Question to Catholics...?

Question

Two questions actually, I am a Christian and have not understood a few of the Catholic doctrines. First why do you have to confess sins to a preist, and second, why do you say memorized prayers. I had a Catholic roommate last year and he could never really explain it to me. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

On Confession:

This sacrament is rooted in the mission God gave to Christ in his capacity as the Son of man on earth to go and forgive sins (cf. Matt. 9:6). Thus, the crowds who witnessed this new power "glorified God, who had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8; note the plural "men"). After his resurrection, Jesus passed on his mission to forgive sins to his ministers, telling them, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21–23).

Since it is not possible to confess all of our many daily faults, we know that sacramental reconciliation is required only for grave or mortal sins—but it is required, or Christ would not have commanded it.

Over time, the forms in which the sacrament has been administered have changed. In the early Church, publicly known sins (such as apostasy) were often confessed openly in church, though private confession to a priest was always an option for privately committed sins. Still, confession was not just something done in silence to God alone, but something done "in church," as the Didache (A.D. 70) indicates.


On Prayer:
A memorized prayer, such as the Rosary, is a way to meditate on the Gospel. They are meant to occupy our whole being, body and soul, while meditating on the truths of the Faith. Any prayer is vain, however, if said mechanically without devotion. Simply to repeat prayers is not the vain repetition condemned by Christ (Mt 6:7), since He Himself repeats His prayer in the Garden three times (Mt 26:39, 42, 44) and the Psalms (inspired by the Holy Spirit) are often very repetitive (Ps 119 has 176 verses and Ps. 136 repeats the same phrase 26 times).

Matthew 6:7 In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.

Psalm 136:1-26
Praise the LORD, who is so good;
God's love endures forever;
Praise the God of gods;
God's love endures forever;
. . . Praise the God of heaven,
God's love endures forever.

Matthew 26:39 He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will."

Matthew 26:42 Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again, "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!"

Matthew 26:44 He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.

The Church believes that it is necessary for a Christian to meditate (prayerfully think about) the will of God, the life and teachings of Jesus, the price He paid for our salvation, and so on. Unless we do this we will begin to take these great gifts for granted and ultimately fall away from the Lord. Every Christian must meditate in some way in order to preserve the gift of salvation (James 1:22-25). Many Catholic and non-Catholic Christians prayerfully read and apply Scripture to their lives, that is, meditate on them. With the rosary this can be done virtually anywhere and anytime.

Answer 2

The confession of sins to a priest is one of the sacraments made by the Catholic Church. The logic behind this ritual is based on several Bible verses that tell of how Jesus passed this grace onto his desciples. Since Catholicism's works by means of traditions, the Church claims that this grace was passed on to other bishops and church leaders by the oroginal apostles.

As for memorized prayers, Catholics use many prayers the Church has established through its history. The only original prayer would be that of Jesus himself that he created as a model prayer for all believers to follow. (Our Father)

Another popular prayer is the Hail Mary, this short prayer begings with verses taken from the Bible at the time when the archangel Gabriel visited Mary to give her the well known tidings that she would carry Jesus. The second part of the verses was made at some point other than by the original Bible writings and were later joined.

The reason that most Catholics cannot explain most of their core beliefs is the lack of understanding of the Bible and relying mostly on tradition rather than tradition and scripture (Bible). Many of these practices not incurred to by Nonconformist Christians can be better understood and explained using the Bible and also the Septaguaint Books (book of Tobith, Macabeus, Wisdom etc.) which are not included in the standard protestant Bibles.

Answer 3

Yes, I am a practicing Catholic. I do feel bad when, at Christmas and Easter, all those "twice a year" Catholics come out - but then I realize that it could be worse. It could very well be possible they don't come out at all. It's easy for someone, who attends Church every week, to go to Mass on Christmas, Easter, and Holy Days of Obligation. I often wonder just how much more difficult it is for people, who don't attend Mass regularly, to get out and go to Mass a few time per year. We can't imagine it, because we know what we'd be missing. I don't think these "twice a year" types can fully appreciate what it is they're missing. If they did, they'd be at Mass more than twice a year. I am proud to be Catholic, so it's all the more disappointing when I see people taking an "oh hum: attitude towards their vocation as lay Catholics. All we can really do about it is pray, and hope that they example we set will, someday, motivate them to start living the Catholic lifestyle all year round.

