HOW TO GO TO CONFESSION, part 1 - Catholic Precept #2 

Very helpful father ,

After 5 years only two people have noticed!! (or at least had the moxie to point it out) I noticed it right before I put it up, but decided "let's see how many will catch it and have the guts to say so" and left it in. I should have offered a prize!! LOL!! "Nothing in this world has any business being perfect" -- King Henry II (Peter O'Toole) in "The Lion in Winter"

Ice M. I hope you made it to confession. Confession, tho scary, it’s such a healing!! May God bless you

@ Ice M: Don't worry or be afraid. Remember, the priest is there to help you, not kill you and devour you. I once went 10 years without going to confession and i was a little worried and scared, but afterward i realised it wasn't bad at all and i felt so clean and refreshed. Now, you go to confession and don't be afraid. God bless you.

@ John Marley: Don't worry, your sins will be forgiven.

Me too. Review the 10 Commandments. Recall all the people you can. Notice whether you must be sorry for anything. ... I need to go to Confession also ...

It is hard to forget when you have committed a mortal sin, because it is always done with the full consent of the will. However, YES, you must confess mortal sins if they are to be forgiven. I would re-examine the sin to see if it is really a mortal sin (people banter that term around very carelessly and melodramatically these days). That said, ALL sins should be confessed. Not just the mortal ones.

There is nothing in particular I pray during a Confession. I am usually listening to the person making their confession. While sitting in the confessional, waiting, I will often pray the breviary for the day. As for a good Biblical payer FOR Confession, I think the best Act of Contrition is the 51st Psalm, also known as the "Miserere".

Great, Thank you very much father for this very interesting insight. All the best.

joseph gallardo if you were baptized as a Catholic, then you are a Catholic who just hasn't been to Mass in however long it has been or received any other Sacraments. Once a Catholic, you are always a Catholic. Going to confession reconciles you to the Body of Christ in the Catholic Church. :)

This is from the same series, and talks about why going to Confession to a Priest is both practiced and important. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a9Va8IO7Ivo.html Just an FYI. Thanks for your comment, and for watching my videos.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 I just watched it and the other in the series that came right after it. I'll admit, it does not convince me to take on the Catholic view. However, Protestants aren't against confession before a human, we just don't go to someone with the title of Priest, which most of us don't have access to anyway because we have a different church structure (unless you perhaps consider all Christians as priests and therefore...). One might come before their Pastor or a church Elder with a confession, or most often when having deeper conversations with a mentor/discipler or in a small group we will confess things before each other. Occassionally you'll see someone confess something before the congregation. It is, of course, less formal in these settings and not anonymous. And often we have already settled it with God beforehand, but sometimes not. It does create an environment of accountability, though, as your brothers and sisters in Christ can now help you move forward without falling back into sin. They also might find your confession helps them confess and deal with sin in their own lives and it can bless the whole group. Because of Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit indwelling, we have direct access to God. And we Protestants, as you know, do believe we can take our confession directly before Him and be forgiven right then and there. I will relate a specific experience where this was so profound and clear in my life: I was spending time with the Lord and a specific sin was brought forth and made clear to me in my mind. I called out to God in repentence and sorrow, and when I was done confessing I rejoiced, for so clear was the sense of forgiveness. I knew it was forgiven--it was finished, it was no more--and that I would leave it behind and continue forward without it. The sin is long forgotten, but not that moment where I gained some understanding about forgiveness. If I were in a town where there was only a Catholic church, I would not be opposed to going to confession before a priest, however (so long as you guys would let me), nor even to attending it, though I don't think I would convert and unfortunately that would deny me the Eucharist in a Catholic church. We Protestants do think a little differently from Catholics when we use the same Scriptures, but I've seen God work through both ways.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Also, thank you for your videos. I've enjoyed learning from them.

I tryed to write them down .

Check the ten commandments again and try to think it over, it will surely come to your conciousness and you will remember.

JUSTICE mEDIA UG there are resources online that give a good guide for an examination of conscience.

The obligation is the same as everyone else -- once a year during Lent. Most, however, go more often. Some with regularity some without. It depends on the priest, but my guess is that most, if not all, go a few times a year.

Confess grave sins. All you recall. Review the 10 Commandments.

