This is a response to a question on Catholic beliefs of confessions?

Question

Confessions in catholicism- i don't know a lot about the whole confessions itself but i know that when you give a confession it is between you and god the priest dose not hold it against you and even at your request you can be behind a blind. I know this sounds weird but in a way at that moment the priest is the lord and you are sending the message through the priest to lord or in other words at that time the lord takes over the priests body and after we confess he puts a blessing on us with the sign of the cross and forgives us of our sins. and if anyone would like questions answered just leave them here and i will answer them the best that i can

Answer 1

your posting is a community guidelines violation.

re-phrase the question ... give everyone a chance to answer, choose a Best Answer, then give us your take on it.

generally, that's the way the game is played.

Answer 2

The first thing Jesus did after he rose again from the dead was to anoint the apostles with the Holy Spirit, and give them the power to forgive sins.

Joh 20:19 Now when it was late the same day, the first of the week, and the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them: Peace be to you.
Joh 20:20 And when he had said this, he shewed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord.
Joh 20:21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you.
Joh 20:22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
Joh 20:23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.

This was the most radical pro-active way of fighting sin ever conceived. It was personal, and it was "light years" ahead of the old "scapegoat" system.

It was the most immediate and direct way of distributing the fruits of Christ's life, death, and resurrection, and it even predated the official beginning of the church, on Pentecost.

The sacrament of reconciliation, instituted directly by Christ in this way, has been an essential part of the Catholic Church, and the Catholic way of life ever since.

It remains a very great blessing, and it is also the only way for anyone to be absolutely certain that God has indeed forgiven all their sins, no matter how heinous or depraved.

Absolution for sin is not automatic, nor is it a mere formality.

The sinner must be contrite (sorry) for their sins. All serious sins must be confessed. A sincere purpose and a real possibility of amendment is also required.

Act 3:18 But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Be penitent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.

Without all of the above, forgiveness cannot be obtained ... either diretly from God, or through his Church.

How many Christians have the spiritual discipline or know- how to properly understand and observe these most basic (and totally biblical) requirements for the forgiveness of sins?

How many might still be trapped in their sins as a direct consequence of their ignorance?

Protestants don't understand the sacrament of reconcilliation because they choose not to, mainly due to a built in traditional bias against priests and sacraments.

Rationailizing scripture, and saying that Jesus didn't mean what he said, or that he didn't intend to make the forgiveness of sins a major part of the faith, when history and scripture both prove otherwise, is disingenuous, spiritually dangerous, and flat out wrong ... for anyone.

The ability to emerge from the confession booth with a completely clear conscience, and a soul made spotless by the blood of Christ ... the Holy Spirit dwelling fully within ... is the closest anyone can ever get to the perfection of heaven, in this life.

It's a real shame that more Christians won't or can't avail themselves of it.

Answer 3

To catnip - WRONG! Priests cannot break the "seal". If they could, it would not even be called a "seal". There would be no such thing as a seal.

What's more, if the breaking of the seal is as easy as you are (falsely) allegeing, no one would go to Confession out of fear their sins would become the topic of gossip amongst parishioners.

Truth be told, not evern a court order can get a priest to break the seal.

If a priest does break the seal, he does so in violation of Saced Tradition. The Bishop running that priest's arch diocese MUST be informed IMMEDIATELY.

Answer 4

One little problem here....the priest is not the Lord in the confessional. He acts as an intermediary between the confessor and God.

This "explanation" is going to really get them going about Catholicism....it's making it worse.

If someone really wants to understand the purpose of "going to confession" it would be better to read about it or talk to a priest.

Answer 5

Actually, the priest can "break" the "seal" of the confession if he "sees fit". Like, if another child molester comes to him and confesses that he molested a child, the priest, of course, will keep quiet even if he knows who it is. He'll tell the guy to chant a few "Hail Marys" and then everything is better. The process will be repeated every time the child molester confesses molesting a child.

However, if a child steals a cupcake at a cupcake sale, confesses it, and the priest knows who it is, he can go to the nun who is the principal of the catholic school and tell her what the child did, and who the child was that did it. Because he saw fit in that case to break the seal, since the church lost a quarter when the child stole the cupcake.

Answer 6

Well, I’m sure you know the Bible better than I do, so tell me—does it say somewhere in the Bible that we shouldn’t confess our sins to a man? That we should confess our sins to God alone?

Well, if we’re not supposed to confess our sins to men, I’m a little confused. Maybe you can explain this to me. Doesn’t James 5:16 tell us that we are to confess are sins to men? And, in Matthew 9:8, why does God give the authority on earth to forgive sins to men if we are supposed to confess our sins to God alone?Read Matthew 9:8.....What does that mean?

The Catholic Church teaches that both faith and works play a role in our salvation. But I think you believe in salvation by faith alone, right? Where in the Bible does it say that we are saved by faith alone?

What it says in the Bible speaks of belief in Christ or "faith." Catholics believe we are saved by faith, and our understanding of faith means that we believe Jesus is God, and, therefore, we trust what he says and we do as he asks, which demonstrates our love for him. That’s biblical (Matt. 5:48; 19:16–17; John 14:21; Gal. 5:5–6). But nowhere does the Bible say that we are saved by faith "alone."

If we are saved by faith alone, then do we need to love in order to be saved? If so, then we are not saved by faith alone, are we? We are saved by faith and love—which Catholics refer to as faith working through love (cf. Gal. 5:6). If a person says we do not need love in order to be saved, then he is saying we can get to heaven without loving God or our fellow man—a patently ridiculous position to take. Also, if faith alone saves us, faith without love, why does 1 Corinthians 13:13 say that love is greater than faith? After all, if salvation is the greatest thing we can achieve, and it is by faith alone that we achieve salvation, then faith should be greater than love. But the Bible says differently.

Source(s):

CATHOLIC

Answer 7

i don't get the child molester in a box deal. is that where he takes the alter boys for sex also?