"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18)
Why Confession?
Short Answer: Jesus
told the Apostles that they can absolve sin on Earth. ( It is a bit
funny, Protestants say ''Sola Scriptura,' but you can find the
Sacraments in the bible)
Conversation: If you are
honest, you can surely admit that we keep many 'sins' or transgressions
to ourselves. And we even hide many from OUR OWN SELVES! We humans are
very much wired to protect our selves. Protect that which we love.
Protect that which angers us. Protect us from that which scares us.
What scares us more than telling a priest ( a man in cloth) what we have
done to others, the ones we love, and ourselves. It is a very
vulnerable moment.
The practice of Reconciliation is a bit to do
with courage. Imagine that you have passed away. You face Jesus, and
He will tell you your sins. Would you be ready for that? Isn't that
much more scary than telling a priest? We are very aware we deceive
ourselves, and there is no time left for deception or question. We are
told to go to confession so we can be confident. It is a gift to which
we can not give ourselves. With this confidence, can we have a bit more
peace in our hearts when we meet our judge. This should not be taken lightly. The sacraments bring us closer to God through the Holy Spirit and prepare us for the moment we are to be judged. If you do not feel you are ready to meet Jesus, you are (probably,surely) not. Then open your heart to the reality of confession in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the sacred sacrament of Confession. The protest against
Reconciliation, in its roots, is the very protest of man against God.
We put everything in earthly terms. We tell ourselves, ''Why do I have
to tell a priest what I have done?'' What we should say, ''If I can not
tell a priest what I have done, will I be honest enough to face my
judgement?''
I would like to suggest some ways we deceive ourselves
in maybe two ways of many: 1) We want forgiveness more than we are sorry
for our sins. We seek forgiveness and peace and not really have
sorrow. 2) We obstruct truth, we purposely forget, we tell ourselves
that things are Ok despite the feelings or perception of others. We
project little problems to our actions because we justify things to
ourself. ''No, I shouldn't be sorry, because I was only angry because
they made me angry. OR Well, I really didn''t truly mean what I said,
so they may be mad, but I know what I truly feel. OR I didn't lie. I
just didn't think they needed to know my business.''
Aside from us
deceiving ourselves, I think it is worth the discussion to mention how
we are social creatures, and how our faith is to lived outwardly towards
others. Jesus said,'' Love your neighbors as yourself.'' In
Reconciliation we can meet this requirement by being honest with our
neighbors and sharing our transgressions bravely and confidently with a
neighbor in body, but a neighbor in spirit through a priest. The more
we give the more we receive, the more we give up our pride and
insecurity and confess our transgressions, the more we receive a
communion with the Holy Spirit and with others! When we live out our
faith, our faith is also growing outwardly, and thus our faith is
inviting our neighbors into our faith. What love for neighbor can be
better than inviting the community into your faith. Don't be fooled, we
are social creatures, we are to live socially, and we are to pray
socially, and we are to live out our faith socially.
The more we
put into society, the more we get out. The more we put into faith, the
more we get out. Reconciliation is a call for outward faith. A faith
that says, do not hide your religion within, live it out, even when you
sin. Forgiveness is one of the greatest aspects of love. When we
confess, we should not be afraid, we should honor the love of God. It
is the way we are to live. Honor God, trust in His words, when His
priest absolve our sin, we should leave confident that our souls are
healed that we no longer face our past, but move onward with a but more
strength in spirit.
ANOTHER'S COMMENTARY
http://voices.yahoo.com/defending-catholic-faith-confession-218027.html
Why should I believe that a priest has the power to forgive my sins? Why
can't I just tell my sins to Jesus in private without confessing them
to a priest? What is the purpose of Reconciliation anyway? There are
many difficult questions when discussing Confession, also known as the
Sacrament of Reconciliation. But Jesus does give us the answer within
the Bible and we can look to his powerful words to give us clues as to
why the Sacrament of Reconciliation exists.
First, however, we
should think about why we need the Sacrament of Reconciliation and
penance. Reconciliation, or confession, of our sins is necessary to know
absolutely, 100% for sure that our sins that we commit here on Earth
are forgiven. Sure, we could confess our sins in the privacy of our own
homes in our hearts to God, but there are a couple complications to that
process. First, how often would we truly use this practice? One could
go years without actually confessing sins to God in their own heart.
Confessing one's sins with a priest helps us to make the sacrament real.
Second, when and if we do confess our sins in our heart instead of
within the confines of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, is one really
sure that he or she is cleansed of that sin? When one enters the
confessional, however, and goes through the Sacrament of Reconciliation
with the priest, he or she is absolutely certain that their sins are
forgiven.
The Gospel of John has Jesus' words that institute the
sacrament of Confession. Jesus commissions his disciples in Chapter 20,
verses 22 and 23, to go out and forgive sins in this power of His name.
Jesus says, "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins
you retain are retained." This verse is pretty much self-explanatory
because it gives Jesus' apostles the power to forgive sins. It is the
basis for the Sacrament of Confession. Jesus passed the authority on to
his Apostles, and this power has been conferred on to priests, bishops,
and popes all throughout the ages.
In Jesus' words we find that
He gave his Apostles the authority to forgive sins, and through that,
established the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This sacrament, which gives
us assurance that our sins are erased completely, has blessed the
Catholic Church for many ages, and will continue to be a source of
powerful healing for ages to come!
