Meditations & FAQ | Meditations Archive
Why do Catholics confess their sins to a priest?
Catechism Meditation:
Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, “The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” and exercises this divine power: “Your sins are forgiven.” Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. ―No. 1441
REFLECTION. “Why confess your sins to a priest when you can just go straight to God?” This is one of the most common questions that people ask about the Catholic faith. The Catholic Church does not teach that priests forgive our sins. Only God forgives sins. A priest’s authority to convey forgiveness does not come from himself. It comes from Christ (Jn 20:21–23). Also, through Sacred Scripture, God commands us to “confess our sins to one another” (Jas 5:16). Notice, Scripture does not say confess your sins straight to God and only to God — it says confess your sins to one another. The Sacrament of Penance is a healing sacrament. Therefore, we confess ours sins to a priest because Christ commanded it.
In his article for Catholic365: Why We Confess Our Sins to a Priest, JP Nunez writes… “The Sacrament of Confession is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. Not only does it forgive our sins, but it also has numerous other benefits that we can’t get from simply acknowledging that we’re sinners or confessing our sins to God in private. It helps us to confront our sinfulness head-on so we can root it out of our lives and grow in humility, and it allows us to experience his forgiveness in a physical way.”
PRAYER. Lord Jesus, thank You for the sacrament of confession. Help me to approach it with humility and repentance.
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“It may be asked, why confess one’s sins to a priest? Maybe he is not as holy as the penitent. That indeed could be. But though he is not holier in his person, he is holier in his powers, because Christ gave this power to His Church―only the Church claims it, and only the Church exercises it. The mayor of a town may not be as good as some of the citizens, but he has the power which the citizens do not; so it is with the priest.” ― Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen