"CONFESSING DIRECTLY TO GOD" - Alternatives to Confessing to a Priest? - Catholic Precept #2
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2016
- Many Christians believe you don't' have to confess your sins to a priest to receive God's forgiveness. If so, what are the alternatives that carry with it the guarantee that sins are forgiven?
Fr. Bill addresses this popular argument that Confession is not necessary, and examines a passage in Scripture that may suggest an alternative, but, as always with Scripture, there is a catch that inevitably leads us back to the basic, and traditional practice of Confession.
There is such a freedom and joy when you hear the priest says I absolve you from your sins. People go therapists and psychologists and pay loads of money to tell them . Just go to confession, it’s free. Just go.
predictably this is how liberals would reason out! I suggest you to check up what Our Lady of Good Success have to say for 20th century!
Karen Stempkoski yep
I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, not only does confession bring emotional and spiritual healing it also prevents evil spirits and demons from using these sins to harass you with.
I have said the same to many people. Amen. I am glad to see this from another.
Dallas Beus Yes this is true
Especially in a state of mortal sin, demons use this weight to bring you down and demotivate you. But the grace of God surpasses all, even mortal sin. I know this because it has happened to me.
It's always a comfort to listen the Words of Jesus. Thank you father.
Thank you Father Nicholas for occupying a little part of the internet with credible and trustworthy leadership. You are a true pastor.
I'm not a great catholic, I have much room for improvement, but I know for a fact somewhere in the gospels it says Jesus breathed on the apostles, giving them the power to forgive sins. I'm sure Jesus, who is God, didn't do this expecting it to end there. Like I said, I'm no brain scientist, but it's clear to me Jesus expected this gift to continue for as long as man exist on earth.
Be a great Catholic go to confession weekly and you'll see your sin's fall away one by one. Go to the five first Saturdays for reparation for offenses committed against our Lady. Additionally spend fifteen minutes meditating on the mysteries of the rosary and she will grant us the Grace needed to obtain salvation. That's the easiest insurance plan I can think of. God bless you
Good call. John 20: 22-23 :)
@@keig6161 my friend why Mary? Does it not say there is only one mediator between man an God that's Christ Jesus, or Jesus said who is my mother an brother but he who does the will of God.
HOPE IN DARKNESS so why did God/Jesus came in human form BY MARY? He is God he could’ve just popped out of nowhere and still be Jesus!? Why did he do it through Mary??
Hey, you're probably smarter than many brain scientists out there.
Confession is good for the soul . A great sacrament of the church.
@@haileydittrich6628 Then you need to pray for humility and realize that your eternal life with God and pleasing Him is more important than your temporary uncomfortability.
@Sue W you said it all !!!!. I am a proud Catholic
@Sue W amen. Thank you
@Sue W Exactly, which is the idea when disciplining an errant child.... No accountability....greater likelihood you will repeat the offense and not learn to live a more virtuous life as Jesus expects you to do. He said in scripture He would spit a lukewarm believer out of His mouth. Don't also forget that He admonished the disciples "whatever sins you forgive are forgiven, whatever sins you retain are retained." Hoping for an easy out is simply put, childish.
Very good video. I just went to confession after 10 years of being away from the church. I wish I would’ve done it sooner. And I can’t help but share with my friends and family that are away from the Church. But I first ask God to help me, to open the door. If it doesn’t feel right then I stop.
I'm truly extremely heartbroken now that I cannot have confession in person right now... terrified but praying to God that my sins will be forgiven in these terrifying times now.
Say these prayers
7 Prayers
of Saint Bridget
Devotion for twelve years.
Our lady of all nation prayer.
Shoulder wound of Christ prayer.
15 secret torment prayers.
Google all the above
Start praying right now still the this storm abates.
Chaplet OF holy wounds prayer,
And the chaplet of 5 wounds prayer and the divne mercy prayer.
Look up Google for all the promises attached to these prayers.
Also pray the 7 sorrows of Mary prayer.
Holy face of Jesus prayer.
Say it too.
We are in the same boa bro.this lockdown is precluding me from saying a clean nice confession.
Father Nathan, I came across this homily of yours I saved in 2019. Still beautiful and impactful. Sometimes The Father puts things in my path that I need to pay attention to. This is a reminder of his great goodness and mercy. Thank you. Prayers for your good health and happiness. Today I attend Light of the world
Church.
I know when I have sinned because my deed accuses me and I am not at peace...
Yeah! Definitely a fair assessment for when we have sinned, or continue in sin.
So true.. anytime is a great time to confess
what is your name so I can quote you?
Thanks : very true 👍
Karmic backlash is real too 😢 it does come around. Nothing of your own doing will escape your reality. This is the "punishment" ..
Thank you Father I feel so strengthened in my faith.😇😇😇😇😇😇😇
Thank you Fr. Be Blessed in your work of God.
Yes ,that is true . But what if the church does not provide much opportunity to go to confession ? In my parish ,there is no opportunity, we have a ' travelling' priest that goes from parish to parish , we can only celebrate communion every 14 days . This is all by lack of priests , which makes the churches become empty. So I also am not a perfect catholic ,but I love my Lord very much and I put my trust in Him . I am convinced ,as my Father knows what is in my heart, He will forgive my sins.
Peace to all , from Belgium ❤❤🇧🇪🙏🙏
Call! Make an appointment. The more effort you put into confession, the more heartfelt it may be.
Thank you so much Father for clearing that up.
As Bill W. would say, unless one has admitted one's faults out loud to another human being, one's spiritual house cleaning remains largely theoretical.
