QUESTION
Hello. Some fundamentalist sects tell us: Why do we confess to the priest? They say that this is wrong, that he is a sinful man, that the Bible forbids it, and that it is better to confess directly to God (as if they had a cell phone). Even some Catholics think something similar.
ANSWER
Well, let us see what the Bible says about this so as not to commit those titanic errors that sink many people in the sea of ignorance, because they do not study Sacred Scripture well.
1.- Jesus Christ gave this power to the Apostles.
This is the main reason why we confess to the man of God. We are disciples of Jesus Christ and we are obeying him. He gives this power to men so that they may exercise it in his name.
“Receive the Holy Spirit: whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” Jn 20:22-23
“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” Mt 18:18
These passages are in all the Bibles of the world, including those used by separated brethren. So there is no saying that the Church invented this sacrament or that the Bible forbids it, since the one who instituted it was Jesus Christ.
Our Lord Jesus Christ is very clear. Here he is speaking of the “power” to “forgive” and “not forgive” sins. He is not speaking about forgiving one another when we offend one another, but about the fact that “some” (the apostles and their successors) have the power to forgive sins. Of course Jesus Christ knew that they were sinful men, and even so he gave them this power. Bishops are successors of the Apostles, and priests are their collaborators.
Jesus did not leave cell phones for confessing directly to God. He left priests.
When the sects use the passage from Jeremiah 17 to say that it is wrong to trust in a man, they make the mistake of not reading the complete verse, for it says: “… and whose heart turns away from the LORD.” That is what the Bible forbids. In this case, confession is not meant to separate us from God, but on the contrary, to bring us closer and unite us more to him. Without a doubt, this text, without its context, is just another pretext of the sects.
2.- The practice of Confession in the Bible.
Let us now see how, in the first years of the life of the Church, they understood this sacrament.
“Many of those who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices” Acts 19:18
We have just read in the Bible this passage which says that when those people believed, what they did was “go” to confess their sins. Sacred Scripture says “came forward”; it speaks of moving from one place to another. Where did they go? Why did they have to go somewhere else and not directly to God?
The answer is very simple. They were going in search of the Apostles. There they confessed their faults. This is what the true Christians of that time did, and what Catholics continue doing today.
Furthermore, the Bible speaks to us about confessing our faults to another (the priest):
“Confess your sins to one another.” Jas 5:14-16
It is a command (imperative). It is not an option. The sects speak so much of basing themselves on the Bible, and yet they do not see these biblical passages clearly. The solution for understanding this is for the separated brethren to start reading the Bible and accept it as it is.
3.- The error of the Pharisees and of the sects.
The Gospel of Matthew reveals to us in the following passage the reason why some do not want to accept something so clear in the Bible.
“… when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Courage, child; your sins are forgiven.’ Some of the scribes said to themselves, ‘This man is blaspheming.’ But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, ‘Why do you harbor evil thoughts? Which is easier, to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Rise and walk”? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—then he said to the paralytic, ‘Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.’
And the paralytic rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings” Mt 9:1-8
How tremendous. The simple people “glorified God who had given such authority to men,” while the supposed “teachers” of the Law saw in this an offense against God. The same thing happens now. Simple people bless God for having given this power to forgive sins to men, while the sects, with their present-day “supposed” teachers of the Bible, cry out scandalized that “how can a man forgive sins?” So be it; there is a reason why pride is the sin that Jesus condemned most forcefully.
4.- Historical proof of this sacrament.
Some examples of how this sacrament has always been celebrated in the history of the Church are the following:
“Confess in church before receiving the body of Christ” The Didache, year 70
“… declaring his sin to the priest of the Lord” Origen, year 244
“Water and tears are not lacking in the Church: the water of baptism and the tears of penance (confession)” Saint Ambrose, year 395
“Let no one say: I perform penance secretly before God. Was it perhaps said without reason: whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven?” Saint Augustine, year 430
In summary, let us say that this sacrament is a gift left to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ; the Bible teaches it, and the Church has practiced it from her origins. Approach it and celebrate it by making a good examination of conscience, repenting, and confessing, so as to enjoy the mercy of God.
Author: Martin Zavala M.P.D.
Source: Defiendetufe.org
