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Confession. Have you ever wondered where Catholics get the strange idea of confession? Have you ever been curious why Catholics head into a small room and reveal their deepest sins to another sinful person? What a strange thing to do-tell your sins to a man who says that your sins are forgiven. Isn’t God the only one who can forgive sins? If you don’t completely understand the strange phenomenon of Catholics confessing their sins to a priest, then this short essay is aimed at giving you a brief explanation and rational for why Catholics bother confessing their sins to a priest instead of going directly to God, the one who actually forgives the sins anyway. First of all, while the Catholic Church professes that only God has the power to forgive sins, it likewise affirms that Christ, as God Incarnate, “by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1441). The Catholic practice of confession is directly grounded in Jesus’ own command to His apostles “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). Moreover, it makes sense for priests to forgive sins because the priests carry on the work of the apostles, who were sent to further Christ’s mission, Christ said, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (John 20:21). An essential component to Christ’s mission was the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, since Christ gave the apostles the ability to carry on His mission, this mission includes the task to forgive sins. Jesus himself said, "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18:18). Just as the apostles were to carry Christ’s message to the whole world, so they were to carry his forgiveness. Logically then, if the apostles have the ability to either forgive sins or not they first have to know what they are. This is why Catholics verbally tell their sins to a priest. Sure, you might ask, but did the early Christians really take Jesus’ words to mean what the Catholic Church teaches today? A brief look at the New Testament reveals that yes, confession was practiced even among the early Christian community. 1 John reads, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). In addition, James teaches that Christians should “confess therefore your sins one to another.” (James 5:16). Also, St Paul writes of the awesome gift God gave us in confession, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18). In summary, the Catholic Church’s position on confession is firmly grounded in Christ’s own words and seen in the earliest traditions of the Church. |