There was a time when I resisted going to confession. Several years ago I got real sick and almost died. It changed me. I no longer have a fear of confession. It is a wonderful sacrament that I go to willingly about once a month because it offers so much grace. I want salvation.
I haven’t been to confession in too long , its just been that long I I’m scared to go back , I recently got a thought to open a random page in the bible(I haven’t opened a bible since I was about 13/14 I’m 23 now) and the verse I stumbled on was so powerful to me, I want to get back to god but I’m struggling with everything in life and the weight of the world is pulling me in and holding me down
God Bless you ❤️🙏
I'm in the same boat as you friend, actually afraid, right now I'm dealing with the sins of the flesh, I'm good most of time, but I slip up every now and then
Hey brother I was lost for so long too. Remember God still loves you, and He wants confession from you ❤
Please go and see a priest you will feel and be so much happier
I went to confession last night for the first time since my first and last confession almost 40 years ago. I’m 46. Needless to say, I was nervous and I had a very long and grievous list for sins. The priest was so kind and grateful that I was there. He gave me 1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary as penance because his absolution of my sins is an unbreakable covenant of god and he didn’t want any obstacles to my commuting in the Eucharist. I encourage you to go so that you can stop suffering your sins and experience the feeling of being in god’s grace.
This is why we must continue to pray for conversion of sinners!
Caroline - we are all sinners in some way or another! But of course there are some very bad and evil sinners
Wow this was great. And unfortunately my husband pointed out something I said, and then I hear JAMES 1:26. I feel like this video was laid in my lap. It has been since Easter the last time I went to confession. I know where I am headed this weekend. Thank you Fr.
Please pray for me . I am fighting with my depression please do pray for me
i will do
Not to worry, I will pray 🙏 for you. GJC
Thank You Father. I was thinking that’s what I was told in 1st grade...
Rev Fr thanks very educative and insightful
I went to Catholic grammar school from kindergarten to 6th grade and my parents pulled me out of there. It was a horrible way to get an education. We had all female teachers and a few nuns. It was customary to have students stand up in front of class and humiliate them for not knowing an answer and make you cry. Physical assaults that would today be grounds for child abuse with criminal charges. I had a nervous stomach my entire childhood from everyday feeling like I was walking on eggshells just sitting in class. I hated school. Some of the teachers were parents that were filling in for classes where the school could not afford a trained teacher and by the time I left the Catholic school and started 7th grade public school, I was at least 2 years behind my peers. The last time I went for confession was when I was 12, (now 56) just before I left. The entire class walked over to the church and had to stand in line waiting to go into the confessional box. When it was my turn I said something to the priest like “I find church too confusing to understand and my grades are not very good.” The priest then yells at me, loud enough that everyone out in the church aisle heard him, say, “Son, don’t be a Bum!!! Go to church and learn! He scared me. When I opened the door to leave, the rest of the students were laughing at me. I felt so humiliated that I sat down in the pew and just buried my face. I was mortified. After I received my Confirmation, I never went to confession ever again. I went to public school after that and only go to church now for Christmas and Easter and a few other occasions. I want to get back into the Catholic Church, but I can’t bring myself to go to confession again. And now as a more educated adult, I feel that with many of the changes the church has gone through over the past few decades, especially with the mortal sins that have been committed by the church against its parishioners, I think the Pope should stop using priests as the mediator for confession. I think too many people these days are too embarrassed to sit face to face with a priest and tell them their deepest thoughts. We have seen how thousands of priests have been caught doing the most obscene violations against the Church that would make the average parishioner turn red. It has also been proven that these gross violations have gone all the way to the top to the Pope for covering up these MORTAL SINS. I don’t care what the Catholic Church says I have to do. The Church had its chance to do the right thing and has failed miserably. The Church is losing people. Things need to change. Why would God allow these horrific crimes and behavior to occur in His House? I tried going to a few non-denominational churches and actually found one that I like. But I still want to be Catholic with my relationship to God. So, I will do my best to follow all the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, except confession. If I can pray to God directly, then I should be able to confess my sins to him directly also. If I am wrong about this, well under the experiences I endured, I am sure God will understand.
Check out this video from my series on Daily Lenten Reflections.
While I can't vouch for other priests, bishops, or Catholic School experiences, all I can say is that my experience of Catholic School was the exact opposite. I won't argue that many of the people, including some (not all, some) of the nuns teaching in them today would rather substitute their own radical, liberal, feminism for Catholic Teaching. As for the discipline of Catholic Education, considering what both adults and children are exposed to nowadays, and what they need to deal with, and considering the weak, willed, snowflakes that are growing up now, who cannot deal with anything without becoming completely crippled emotionally, all I can say to what I got in Catholic Schools is simple -- Catholicism and Catholic Schools are not for the faint of heart.
Finally, the vast, VAST majority of priests are good, honest, dedicated men. Name me a single profession that does not have, and has not had its bad eggs (some eggs being downright rotten to the core - or the yoke). Did you give up watching football, or pull your kids out of sports (if you have kids) because of the Jerry Sandusky cover up or because of the more than heavy criminal records of many professional football players? So please do not impose on the good men of the priesthood the perversion of a few, especially when those few came from a whole other generation, already perverted by the moral upheaval of the '60s.
Sorry you had that experience. However, the catholic school is not the catholic church. Bad people are everywhere and those who are in charge of such school or any school should monitor what is going on.
Speak the truth in love when correcting other's. Do it out of love for them when you have a relationship; people know the difference. Tell them God wants what's best for them and so do you; sin is not good for us.
My dearest prayers go out to pious souls who die unexpectedly without having a chance to go to Confession for a mortal sin, especially if they have genuine remorse for their sin. May the Lord have mercy on their souls and find true repentance deep within their hearts.
If they have genuine repentance they will be forgiven. King David was forgiven because he had a contrite heart, not because he went to a priest.
@@jameshoyt3692 Maybe not to a priest, but I seem to recall a human exchange regarding David's sin with a prophet named Nathan, much like there is in Confession too a priest;.and it was Nathan who declared on God's behalf that David's sin was forgiven, much like a priest does in Confession. So thank you for pointing out yet another Biblical passage that supports Confession to a priest. I hadn't though of that one before.
Thank you for this series. It is beneficial. Since my last confession, it has been 4
decades.
😕
I am not Catholic, and never have been, for perspective, I am a confessional Lutheran. Everyone, needs or should go to private confession. James 5:16 -James clearly teaches us that we must “confess our sins to one another,” not just privately to God. There is no better person to confess your sins to than your “father confessor”. Confessing sin allows for a clean conscience, it is life giving and should not be despised.
where does it say must?
Confession is for us! We need to hear the words of absolution because we are human and we need the assurance of those words. Confession is God’s gift to us. Confession isn’t about God’s need but our need.
A young woman who was raised Protestant and raised to hating the Catholic Church had a rude awakening. She took several theology courses and realized that first century Israel the people was required to go through a priest using a sacrificial animal to reconcile with GOD. A person can not reconcile with with GOD on their own. A priest has to be involved. I pray for the heretical Protestants everyday. I hope someday they wake up! Jesus started the priesthood. It is his church and we lay people have to support these men especially during unpopular and unprecedented times. If anyone questions if we need any other person to reconcile with Almighty GOD? They just have to read about Jewish tradition and how they reconciled with their Creator. Through a Priest!
Oh and thanks for the James bit. I didn't know about that.
Praise The Lord . I am your new subscriber Fr. William my best wishes from (Holy land)Israel and India to your channel 🙏
Awesome! God Bless and stay safe
I love the Sacrament of Confession. As Jesus said to Saint Faustina, "know this, that the priest is just a screen and it I. Myself, who is waiting for you, and it is I, Myself, who will act in your soul.
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Jesus, I trust in you.
I trust Jesus, but I have seen uncaring priests at my church, and distant.
Thank you Father for this direct & deep explanation. You are full of the spirit of wisdom. I believe that there is no such thing as alternative nor option in this particular issue. May God continue to bless you. Amen!
God continue to bless you
great answer, i have the same thoughts thanks father
For some people, Confessing to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, when they are really and truly serious about it can be much more personal and a lot more difficult. Great video Father Nicholas!
James is probably my favorite book in the Bible. James was not afraid to speak the truth. He kept it short but sweet. I think why so many Protestant denominations leave out James is because of views on works and faith and confession. They see it as too Catholic I guess, but it says part of Scripture, Catholic or not. Before I converted to Catholic, I never heard a preacher ever even mention James. No matter what Church that I attended.
When the Veil was torn in two, the OT need for a mediator was no longer needed.
Jesus is the mediator. He is the Word Incarnate. So, His interaction with us is a human interaction that must be maintained for the forgiveness of sins. After all, Jesus said "your sins are forgiven"; he said it with a human voice, and it was heard with human ears. To take away the human interaction is to return to the Old Testament standards of forgiveness in which the mediator was the High Priest and MAYBE forgiveness was granted. With the human, incarnational, interaction, forgiveness is guaranteed. Therefore, the priest (who also goes to Confession regularly) provides that human, incarnation, interaction that is now required. -- ruclips.net/video/a9Va8IO7Ivo/видео.html
Yes Sir as I gave testimony to the fact that our Soul has a target to Jesus crucified on the Cross
Thank you so much for your information. View the person who consume spirits over limited level can't be representative of God. They themselves may have wrong doing without declare. So myself confess likely to whom I trust and mostly I confess directly to God. But there are many good priest around the world.
I endeavour to go to confession once a week where possible. Thank you, Fr. It's lovely to see a priest in his proper apparel.
I wish more of you dressed like this even in the open; so many souls would be saved that way. Pax.
So clear! I always knew about apostolic succession. You went beyond. Thank you Father for making it so clear why we need to confess to a priest.
Pray an act of perfect contrition everyday
Twice a day? Before Holy Communion so that one is in the best state to receive and before going to sleep?
The problem with requiring confession to a priest is that the priest will limit his availability to a few hours on a few specified days, which may not, indeed usually does not, fit the confessor's schedule, whereas God is always available.
The Problem with Jesus being the Word Incarnate is that He, also, is a human being and had limited availability, but people came to him anyway. God is always available, but we must do it as Jesus, a human, showed us and when he declared "whose sins you forgive are forgiven" to his ministers, also human, there is really no way to get around it. We must go to the Church's ministers for the forgiveness of sins. To say otherwise is to deny the very essence of Christianity -- the Word became Flesh.
@@fr.williamnicholas955 i get what you're saying and I agree it is good and necessary to confess to a priest. But, I've seen where priests have even said it is good to confess both to God and to a priest. And, if you cannot get to a priest, then you should confess to God. Whether that is God The Father, Son, or Holy Spirit specifically, I don't know.
But I don't see how we're somehow limited from confessing to Christ because of his human nature, particularly now that he is in his glorified body in Heaven. Does he not hear our prayers? Are we not told by The Church to offer Christ prayers, including the prayers, "Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." And, "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell.." etc.
Bravo!!! what a perfect explanation. Thanks for this enlightening bible referral.
Confession: because even an unused room needs dusting
Trippy man....people can forgive each other instead of God, good news for all!
