My non-Catholic friends tell me they’re forgiven by praying directly to God

As Christians, we all recognize that Jesus’ mission on earth aimed at the forgiveness of sins. Already in the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we see this clearly laid out. When the angel appeared to St. Joseph to tell him to take Mary and the child into his home, the angel instructed Joseph to name the child Jesus, which means “savior.” The angel explains what Jesus would save us from, “For he shall save his people from their sins,” (Matt. 2:21). Jesus rescued us from sin by dying on the cross and rising to new life.

However, for each of us to accept this salvation in our lives, we need to have contact with the savior in a real way. Jesus leaves two primary ways for us to have forgiveness of our sins. First, baptism washes away all sin, both original sin and any personal sins, in the case of an adult catechumen. But the Lord clearly desired to leave another sacrament to wash away sin committed after baptism, and this is the Sacrament of Confession.

Where do we see Jesus initiate this sacrament? First, Jesus began his public ministry with a call to conversion. Matthew 4:17 says that when Jesus began to preach, he said, “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” To receive the fruits of Christ’s passion and the forgiveness of our sins, we need to have the proper disposition: interior repentance bolstered by acts of penance.

But none of this yet is proof that we need a special sacrament, because we could indeed turn immediately to God, repent, and receive forgiveness. We see that Jesus directly willed to create a special sacrament to be the ordinary way he would forgive sins after his ascension. In John 20:22-23, the risen Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room. He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”

Jesus gives his own spirit, his own power to the disciples to be instruments of his forgiveness. That he willed the outward confession of sins is proved by the fact that the disciples would have to judge what sins to forgive or retain. How could they know whether to forgive or retain sins unless sins were confessed to them?

But why would Jesus leave this power to the disciples? Couldn’t he continue to forgive sins from afar (in heaven)? Yes, of course Jesus has the power to do so. However, isn’t it true that God’s power to forgive is more clearly manifested by using humble instruments to bring about such a great gift? God loves to exercise his power through instruments, and the lowlier and humbler the instrument, the more his power shines through. That God could forgive sin through a priest more clearly shows his power than if he did it alone.

Another reason Jesus desired to leave a sacrament of forgiveness is because he loves our humanity. As humans, we encounter reality through our senses. We don’t have a spiritual existence that is totally independent of our body. So again, God could forgive us in a purely spiritual way, communicating grace to us without tangible signs. However, because he created us with bodies, he wills to communicate himself to us in sensible ways. The Sacrament of Reconciliation has great power because we use our speech to accuse ourselves of sin. We hear ourselves confess our sins. We acknowledge them openly; we don’t hide from them. This is very human and very healthy on a psychological level. But we also hear God’s forgiveness pronounced over us. The priest speaks in the person of Christ when he says, “I absolve you of your sins…” These words console us on a human level. Thanks be to God for giving us grace in human ways!

Another reason we confess sins to a priest is that our sins are never just between us and God. Every sin, even the smallest, affects every other person on earth, and especially the Body of Christ, the Church. By sin, we are less for others than we should be, we introduce disorder into the world, and we lose out on opportunities for valuable merits for the Church. So, it is just for us to confess to another human being, and receive forgiveness on behalf of the Church.

And, of course, all the sacraments culminate in the Holy Eucharist. One could rightly say that the purpose of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is to give us a way to receive the Eucharist worthily. We know that to receive the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin is to eat and drink judgment and punishment upon ourselves (1 Cor. 11:27-30). Confession ensures that we have a means to worthy reception of the Eucharist, the Bread of Life, the foretaste of life everlasting, and the joy of our souls. In the Eucharist, the Kingdom of Heaven comes to us. Confession prepares for this coming: “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2).
 
Editor’s Note: If you have a question you would like to submit for consideration in a future column, send to news@fargodiocese.org or mail to New Earth, 5201 Bishops Blvd. S, Suite. A, Fargo, ND 58104.