Need for Confession

 "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!