What exactly is confession in the catholic church. Confession was instituted by Jesus Christ and is a sacrament. First let me explain what a sacrament is. A sacrament is a sacred christian rite. It is recognized, because of its particular importance and significance. In the catholic church a sacrament is a sign of grace. Confession is one of the first two important sacraments in the catholic church.
There are many different names that the sacrament of confession is known by in the catholic church. One of the names is the sacrament of conversion. This is because it makes Jesus present in the sacrament for conversion. It is mostly known by the common name Penance. Generally as Catholics we just call it confession. This is because we are confessing our personal sins to God and asking for his forgiveness.
The way in which we go to confession has changed throughout the years since I was a child. When I was young I would go on a Thursday afternoon to the church where it was very quiet. You would go to what was called the confessional booth. To me as a young child it looked like a closet. The Priest was in a center small room and there were two small rooms on either side. The Priest would slide a small door open and there was a sort of see through screen. It was very dark and you could not see each other. You could only hear his voice. First you made a good act of contrition and then you would confess your sins. The priest would then absolve you of your sins and you male a good penance. This usually consisted of praying so many Hail Mary’s and Our Fathers.
The sacrament of confession is still the same except the way we do it is a little different. You are not in a small confessional booth unless it is an older church and they still do it that way. Otherwise you are seated face to face with the Priest and you follow the same method as when I was young. They do sometimes have a small screen that can be placed between the two of you. At first it felt a little uncomfortable, but then I got used to it. All I can say is afterwards it feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
So how exactly did the priest get the power to forgive sins. Some religions just tell the faithful to pray and ask Jesus to forgive them. Yes I believe that if you truly ask Jesus to forgive you he will. But what we do not understand is that confession is a gift from God and we should cherish it. I do not believe the way that certain other people believe that once forgiven you are always forgiven. This almost gives a person a license to sin, because they will be instantly forgiven. This is not in the bible. Okay so when did Jesus give the Apostles the power to forgive sin. We read in John Chapter 20 verses 20 to 23 we read: 20When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.* The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.k 21* [Jesus] said to them again,l “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22* And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,m “Receive the holy Spirit. 23* n Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” So you can see that this was given to the Apostles by the power of the Holy Spirit and has been passed on through all the generations.
Here is an excellent explanation all about the Sacrament of Penance, so just click on the link http://ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/GUIDEPEN.HTM . I would also recommend the Wikipedia webpage on the Sacraments of the Catholic Church at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacraments_of_the_Catholic_Church . Here is another good link at Catholic Answers http://www.catholic.com/tracts/the-forgiveness-of-sins . My advise to anyone is if you have a question go to a priest and ask your question. So many times I have seen that the information given by others outside the Catholic Church is wrong, because people see with their eyes and not with the truth. If you do seek answers online I would recommend going to catholic Answers at this link http://www.catholic.com/ .
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
Here are some excellent videos by Dr. Scott Hahn. They are audio and no video. Part 1, 2 and 3 can be seen above.
Well I would just say Thank You for reading and God Bless.
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