Why do I have to go to a priest for God to forgive me?

A New Look at the Sacrament of Confession

Confession - or the sacrament of Joy, Reconciliation, Forgiveness of God - is the sacrament of healing. It heals the soul, it cures something I did wrong and wounded God Himself, because it contravened my nature and the will of the Lord. It makes God's dwelling in my soul possible again if I committed a mortal sin and therefore “expelled” Him from my interior; or it purifies it further if I offended Him slightly.

In order to be able to confess, there must be matter, that is, consciousness of having sinned or offended God by not observing any of the Commandments that indicate what should be the attitude of man before God, that of the son before the Father.

Meaning of Confession

It is a priceless treasure, since it means an encounter with the infinite mercy of God, who loves me and always wants to forgive me and give me the opportunity to begin and begin again, once and a thousand times. In short, it is a matter of becoming ourselves again, meeting again with God, with whom our nature desires - because it needs - to be. For this simple reason it would be justified for the Church to oblige us to confess our mortal sins at least once a year, if necessary.

Mortal sin must obligatorily be confessed to a priest in order to receive forgiveness, while venial sins are recommended to be confessed to strengthen the spiritual life. For there are other ways to purify these minor sins, such as the reception of Christ himself in the Eucharist.

Why can't I ask God for forgiveness directly?

Pope Catechism of the Catholic Church in No. 1441 recalls that “.“only God forgives sins (Mk 2,7). Jesus is the Son of God, and says of himself: ‘The Son of man has the power to forgive sins on earth’.’ (Mk 2:10)and exercise that divine power: ‘Your sins are forgiven’.’ (Mk 2:5; Lk 7:48)”.

On the other hand, he emphasizes that on the evening of the day of Resurrection, the Lord appeared in the midst of the disciples and said to them: “....“Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; whose sins you retain, they are retained.” (Jn 20:21).

Thus, by virtue of his divine authority, Jesus confers this power on men to exercise it in his name, so that the priests - or rather, He through the priests - can forgive sins and restore peace to the conscience.

It is a sacred content, which belongs to God and to the heart of each person. Hence, the priest is obliged to keep the so-called sacramental secrecy or office secret of what is heard in the sacrament. Confession.

Reasons for confession

In summary, these will be the reasons why according to the Catholic Faith one should go to confession to a priest:

Jesus established this, instituting one of the seven sacraments, and conferring on the apostles the power to forgive sins. The priests, successors of those apostles, would act in the name of Jesus.

Confession means a direct encounter with the divine Grace of the sacrament, with the Lord himself, because the priest in the instant of absolving or conferring the forgiveness of sins acts in the person of Christ himself.

It is also a medicine for the soul, which cures sin and strengthens it for future encounters with the temptation to sin. The priest thus acts as a physician and spiritual guide, relieving the burden of guilt as he expresses the forgiveness bestowed by God himself.

Sin breaks ties with God and, consequently, with the Church. The priest, representing the Church, also manifests the restoration of that unity of the Catholic faithful with the Church.

Acknowledging sin before another person, the priest, in this case someone qualified as a consecrated person, helps to achieve a real conversion through the humiliation that the accusation of sin may entail.

In order to obtain forgiveness from the offended party - God Himself in this case - it is necessary to verify that there is true repentance for the harm caused, and this is done by the priest in Confession.

Finally, we would refer to the certainty of forgiveness, which is attained by those who hear the words of absolution. This is the theological certainty that sins have been forgiven, have disappeared, and one has returned to communion with God, embracing his merciful love, recovering inner peace.