The Sacrament of Confession

Saintaquinas.com/confess says: In Matthew 16:17-19 Jesus tells Simon after his confession of faith: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but my heavenly father. And so I say to you, you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." The man who wrote this site believes that in changing Simon's name to Peter (translated into Aramaic, the language of Jesus and his apostles, is Kepha or rock) that Peter is the rock on which Jesus built his church and by giving Peter the keys of heaven (strong symbols of authority) Jesus gave him binding and loosing powers and ultimate teaching authority over the church. (I believe the interpretation fails to identify that Simon’s middle name was Peter and there were 2 apostles named Simon therefore the middle name simply was used to separate the identity of the 2 men.)

Catholics believe that Christ instituted a church that would be his earthly guide for all nations; a church that would be protected and guided by the Holy Spirit to preserve his Christian truths and guide all men to Jesus for their salvation (essentially, the Catholic Church was founded on Peter, the first of the popes). If Christ had not established a teaching, living, apostolic church then how could we properly understand the doctrines of the Bible? Note that 2 Peter 1:20 says "know this first of all, that there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation". And even the Ethiopian eunuch on his way to Damascus while trying to interpret scripture asks for Philip's help (who is ordained as a priest in Acts 6:5). "Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied "How can I unless someone instructs me?" (Acts 8:30-31). As such, true ability to interpret scripture and preserve the teachings of Christ is only fully possible within the Catholic Church. Although much truth exists in other Christian religions the only infallible truth lies within the Bible and the Traditions of the Catholic Church which thus has the authority to properly teach the doctrines of faith for our salvation. If you read the Father's of the Church their writings correlate with Catholic views on a ministerial priesthood, the sacraments and many other Catholic doctrines. The Church teaches it is the normative necessary means by which a Christian receives the forgiveness of God. Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross served as the divine substitute for our transgressions. Not only does the Church teach the need of regular confession but the Bible also records Christ’s institution of the sacrament following his resurrection from the dead when he first appeared to the assembly of apostles (John 20:19-23): Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”  He showed them his hands and his side and the disciples rejoiced. Jesus again said “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent me so I send you.”  And when he said this he breathed on them and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive are forgiven them and whose sins you retain are retained.” We should realize that in Holy Scripture God breathed on man only twice: once when he breathed life into the clay of earth to create man (Genesis 2:7) and the second time when he breathed the life of grace into his Church. Both instances were that of an intimate, riveting moment between God and man. 

The moment Jesus breathed on his apostles constituted both the institution of the Catholic ministerial priesthood and the sacrament of confession (the authority to forgive and retain sins). Acts 6:1-6 shows the establishment of the priesthood under the apostles of the Church. It is clear that the ability to forgive and retain sin given to the apostles requires that each of us confess our sins to the priests of the Church so that our sins can be forgiven or retained. As Christ well knew, confession of sins to a priest requires humility, trust in God and the Church, and contrition of heart. Confession of sins to a priest gives us the assurance that our sins are forgiven even though we may not be perfectly penitent; a man who goes directly to God for forgiveness of sin can be forgiven but only if he is perfectly contrite and resolved to sin no more. A Catholic who will not consent to sacramental confession is the man the Church grieves for the most. He has all the instruments of salvation laid out at his feet but he will not lay his pride down at the foot of the Cross to pick them up. Sacramental confession often seems like a frightening, humiliating act for those who have neglected the sacrament for many years. Over time confessions become less frightening but they always require a measure of humility and resolve. Being there is an act of God’s grace and nothing in the world can compare to the joy of the soul after a good confession when the veil of sin falls away and the light of grace fills the soul. No priest will ever condemn a penitent man. 

Okay, my turn. I’ll buy that God breathed on the earth but it was Christ who breathed on the apostles. I will agree that teachers are necessary to spread the love of God and his words of goodness. But I believe that it was the apostles, specifically Peter, who interpreted Jesus’ words to mean that priests in addition to God have the authority to forgive sin in spite of what is written in the Commandments and 1 Timothy (2:5). Unfortunately because of man’s ego, drive for power and lack of stability, I don’t believe that God’s intentions are being followed. I don’t think God wants us to be daily demons and have a continuous out for our sins; nor do I believe that he approves of religions spewing discriminatory and hateful words which most of them are doing.