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Catholic Q & A Answers
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Why do I need to go to Confession, why can’t I just tell my sins directly to God?
- Throughout scripture there are plenty of references to the forgiveness of sin. We see it in Isaiah 43:25 when the Lord declares, “ I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Again we hear in Psalm 103:2-3, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.” In the Old Testament we are given this beautiful image of God, the God who loves and forgives us, the God who shows us mercy. Yet, in these verses we hear nothing of telling our sins to a priest, so what is it that Catholics should really believe? In the Old Testament, right after the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses (also known as the exodus), God gives His people a list of laws so that they know how to live within their community. These laws are laid out in the book of Leviticus, the third book of the Bible. Amongst all of the laws given to the Israelites, we find this gem of a verse in chapter 19, “And the priest shall make atonement for him [the sinner] with the ram of guilt offering before the Lord for his sin that he committed; and the sine he committed shall be forgiven him” (Lev 19:22). It is here that we first see that a priest can be used as God’s instrument to forgive His people, and it does not take away from the fact that it was still God who did the forgiving. God is the primary cause of forgiveness, it is God who forgives sin, the priest is the secondary, or instrumental cause. Just as God empowers his priests to be instruments of forgiveness in the Old Testament, Jesus commissions his apostles in the New Testament to continue this mission. It can be seen in John 20:21-23, “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
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Why do I have to tell my sins to a priest, what is his role in confession?
- In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is explicitly stated that “confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance” (CCC 1456). Yet, for a lot of us, it is the reason we stay away from confession. Why do I need to tell my sins to a priest that I don’t really know so I can be forgiven? The simple answer to this question is: because Jesus told us to. As stated above, Christ entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to his apostles, who passed it down to their successors, who continued to pass it down until it was passed down to the priests that we have in the Church today. Priests receive this particular privilege through the virtue of the sacrament of Holy Orders. The CCC gives us a beautiful image of the role of the priest in confession: “When he [the priest] celebrates the sacrament of Penance, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return, and of the just and impartial judge whose judgment is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for the sinner” (CCC 1465, emphasis added). Confession should always be a place of love and mercy, not judgment. Each priest, in the sacrament of confession, is called to unite himself “to the intention and charity of Christ” (CCC 1466). Here is a testimony from popular priest, Fr. Mike Schmitz, he states “Sins are not a part of God’s masterpiece. Sins are boring, they're all the same. Sins are basically garbage. If sins are garbage, priests are basically God’s garbage men. Now, when was the last time you ever saw a garbage man going through the garbage pulling out garbage as if it was fascinating to him? It’s not fascinating, because he realizes it’s just garbage. When someone comes to confession, I don’t remember the garbage, I remember the power of the God who loves them. I remember the person who didn’t give up, that's what I see.” The priest is not there to hold judgment, but to share God’s love and mercy with each and every penitent. Even more so, every priest is bound by the sacramental seal, which means that he is bound by severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding any sins or personal knowledge he may learn about a penitent. Lastly, it is important to know that a priest must pray and do penance for his penitent, so even after you leave the confessional the priest is praying for you! Just as the Lord spoke to His chosen people in Isaiah, He still speaks to us: “do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10).
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So, how do I prepare to go to Confession?
- Just as you have nothing to fear in encountering Jesus in the Eucharist, there is nothing to fear in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, either. Jesus calls us to Himself in confession, He wants nothing more than to take away the burden of your sins because sin does burden us. When we have sinned and have not been to confession, we can sometimes literally feel weighed down, or heavy. We can feel lost in our relationship with Christ, we can feel like we aren’t good enough to even share our heart with Him. But Jesus is more powerful than sin, and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, he wants to remove this burden, to wipe the slate clean, and to give us a new beginning. Perhaps there has been a lot on your mind, and you have been meaning to come to confession for a while but have been afraid to do so. Now is the perfect time to answer the call of Jesus, who wants us to live in His love! If you need a refresher on how to go to confession, check out this guide from the Father’s of Mercy and receive the grace of this beautiful Sacrament
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