Forgivness And Confession Of Sins

[Guest BarrenCross]

I'm a protestant, and being so we do not confess our sins to our clergy, we confess our sins to the Father and ask forgiveness. I was wondering why Catholics confess and ask forgivness of sins from their clergy, and how are the clergy able to forgive sins, is this not God's place?

Thank You.

[cappie]

I came across this article some time ago which may help answer your question By the way certain Lutheran, Anglican Methodist and Orthodox practice various forms of Confession.

•Jesus commanded it! John 20:21-23 reads:

”Jesus said to them again ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sends me I send you.’ And he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’
This was Pentecost, the birth of our Church. Over 2000 years, Jesus’ command has been passed and obeyed; our Bishops are the inheritors of their authority. At Ordination, priests get their ability to perform the Sacraments from their Bishop. Therefore we must forgive sin.

•There is no such thing as a private sin. Whether we have committed the sin by ourselves or with other people, a sin always has effects throughout the entire community of the faith.


Let me explain it on two levels:

1.If one of us sins it changes the way we interact with other people... maybe because of the shame or guilt of the sin or maybe because of fear of being found, but no matter what, sin affects our behavior.

2.St. Paul's analogy of the Body of Christ (Romans 12:3-8) states that all believers in Christ are united. This means that if one of us sins we damage the Body that all of us belong to. Therefore, reconciliation must be done through a representative of the Body, and for us as Catholics that representative is a priest.


Now let’s look at the Sacrament of Reconciliation from a more personal and practical perspective: that whole "I can just have a personal relationship with God and He will forgive my sins." I just don't think it works real well. Let me explain...


•There's just too many "saved" people walking around feeling guilty all the time. I also think that there are people who don't want to be humbled before God by telling Him that we are so sorry for our sins and that we will do anything to get right Him again...including telling another person the sins we have committed (look at James 5:16). Telling others our sin makes us vulnerable because it shows that we are not perfect.

•A popular trend with some Protestant brothers and sisters is having an accountability partner. Your accountability partner is a friend that you can trust and confide in, sharing those times when sinned and then giving advice and support. If nothing else, having an accountability partner is convicting because you know that you'll have to tell a friend when you've sinned, and thus you try to avoid sin to save the embarrassment. Having an "accountability partner" sounds a lot like going to Reconciliation to me.

•Priests hear Confessions all the time, and are trained in counseling and resolving those who struggle with sin. A priest can give insightful advice that a peer accountability partner may not be able to.

•We long for human interaction, especially when it comes to forgiveness. For example, if your friends talk behind your back, and you forgive them, isn't so much more meaningful and authentic to tell them you forgive them? Or if you done something bad to others: doesn't it feel so much better to go up to them and ask for forgiveness...to look in their eyes and tell them you’ve done wrong? There is real closure in asking and giving forgiveness. That human intimacy in forgiveness is such a beautiful gift from God. Why would we rob ourselves of that feeling when asking God for forgiveness?

We must remember that it is Jesus who forgives our sins. It is Jesus who died so that our sins would be forgiven, that we would be able to join Him in Heaven. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest is sitting in the name of Christ. At the end of the reconciliation when the priest says, "...I absolve you," he is speaking in "persona Christi Capitis" which means "in the name of Christ". He says "I absolve you" rather than "Jesus absolves you."

In closing, I want to share with you something that touched me. I was reading this great book on Reconciliation, called Reconciling Embrace. The book has a number of authors, but in one chapter H. Kathleen Hughes, RSCJ, offers a beautiful perspective on Reconciliation. Alluding to Pope Paul VI's analogy, she compares the Sacrament of Reconciliation to two "abysses": one of sin, and the other of God's love.

Here's what she wrote:
"Today, if we must choose between the two great abysses, and perhaps counteract the recent past, I think we must lose ourselves for a time in the other abyss, that of God's tenderness, mercy, compassion and love. People who are overwhelmed by God's love become preoccupied with sustaining that relationship and with making God's tender mercy and compassion available to all. That, I believe, is the heart of reconciliation."