Luke 20:46 - Beware the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
elle4pets amen!
@@vaccineymartini9293 yes, I agree. But, "I confess to Almighty God that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts, in my words, and what I have done and have failed to do. I ask...to pray for me to the Lord our God." Amen.
'Dusting' can be done by the 'owner' of the house. Christians have the(they should) 'eyesight' to see the 'dust'. The important thing is not losing 'eyesight' .Without clear conscience, one can not know which road leads to the LIGHT. Church is like a Lighthouse, needs to make sure its light shines to guide ships. Church must check if the lightbulb needs to dust or to replace it.🐏
Thank you Father, Praise be JESUS and MARY...
elira67; Praising Mary is not biblical. Yes, we are to acknowledge her place, but all praise and honor belong to God the Father, to Jesus and to His Holy Spirit (God in 3 persons, the blessed Trinity). Please do not be deceived by the false teachings and doctrine of the RCC. As a former Catholic, I say these things with sincerity and sensitivity. God is pure, perfect, powerful and praiseworthy. Jesus Himself said: "No one comes to the Father/God except through Me." I encourage to think about this.
No but we must love Mary as well. We are not to praise her we are to love her as a Mother for she is our Holy Mother. All praise is reserved for God The Father but it does not say we can not love her. She is the mother of God as well as us.
@@rpgeezlouise4600 Luke 2. All generations shall call her blessed... for God has done great things for her and Holy is His Name.
Interesting and insightful interpretation. Thank you, Father.
James is maybe my favorite book, along with the Psalms. I am a very direct, plain speaking person.
So as a Protestant, I have no problem with someone confessing to a priest as we are supposed to confess to others (although I don't think you always have to confess to another person for the following reasons) . I do have a problem with a person _having_ to confess to a priest specifically. Every believer in Christ as Lord and Saviour is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. When the veil was torn at Jesus' death, the divide between people and God was broken and we no longer need a priest as middle man between God and us. All believers are themselves temples of the Holy Spirit, and the kingdom of God is a kingdom of priests. A person in vocational ministry is not closer to God in any way. So I think we can confess to a priest, to a brother or sister in faith, or to God directly, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to which we should do.
Thanks for this video and your perspective, I like to learn about what other Christians believe.
But it was to the leaders, the Apostles that Jesus said, "whose sins you forgive are forgiven and whose sins you retain are retained" (John 20:23) He did not say this to his general group of followers. So the one who has the authority to forgive sins, and for whom their declaration of forgiveness is a guarantee of God's forgiveness (again, John 20:23) is the one to whom you would confess.
Also, the priest is bound by the seal of Confession to never reveal what he has heard in Confession, nor to even confirm or deny that someone even came to Confession. One may decide to confess to a "brother or sister in faith" but they are not bound by the seal to refrain from revealing what they heard - and we all know how people, and especially Christians, know how to keep things to themselves and never, gossip about anything to anyone ever! (good luck with that idea) - nor do they have the authority to forgive sins, so confessing to a "brother or sister in faith" is little more than wishful thinking when it comes to God's forgiveness.
Femina my friend, you said, "Every believer in Christ as Lord and Saviour is indwelt with the Holy Spirit." This is a common misunderstanding among so many Protestants and when asked, they can't seem to remember where they learned this from. Initially they will say that the Bible teaches this, however, that is not so. Faith alone does not save, neither does faith alone cause the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Sacraments Save Souls, There is not a single example of any person in the Biblical New Covenant Church being saved without a Catholic Sacrament. There is no Biblical directive to pray directly to God to have your sins forgiven outside of the Sacrament of Confession. Biblical Salvation is done the Catholic way. There are no examples of Protestant salvation in the entire Bible. I hope that you will reconsider what you believe about the Sacraments.
Extremely well explained Father. My attitude is that we confess our sins/ admit our sinfulness directly to God on a daily basis, but I believe that I need to confess my sins to My Priest to receive absolution from an Authourotive Religious Figure. I feel better admitting my sins to a Priest in addition to asking God’s forgiveness every night. That is just my mindset. Neville J.
Good explanation.... 🙏
Exactly! I can always hear your prayers.
After 42 years I went to confession. Stubbornness and pride kept me from going. In the past I have confessed sins directly to God. If I’m truly honest with myself, I didn’t go to the priest because of my ego and shame. Humbling myself I went to seek forgiveness. We know God is with us and He forgives us because He loves us, but we can’t physically touch or see Him. We have only ourselves to hold us accountable and sin no more. We are fleshy and weak. The act of confession to the priest or one another holds us accountable if we’re truly sorry for the sins. I had not seen these videos before but I appreciate they are available for those that are not able to get to the church.
K, what a wonderful story you tell! Congratulations and thank you! I hope people who read your post will be inspired to access of the wonderful grace of this sacrament. God bless you this Eastertide.
if you go to confession properly you will be in the state of grace for a while then your actions will be deemed good, it is most important ! it is only in a state of grace that we can be in God's grace !
But faith without works is as dead as a body without breath - Epistle of James.
I read in the gospel of Luke
" And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
You are correct. But you are missing the other half of that scenario.
The Pharisees and Scribes were saying this IN OPPOSITION to Jesus, for which Jesus reprimanded them. If we are contradicting Confession to a Priest with a passage that expresses opposition to Jesus by his enemies and His rebuke of them, then we are placing ourselves in pretty bad company need to re-examine how we read and interpret the Word of God (and while we're at it, get to Confession).
The Bible tells us in
1 John 1:8-9 But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing.
Through faith or believe in God's Word is my guarantee that my sins are/were forgiven.
