (with no priest and without any sacrament) that God will forgive the sin that the penitant person confesses and asks forgivenss for?

Catholics are expected to receive forgiveness from God through a priest when possible.

In the event of an urgent situation, such as when life is in peril, a Catholic would certainly be expected to repent to God directly.

In practicality, sometimes a person feels the need to express repentance immediately to God directly following a transgression. I certainly do that. A Catholic is expected to then attend confession at the next opportunity and confess all significant sins since the last confession before a priest. This isn't because the priest thinks God is incapable of granting absolution on His own (lol). It is simply because of the necessity of completeness, so that a penitant individual not pick and choose which sins he includes during the Sacrament.

[Judith Anne]

:D

[tiki]

You creat conflict where there is none.

All Catholics know they can go directly to God for forgiveness, but they also have the benefit of Penance.

[NYer]

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?

You have answered your own question. When we sin, we hurt not only God but others as well. Like dropping a stone into a pond, sin has a ripple effect. The Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes this very well.

1456. "Confession to a priest is an essential part of the Sacrament of Penance: 'All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly.' [Council Of Trent (1551): DS 1680 (ND 1626); cf. Ex 20:17; Mt 5:28.]  When Christ's faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, 'for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.' [Council of Trent (1551): DS 1680 (ND 1626); cf. St. Jerome, In Eccl.]"
What the Catechism of the Catholic Church says on "Penance:"

[tiki]

Yes, He did grant them the authority to forgive sins. Salvation just posted the words of the priest.

If understanding is what you think you need then read the Catechism, Petronski posted a link.

If faith is needed talk to God.

[tiki]

“It does still seem to me”

I hate to inform you that it really isn’t all about what it “seems” to you. It is about the truth, it is about Tradition, it is about the Bible interpreted by the authority which codified it through that same Tradition and handed on by the Apostles. It is all about the church that Jesus created, it is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic and it will stand until the end of time.

YOU might not believe it but that’s okay, the Holy Spirit may someday take you by the hand and lead you there. And as Paul, who didn’t realize that by persecuting the Apostles that he was persecuting Christ, you may one day become a Catholic.

You have the Bible and access to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and until you truly study it and are informed in your opinions it will do no good to argue with you. My faith isn’t predicated by your opinions and feelings it is predicated on the Truth.