Asking God to bless us is asking for his favor and protection. We ask for protection against future temptations so we can avoid sin later on. When it comes to requesting favor, we aren't asking him to favor us more than another human (God doesn't do that, he loves all equally). What I think it means is favor the present us and cleanse us of our sins, and forgive our past self for the sins we committed.

No need to be nervous. The priest is there to bestow God's forgiveness. Feel free to write them down if you need to. Take a deep breath. Take your time and each time you go it will get easier.

The priest is there to absolve your sins, not judge you. He may council you because he is still a shepherd of souls, but if you are sincere in your confession, you will walk out of there absolved from your sins, not judged for the. Also, the seal of the confessional means ABSOLUTE confidentiality. Nothing and no one can compel the priest to reveal what he hears, nor can he confirm/deny that you even came to confession. Besides, if you go anonymously, he need not even know who you are, and still he cannot discuss what he heard. So have a little faith, put a little trust and you will be happy you did.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Great advice

Mortal sins, yes, they always must be confessed. But, how likely is it that one will forget a mortal sin and not confess it, unless they did not know that it was a mortal sin at the time - which is one of the three conditions for it to be mortal ( 1) a grave matter, 2) full knowledge of the evil being committed, and 3) committed knowingly with full consent of the will)? Highly unlikely that a mortal sin will be "forgotten" and more likely, under those three mandatory conditions, that it was withheld.

Of course.

Ha... I'm pretty sure this was a trick question. 😐

Most definitely yes.

Jeff B. To your first question -- It depends on what you mean by "prophecy". If you mean "predicting the future" kind of prophecy, the Catholic Church does not engage in that activity and the prophets of the Bible, while "fulfilled" in Jesus, do not engage in predicting future events. God even has forbidden that kind of practice among His people. However, if you mean the prophetic call for pure worship and greater justice and moral righteousness, many priests do preach that. Unfortunately, the biblical call for more authentic worship is often bogged down today between pre- and post-Vatican II divisions; Latin Mass or no Latin Mass, rather than the interior disposition of the priests and people offering worship; and calls for righteousness and social justice are often bogged down in liberal/conservative political conflicts rather than how the call of God in the Bible itself is applicable today. No one seems to want to touch morality with a ten-foot-pole these days because it is such a hot topic (especially sexual morality) and, is also bogged down in sexual socio-political debates rather than how the prophets held up illicit sexual union is a sign and symbol of adherence to paganism. However, there are a few courageous priests out there who manage to preach the Biblical prophets, and to be that prophetic presence today.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 How kind of you to respond directly to questions, addressing them fully and compassionately!

The OBLIGATION is once a year. However, many people return to the Sacrament of Confession after many years, and then receive it regularly afterwards. If it has been awhile, nothing keeps you from going and nothing makes any honest confession invalid.

I try to say it in my own words expressing, 1) sincere sorrow, 2) acknowledgment of God's goodness, and 3) a determination to do better in the future.

There is nothing that your priest has not heard before and there is nothing so bad that will not be forgiven when confessed in sincerity and truth. That is what is so special and necessary about confession. Forgiveness is guaranteed. And once God has forgiven you, the only challenge left is for you to forgive yourself. So, "be not afraid" and go see your priest.

Hahahaha You are not alone!!

It is only necessary to confess a sin again if you commit the sin again. Deep deep remorse does not negate the sacrament, and the absolute forgiveness of God it bestows. Have faith in that forgiveness and work hard to overcome that sin so as to not commit it again. Allow your deep remorse to guide you away from sin; but remorse and sorrow are not sins in and of themselves.

The basic outline of this video and of part 2 of "how to go to confession" gives a basic outline on what to do when you go to confession. The rest of my explanations are about why we do what we do.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a9Va8IO7Ivo.html

General Absolution is rarely given, except in circumstances in which there is a chance of mass death in which there is no time or opportunity for individual confession and absolution -- For example in a time of war, prior to battle. It is rare and is not allowed under normal circumstances.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 So it's not allowed to be given like in a regular mass?

No. and BTW - the Penitential rite is not the Sacrament of Confession. We only "call to mind out sins", but do not confess our sins. So the "absolution" given at the end of it - "may almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life." - is not the same as the absolution in Confession. So it is not considered "general absolution."