Hebrews 11:1 To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:6 No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him.
Psalms 103:12 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us.
Amen God is good all the time Amen all the time God is good Amen thank you Lord Jesus Amen I give myself to you Lord bless you my Angle I love you
The Sacrament of Confession heals our souls. Jesus pours out a torrent of graces on us through this sacrament of His mercy. Through the words of the priest Jesus counsels us, comforts us and forgives us. I will be ever grateful for Jesus' Divine Mercy.
Whether the church like it or not a person does not have to confess to a priest! Jesus is
the best person to confess our sins to.
...and, whether Protestants like it or not, the reason Jesus gave that authority to the Church and its ministers (John 20:23 - why do Bible literalist non-Catholics have such a mental barrier with this particular passage?) is because Catholics DO confess to Jesus. What you seem to willingly refuse to remember is that Jesus is not some dismembered being, or an imaginary friend. He is the Word made Flesh in the Incarnation. So you have to have the incarnational exchange (spoken in a human voice, heard with human ears) in order to receive the forgiveness of sins from Jesus. Otherwise the Incarnation was a waste of time, and God does not waste His time. To deny the human exchange in the forgiveness process is to deny the Incarnation, and therefore, is to deny Jesus.
To go "directly to Jesus" as you understand it, is no more than confessing to thin air and PRESUMING forgiveness (and the OT calls presumption a form of idolatry - 1 Sam 15:23) as if you were talking to an imaginary friend (and, btw, Jesus is more than an imaginary friend).
The priest acts "in persona Christi", which means, as the minister of Jesus, when you confess in the human, incarnational exchange to a priest, you are confessing to Jesus in the human, incarnational exchange; when you receive absolution, in the human, incarnational exchange from a priest, you are receiving absolution from Jesus...and whose sins the priest forgives are forgiven (again, John 20:23 - yes! the passage does exist; Jesus said it! You can't deny it!)
Please try to come up with some new cliches that we Catholics HAVEN'T heard before.
2 Corinthians 5:18
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
Thank u Father
This was truly enlightening and comprehensive and complete an explanation. Thank you Fr William.
@@teenherofilms
'Christianity dotes on sin and judgement. Never love.' Sorry to disagree.
When Jesus died on the cross he did it in LOVE of you and me. Instead of hating those who killed him in such ignominious manner he FORGAVE them and left us the example to follow. I guess that was 'love' at best. Christianity, it all began with Christ right? The legacy is left to us to cherish and uphold.
So many arguments , excuses and attempts to interpret ( or misinterpret) scripture in order avoid confessing our sins to a priest. This is scandalous ! Are people so ignorant of Jesus' words in Matthew 18:18 ? Dear Rev. Fr. one of your homilies gave me so much confidence and the grace to make my confession, which I am determined to make a regular habit of. Thank you so much and God bless you for the very simple and inspiring sermons.
And we need to approach forgiveness of sins as HE directed us. Can't say we "believe" in God and deny his direction on the forgiveness of sins. Confession is essential, otherwise we deny the Incarnation, in which case, our professed faith in Christ is an empty lie.
fr william new subcriber .im a filipino thank you for your explaination
Thank you.
I confessed my sins to a priest today and felt relieved. However, in between confessions I pray to God through Jesus for our sins with the help of the Holy Ghost to allow us the ability of the perfect penance just in case we die in our sleep with an unknown mortal sin.
I am just returning to faith after 35 or more years of living totally in the world. I haven't taken confession in over 30 years, any suggestions on doing my first confession in decades? I don't remember every sin but I know I have broken every commandment in one way or another.
Find a catholic website how to confess then youll see some examining conscience and also see the 7 deadly sins and the sins in the bible
We only have 1 hour a week assigned for a 1500+ congregation. And sometimes you can't make it to that hour.
Thank you 💞🙏🌍💞💓
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
I am a Catholic in Japan. I want to go to confession. But the church here does not seem to have a weekly confession. Furthermore, there are only Japanese speakers.Iin the case of those who through disability are unable to vocalize confession to priests, what is the accepted teaching?
My single biggest issue is the limited time slots my church has for confessions (which, I now feel the need to say, is still no excuse😞), but I have surprised myself in how often I have managed to confess to a priest.
Touché, Snyarhedir! I have the same issue, and like you, I feel it's still no excuse. And like you, I've surprised myself that I'm able to access the sacrament once a month.
But I have another advantage. Where I live, the four churches in my area offer confession on two or three days during the week, one to two hours per day, on different days. So if I fail to catch the confession time in my parish, I simply go to another parish. As St. John Vianney said, "The good God is very good!" God bless you this Eastertide.
Confessing to God's Holy Priests is True Humility !!!!! Amen
I was a catholic, and I still remember instruction that confessors should , before going to the priest, first confess their sins to God in repentance, where God Himself undo our sins, so that when we kneel before the priest, we just might end up getting his counseling, which is salient.
What you refer to is the Examination of Conscience in which we ask God in prayer to make our sins known to us so that we can fully confess them to a priest. What you also refer to is the spiritual direction that priests should give when a person comes to Confession. It is not "counseling" nor should it be. But it is a good point you make. Where people will pay top dollar to go to counselors, but refuse to go to Confession for free. Psychologists line their pockets, but the priest bestows God's forgiveness as Jesus commanded them to do (John 20:23)
Fr. Nicholas, I’ve been in total quarantine since last March.
God forbid anything should happen to me, and the Lord calls me home without being able to have a priest hear my confession? Have been viewing daily Mass since March and doing my spiritual communion. But still concerned. Am sure am not the only senior under this circumstance because of Covid-19. Please keep me in your prayers Fr.. God bless you.
