Why do Catholic's confess their sins to the priest and not directly to Jesus in private personal prayer?

Question

Why is this a common practice in Catholicism?

Answer 1

I think that they feel they are not worthy to talk to God directly and the preist is the only one worthy enough to take the people's sins to God. Nots sure but think that is how it works.

Answer 2

In a sense they Are talking directly to God.

Because confession IS a private thing. The priest is just a conduit. He is faceless, hidden inside the confessional. He does not see the one confessing, nor does the person see the priest. It is a sacred communication and the priest cannot reveal what was told to him.

Of course, there is some element of psychotherapy involved. There is a catharsis. A small punishment, a penance (100 rosaries) is delivered. The ".. Te absolvo" calms the 'sinner', who presumably will henceforth stick to the narrow and straight.

Answer 3

We as Catholics confess our sins to the priest, but it is still God who forgives the sin - the priest is an intermediary. Why do we have it set up so that you go to a priest instead of confessing directly to God. To know the reason for that, you have to know a little bit about what sacraments are, and why we have them. Sacraments are visible signs, instituted by God, to give grace. In the Catholic Church, there are seven sacraments, of which penance (or reconciliation) is one.

Yes, you can plead with God directly to forgive your sins, but with a priest, and the absolution given, you have a visible sign of God's grace and forgiveness, which makes it all the better.

Answer 4

>>and not directly to Jesus in private personal prayer?<<

As a Catholic, I would say that any Catholic who has NOT first confessed "directly to Jesus in private personal prayer" is not in a fit state to enter the confessional.

Robert S is correct in what he wrote -- "James says to confess our sins to one an other. It doesn't have to be a priest it can be another Christian."

We Catholics confess our sins to one another at every Mass. For absolution, however, Jesus authorized agents to forgive or retain sins (John 20:21-23).

Answer 5

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.

Penances also tended to be performed before rather than after absolution, and they were much more strict than those of today (ten years’ penance for abortion, for example, was common in the early Church).

But the basics of the sacrament have always been there, as the following quotations reveal. Of special significance is their recognition that confession and absolution must be received by a sinner before receiving Holy Communion, for "[w]hoever . . . eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27).

The Didache

"Confess your sins in church, and do not go up to your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. . . . On the Lord’s Day gather together, break bread, and give thanks, after confessing your transgressions so that your sacrifice may be pure" (Didache 4:14, 14:1 [A.D. 70]).

The Letter of Barnabas

"You shall judge righteously. You shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify those that contend by bringing them together. You shall confess your sins. You shall not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light" (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).

Peace and every blessing!

Answer 6

James says to confess our sins to one an other. It doesn't have to be a priest it can be another Christian.

Answer 7

Because that is what the Bible says to do.

Jas.5

1. [16] Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.

John.20

1. [23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Cheers :-)

Answer 8

It originated yonks ago because it was created as a control mechanism. So when people unknowlingly confessed, it was used by the Roman Catholic system to control.

The Lord does not approve of this system. We should confess one to another, as said in James, but not to someone who can give you '10 hail marys" and all will be well. No, only God forgives. Man is just a witness.

Answer 9

its order from Jesus and read the Gospel you will find it in the last of john and jams even the priest confess to the priest.

Answer 10

Who is a ransom for whom?
(a) “The Son of Man came...to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). “Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all... “(I Timothy 2:5-6)
(b) “The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the faithless for the upright” (Proverbs 21:18)