Answer 4

1.) Jesus's great commission included "Who's sins you forgive..." and Paul wrote about confessing to the community one's sins.

The priest is not a stand in for God, nor is he the source of forgiveness. He represents the community, and provides the forgivness of the community, or what is otherwise known as absolution.

He is also a tangible assistant in the quest to live a life without sin, able to provide insight and counsel on how to overcome one's spiritual difficulties. He can be a shoulder to cry on for those who need one.

2.) We are human. Sometimes, we don't know what to say. So sometimes having something pre-written, or traditional, can appeal to the ritual side of our nature. If a prayer is not said from the heart, then it doesn't matter if it was written by someone else or by the person -- and if it's not said from the heart, it doesn't matter.

The involvement of the heart, in Faith, Hope and Love, is what makes prayer prayer... not the words or the source of the words.

Answer 5

Pastor Billy says both are biblical that should be good enough for a bible believer right, if of course you are one. I've already explained your second question elsewhere I'll dig it up and post it again here. With regards to your first question please read John 20:20-22. Christ gives the authority to his first bishops the apostles to forgive sins. This is a continuation of the authority given Jesus from the Father that we read of in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus heals the paralytic man who gets up and takes his mat and walks off home. The gospel reads the people marvelled at it in how a man could forgive sins and Jesus responded please go read the verse. The people did not know Jesus was both God and man but the moral of the verse was this marvel was performed in his humanity. Returning to John20 the apostles are given the same authority to forgive and........retain sins. The second part of retaining is very important because it shows us they would have to be made aware of someone elses sins to reject forgiveness of them something completely different than merely asking forgiveness of our trespasses found elsewhere in scripture. Many times non-Catholic take these verses in John20 out of context in attempt to disprove man could forgive sins in Christ's name.

Catholics accept all of Christ's authority and that includes the authority to forgive sins in the sacrament of confession where the priest forgives not in his name but the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, basically in the name of God.

Answer 6

We confess our sins because that's what the Bible tells us to do:

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Priests are the successors of the apostles, and Christ gave them the power to remit or retain sins:

John 20:23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.

As to the memorized prayers, there are times when I'm under stress and cannot focus my thoughts well enough to know what to say to God. Or I'm at a loss to know how to pray about certain things, and that's when being able to turn to my prayerbook is so helpful.

Saying the "Our Father" is both Scriptural and an excellent way to ask Him to meet our needs. And the rhythm of the Rosary prayers can help me calm down and be able to deal with the stress of life. It allows me to focus my thoughts and restores my peace of mind.

I hope this answers your questions, but if you have anything else that you'd like to know, please feel free to ask. I'll check back later and edit this reply if needs be. God bless you.

Answer 7

The Council of Trent (1551) declares:

As a means of regaining grace and justice, penance was at all times necessary for those who had defiled their souls with any mortal sin. . . . Before the coming of Christ, penance was not a sacrament, nor is it since His coming a sacrament for those who are not baptized. But the Lord then principally instituted the Sacrament of Penance, when, being raised from the dead, he breathed upon His disciples saying: 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained' (John 20:22-23). By which action so signal and words so clear the consent of all the Fathers has ever understood that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after Baptism. (Sess. XIV, c. i)

as far as our recitation of prayers, these prayers are ones that were created by saints, by doctors of the church, and by the laity. they are acts of our devotion, and we like uniformity across the world. we like to be in harmony and communion and it is very difficult to do this with out set doctrine, canon, and professions/declarations of faith mandated by mother church. we are nearly one and a half billion strong, and we are one of the most organized bodies in the world. plus, there is nothing more beautiful in my opinion than hearing a couple hundred people recite in unison the nicean creed during mass... "We believe in One God, the Father, the Almighty..." etc.

Answer 8

It's not as strict as it used to be. Years back we had to go to Confession every week or you could not recieve Holy Communion. Now, it is once a year in my church. The reason we go according to our Pastor, is because, yes, we CAN tell our sins to God alone, but, it's supposed to take our burden off ourselves and bring peace when we confess to a priest and receive absolution.
The memorized prayers are there out of tradition but particularly the Lord's Prayer is most important. He gave us those words.But basically, we pray in our own words.

Answer 9

You might say a Roman Catholic is "born again" each time they go to confession.

All religions memorize prayers. If not on purpose, because of constant repetition.

If you want the Truth.....Ask a Pagan

Answer 10

I like Sunday school.