Truly enjoyed this video.
Thank you.
Hebrews 4:16 "Come boldly to the throne of Grace". I know that doesn't mean to a man!
This is an excellent explanation!
In light of what father said in the video, I would like to also add that Jesus Himself gave His apostles the ability to forgive sins when He breathed on them the Holy Spirit, which has been handed down up to this very day.
People don’t do the research of the early church, yet want to call the Catholic Church the hoar of Babylon, and all kinds of other lies.
True that Jesus gave his apostles the injunction to forgive sin in his name, but that does not tie God's hands of mercy to forgive via sincere sorrow or confession directly to God.
One can think of the Church as a three legged stool, scripture, tradition and reason........and in the past century one cannot be blamed for thinking that the middle leg "tradition" has become very wobbly.....making the same mistakes as the Pharisees of Jesus day.
I need to confess I haven't been to confession for years ! Yet I attend mass weekly. 😏 Thank you Father .
Return to Confession. Christ is waiting to hear it, through His servant the priest.
Please go I did after 25 years ..you can make it easy read about it on RUclips easy confession
Now I go and love it.
Please go to confession it's easy and simple and and they make it so good today people don't stay in confession for hours to go in and make it simple short and get out.my husband thinks it being there for 10 hours I told him no you just confess The ten commandments the ones you're broke and a few other ones on the side like gossiping fighting getting angry it's just really simple please go
Please go make it simple and fast.priest Love's it I just get to the point. Good luck
I experienced last year ago that I go to confession and a Priest just said to me I'm busy cuz I have important to go and just walk away Without encouraging, reassuring me to go back tomorrow and have confession. I understand because I know priest are busy sometimes and By the Grace of God, I don't gived up nor sad and I went to confession the day after but by ANOTHER Priest. I have just question. Is it a sin of a priest, if he just said to me carelessly that he's busy and he just said I have something to do and walk away without reassuring me to come back tomorrow? I don't know if It's really important, it's really urgent or not but ONLY GOD knows. I'm confused cuz Confession is also Important and very urgent and secondly. I'm the only one no one's next to me on the line. I'm the only one, so theirs no problem we just have to make it quick but instead he carelessly denied my confession without encouraging, reassuring to come back tomorrow and Yes I did Come back but by another priest. I'm okay with it if a priest denied my confession cuz God already know I've done my best to go to confession even if Priest denied my confession By the Grace of God I don't give up I keep on hoping that's why I go tomorrow for confession to another priest. But what if let's just say what if it's another person and same with my situation a priest denied his/her confession and that person is HURT discouraged sad that a priest is like that, and he/she goes back to his sinful ways, it could be possible that a person will go back to his Sins and worst become Atheist and hate God more blaming God why God denied him through Confession, he/she question God if theirs a God why do you deny me, if you are so merciful why do you let the priest denied my Confession?
and don't believed in God anymore because he is really hurt by the Priest and get Discouraged because not everyone knows that God is understandable even if Priest is like that God will never do that to him Not everyone knows that.
Hello Frier. I live in England and would ask why does it take a year for someone to be able to convert to Catholism and only after a year, only then be able to go to confession to then finally be able to receive the blessed sacrament? Why was it that Peter and the other deciples converted people who then confessed their sins and received the body and blood of Christ all in a day? Why is it if Peter was the first pope and was able to do this, then why over 2000 odd years later, the Catholic Church cannot do the same thing? Bearing in mind the many apparitions of Our Lady and her urgent messages of the need for people to convert, confess, receive the holy sacraments, pray the Rosary every day etc etc; It's a lot to ask, in this day and age, to ask people to "hang on" for a year plus until they can go to confession to then be clean enough to receive the sacraments (which I think is right). What makes me shocked about all of this, is I go to my Catholic Church as an Anglican wanting to convert and cross my arms when the priest gives out the Sacraments. Unless I had of researched this prior to going, i wouldn't have know it was wrong and the priest never asked me, yet I know FOR A FACT! that 99% of every other person did not go to confession on the specified days and times ( I was there at those times), yet they still all took the sacraments. This is a complete contradiction & is wrong on every level, yet it happens week in and week out. Something's not right about all this that people are allowed to do this and completely get a way with disrespecting The Farther like this. Why don't the priests remind people before any mass that they're not to receive the sacraments unless they've been to confession before hand?
From the earliest centuries of Catholicism, the Church has always had a period of preparation before receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. Those in preparation were always referred to as Catechumens and there was never a rush to Baptize people, even if there was a risk of them being killed by a persecution (they were still given a full Christian burial). The stories of the Bible are less proofs of HOW things were done under the apostles and intended more to convey the rapid growth of the Church that resulted from the preaching of the Apostles. The customary time after that period of Catechumenate for a new Christian to be baptized is Easter, which is still, today, the customary time.
I can't believe he calls confessing to Jesus an alternative . We all have intercession directly with divine persons through the saving grace of Jesus death and rising from the grave. Thanks to this ,we have direct access to the Father.
Since "no one comes to the Father except through me [Christ], we do not have "direct access to the Father". As Jesus is human, we cannot claim the forgiveness of sins unless we have that human connection with those Jesus has commissioned to stand in for him for that purpose; and he gave that to the Church and its ministers: "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven" (John 20:23).
Then why did Jesus bestow the power to forgive sins to the apostles then?
@@fr.williamnicholas955 I'm learning more about catholicism and I'm curious. What do you do with the book of Hebrews and it's discussion about Christ as the High Priest and 1 Timothy 2:5 where is declares Christ our one mediator to God? In particular with respect to the Catholic requirement for confession to a priest.
@@robypoteau We need to take the Scriptures in its totality. Not in smaller quotations or passages. Jesus is our High Priest, but he also left behind a Church, whose ministers have the authority to forgive sins in God's name. We cannot go "directly to God" because we are now dealing with an Incarnate Son of God, God become human. We must have that human exchange otherwise we are, even if unintentionally, denying the Incarnation. We cannot go "directly to Christ" unless it is done in a human way, in a human exchange. Which is why priests stand in with the authority God gave the Church to forgive sins. In short, whenever a priest administers a sacrament, including Confession, it is Christ who is administering.
@@fr.williamnicholas955This is a wonderful explanation
I feel learned now. Thanks be to our God.
Also for confessions St Matthew 9:1to 8 /St John 20:21-23 /2 Corinthians 5:18 - 20
Just as how we need a doctor to heal our physical body, we need the priests for spiritual healing and forgiveness of sins.
Reverend Sir you are right one cannot profess to be a Catholic if one deviate from Catholic practices. Indeed we need to be encouraged to adhere to what it takes to be a Catholic.
Thank you Father. Now, if we can just get all of our modernist clergy to embrace the whole deposit of our faith, we can begin to turn this ship around. If, and I do mean if, it is God’s will. Thank you again Father.God bless you
Fr. is it only in one place we found about the confession of sin in rhe Bible, letters of st. James? I want to know more about the confession of sin from Bible, will you provide me some advice?
There are multiple references to confessing sins in the Bible. Check out my video which precedes this one
ruclips.net/video/a9Va8IO7Ivo/видео.html
John 20:22-23 also check out "Catholic Answers, How to defend the Sacrament ofConfession."
Jesus Christ gave the apostles the power to forgive sins: I give you the keys of the kingdom of God; whoever you shall forgive their sins are forgiven and whoever you shall withhold their sins; in heaven are withheld. So priests or the church(Catholic) which is the body of Christ is granted that divine power/grace to bind and loose the power of sin upon children of God. in other words sins are completely forgiven.
Well yes James is right , I feel zero devotion when I don t control my tongue .i feel uneasy to confess over and over again this sin. But I never recieve communion if I don t confess,Never.because a priest explained and showed me in the new testament that it will have a reverse effect on me and hurt me. Indeed
Fad go how can u confess all your sins!? What if u forget some or don't realize u sinned? I can go to Jesus.
...and Jesus said to his Apostles (aka the ministers of the Gospel and leaders of His Church): "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you retain are retained" (John 20:23 - why, oh why is that passage so hard for Bible literalists to mentally grab?) So, confessing sins to one another (James) is one thing, but confessing to a minister of the Church (words of Jesus, which I'll take over James any day) has Jesus' guarantee that the sins are forgiven.
Mike drop!
Time to find another cliche we Catholics haven't heard.
@@melindabloom7281 Just give it up, MB. You're not going to win this one. Forget about it. Join the CC, you won't regret it!
@@fr.williamnicholas955 Protestant=Protest, that's all I gotta say.
I am dying in hospital and the chaplain is a deacon who can minister viaticum. The chaplain can ask me to make a confession to assess that I am in a fit state to receive Holy Communion, but cannot give absolution. Self-accusation is a useful exercise and one may hope that if I die shortly afterwards then there will be a more favourable outcome. This is just about the only case I can think of where non-sacramental confession may be useful. Of course the deacon can send for a priest and I may indicate my consent to that, but if I die in the meantime we have done something useful.
I have prayed for you, and your soul, friend.
bravo prete.
Thank you ever so much Fr. William for your much detailed and informative explanation about confessing our sins to a priest to receive God's forgiveness.
It is really sad to know that more and more Catholics shy away from obeying this one of the most vital Sacred Sacraments. More so being disobeyed by those whom they called themselves as non practicing Catholics.
There is no such thing as practicing nor non practicing. It's either you are a devoted and a dedicated Catholic or you are not. (No judgment here, just observations).
For the most part, those who don't adhere to the Sacrament of Confession lack the complete understanding of its valuable meaning.
There are so many factors contributing to this lack of understanding.
1.) Fear of Confidentiality - Most are still doubtful about the oath of secrecy that their sins would not be divulged. They still believe that when they confess their sins to the priest that the same priest would tell others about their sins.
2.) Lack of knowledge about the whole concept of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In Hosea 4:6, it says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." And so it is. There is no excuse for ignorance especially now with our technological world where you can always search and found out for yourself or the easiest and simplest way is just ask your priest.
3.) Feeling of Embarrassment. This I do understand but when one completely realized from this Sacrament of Healing the rewards of being free by absolution, it is a glorious feeling knowing that whatever it is that is pricking your conscience is gone and that you know that you do have the love of God and His mercy all along, you would not have missed this for the world.
4.) Unpleasant previous personal experienced. This is an individual situation which I believe can be resolved by continuous praying, fasting and eventually would lead to an awareness of the importance of confession to the priest.
5.) Pride. This is one character trait that most of us have one way or another. There is a feeling of 'for lack of a better word,' ignorance because of self righteousness attitude and thinking that the priest is just another person and why should they go to them and confess their sins.
They have to quite understand that priests are God's Shepherds, Holy Men, Anointed Holy Men and not just ordinary human beings. Again, Hosea 4:6.
So many misunderstandings about this topic and one can only renew their outlook about it through their own will if they so desired. No one is forced to do anything, that is against to one's will, a betrayal to oneself.
All in all, at the end, we all have to answer to only one Source and hopefully we are all ready when that time comes.
Having said these, I do go for monthly confession and that for me should be more than that. Why? We are all human beings, we are all sinners and there's never a moment that we have to think that we never sin so we do not need to go for confession to a priest. Through the priest we received pardon and be reborn, renewed and purified.
Thank you once again Fr.William and may the blessings of the Lord be upon you now and forevermore.
Confession is a Holy Sacrament, which you do not receive by confessing to a lay person.. Jesus says that you are confessing to Him thru a priest, not anyone else can give you the absolution , so that you can receive Holy Communion worthily.
There are many followers of Lucifer infiltrated through out our Church that are working to destroy it from within.
Elizabeth L. When Jesus died on the cross , how may sins did he die for? You seem to think that by confessing to a priest that you can be forgiven . When you read the bible it is quite clear that Jesus died for ALL the sins of mankind and there is no need to confess your sins to someone other than God ,in Jesus name. There is only one interceding on our behalf and that is Jesus .
James 5:…15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.…
So when was the last time you confessed your sins to a priest and he in turn confessed his sins to you?
Jesus paid the debt that we could not.
Feeling embarrassed? U can go to a priest u dont know, or he knows you. No need to be embarrassed because
I m sure he heard all kinds of sins before, nothing new to him .to be more practical, does the priest see u face to face when u confess in the usa? Maybe if there s this barrier where u can be bearly seen,it will make things easier . As for the frequency, I think a soon as we sin ,we should go to confession,because sin is that bond which ties us to the ennemy, in confession we break it. Personally each week, I write them down so not to forget any sin.
Confession without repentance is a joke
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.
Acts 3:19
Father a question please. Once we confess our sins is the punishment for those sins forgiven also or will there still be punishment for thosein purgatory.
The forgiveness is absolute and guaranteed when done in Confession.
Purgatory is not a place of "punishment" but purification. Think of it as boot camp before the rigors of military life. You don't exactly look forward to it, it is strenuous when you go through it, there are those rooting (praying) for you during the process and at the end you are glad you went through it.
Because our humanity is too frail and prone to sin to enter directly into the awesome presence of the eternal God in heaven. Remember in the Old Testament it is death to look upon the face of God -- that hasn't changed. Even though we can look upon the face of Christ, he is not the combined presence of the eternal Trinity. Purgatory is the place of preparation and purification, where we are prepared, including the purgation of our sinful TENDENCIES, as well as our sins, so that we can enter that eternal presence of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (PLEASE!! do not look on Purgatory as a place of PUNISHMENT!!!)
Hope that makes sense.
If you want some good literary examples, let me recommend Dante's "Purgatorio" (which really should be read in the full context of the Divine Comedy, but can be read on its own) and C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce" (highly recommended).
The confessional is used as a storage area and confession is only available if you phone to make an appointment
Doesn't your parish have regular confession times, like, "Saturday, 3-4:30 pm (just before the Saturday evening Mass)?" It's usually posted in the bulletin or the parish website, along with the "Mass times."
I know people find it difficult to set up an appointment for confession because priests always seem to be busy with other things more important than confession. But believe me, they always make time for you, because confession is as important as the other things they are busy with.
You can also go to another church for confession, if you feel it hard to catch your parish's confessional hours. God bless you.
We do it face to face not in the confessional at my parish. And all Catholic Churches need to have times for the sacrament of reconciliation
Our Dear Lord Jesus speaking to the Woman at the Well.....His Holy prophecies as to where mankind
will worship God The Father!
The way iread it is you confess to God when you are examining your conscience,then you confess to the priest but your sorrow being directed to God,
Good day m God bless u n yours I really really enjoyed your talk Fr I come from very religious family my grandfather walked from cursillo center n prairie Rhonde la to Guadeloupe Mexico on pilgrimage just to give u n example of where I'm coming from I grew up altar boy for Fr fryer motivator I'm here to tell u I never lost my faith but got involved n relationship of almost 24 years now with my children mother we never married though its like we married we get along great but she doesn't wanna get married at all at all I'm living n sin I'm honestly not a bad person I don't drink do drugs r nothing of nature I have a 4 year prayer chain of praying atleast 2 hours daily I still very close to our heavenly father but since I can't receive communion I haven't been to mass but once a year every year for Easter I am very faithful n obedient to our heavenly father ill probably b only tell u father I have converted several sinners by telling em God all never leave u not shall he forsaken no matter what you've done n lots of other stuff I love my family with all my heart but at times wonder. If I should leave my family I say I live for God but I have this 1 situation I struggle with daily u know like I know were supposed to put God 1st n our lives I'm constantly plaqued by this daily for 24 years now my children r almost grown always thought I'd leave there mother when youngest turned 18 but were starting to get along I try mediating talking to angels constantly call me crazy r cooky I'm a real believer they help me constantly but n that part everyday I pray all I ask is my family needs b meet I'm very poor man father n that God's will b done n each family members life. I'm very humble if u were to ever meet me u would c I'm not lyeing about anything fr I'm honest don't steal some days when troubled I pray 4 r 5 hours a day I could spend my entire day praying n love it I fast often but yet I still have this flaw we r weak n the flesh is no excuse for me nothing is impossible with God by u side if u can help me with any advice n any way fr I'd really embrace it the holy spirit is most wonderful thing
John Godeaux you must get married to her I'm sorry but as devout as you sound that doesn't make how you're living okay.
When you can not go to confession, because of outside problems rather than religious reasons, confessing directly to God is the only solution. It is the only solution until you can get to confession and receive physical absolution from the priest.
Father how do we pray properly as a Catholic? do we just pray verbally or the mind must also participate in the prayer.