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Thank you for clarifying this Fr. William Nicholas. I was going to ask you another question regarding the sins that we committed every day. But it's kind of personal that I don't want to mention here.

No priest reports to ANYONE what he hears in Confession. He can't even say that someone did NOT come to Confession. Everything is held in absolute confidentiality.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 thank you for the information. Ive never confessed my sins to anyone of the church in my life and i need someone to talk to about what I've done and how to make it up to the families I've devastated. I know im a child of god, but I've done something severe in my past because i went down the wrong path in life and ive seen enough bloodshed to last me a lifetime and i want to make amends with god first before i go forward and admit my sins to the families ive forsaken.

Only ordained priests (and bishops) have the faculties to administer absolution in the name of the Church, to whom Jesus gave the power to forgive sins (John 20:23).

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Jesus said that to his disciples, so are catholic priests and bishops given the same powers as the disciples were in john 20:23? Thoughts on james 5:16 "Confess faults one to another....". This has always confused me. Thanks

The Apostles are succeeded by the Bishops and the presbyters (priests) are extensions of the bishops in terms of sacramental ministry. This is also the case for the deacons. All three are spoken of in the New Testament, particularly in the Letters to Timothy (I forget which, unless it is both.) and, I believe Titus. The Bishops administer all seven sacraments, the priests can administer five (not Confirmation, without a special delegation, like at Easter, and not Holy Orders), while the deacon can administer Baptism and Matrimony. James says "confess your sins to one another..." because he is also speaking from a reference point of the very close relationship Christians had with one another at that time because they were brother/sisters in Christ. Something that has, unfortunately been lost. (After all, do you see that same closeness and respect of privacy among many parish groups nowadays?) However, with the growth of Christianity, the development of the Sacrament in Church tradition has limited it to the privacy of the confessor who is an ordained minister of the Sacrament. Time was when in some places sins were publicly confessed to the gathered assembly. But over time it developed to private confession in which the confessor is formally bound by the absolute seal of the confessional, where a general assembly, or "one another" are not, and the absolution of sins is assured and guaranteed in the prayer of absolution and blessing, and the priest/bishop, acting in persona Christi, the confession is, in fact, being given to Christ, through the ordained minister (incarnational interchange, human to human). This is not the case with lay Catholics. Hope this makes sense.

A minor glitch which we both overlooked. We decided to leave it in to see how long it would be before someone pointed it out. You're the first! LOL

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Haha! It was very quick and you handled it very professionally! God Bless Father and greetings from Australia.

If anyone else point it out to you, you could always say that (since it is in a "how to" video) I was showing the best way to stop and "start over" if you begin Confession wrong. ;-)

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Hahah!

Actually it was the anti-Jesus scribes who said that (Mark 2:6-7). So you need to get your facts straight. Then Jesus corrected their error (Mark 2:8-11) and everyone marveled that Jesus was introducing something new (Mark 2:12). So you need to keep reading. Then Jesus told Peter and the Apostles, "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven" (John 20:23). So you need to remember that there are more verses in the bible than the one you love to quote and which seems to be the only one anyone seems to know.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 I know there are more versus im still learning the word

Sorry if I sounded a little sharp in my response. I get that particular comment a lot (along with the "call no man [your] father passage." (which is another favorite of people)). Have a response for both but it gets tiresome after a while. So excuse any abruptness I exhibited.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 thats alright

Thank you for your passion and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must be careful not to fall into the trap of single verses in Scripture that say all we need to say to be saved. By doing so, we negate other Scripture that is equally as valid. The Catholic/catholic/universal church-the church of Christ, given to us by Jesus, himself, tells us many things. As Catholic Christians, we take fully into account ALL that Jesus said. Like many outside (and possibly inside, though errantly) believe that we 'worship' Mary, if we go only on the teachings of Paul, are we not extending a worship of all that he says, while rationalizing away instructions given to us by Jesus himself? Mary, creation of God, and therefore so we do not judge, is to be loved and honored as all human life is honored as made in the image of God, each with one's own gifts, Mary's gift is the ultimate gift, in that she was made to bring Jesus to us and we now can prayerfully ask her to bring us to Him, as his mother. Little is known about the life of Mary, but we know she was the primary human vessel God used in Salvation history, to come to us as part of a family. It is a dangerous thing to assume anything less than honorable, for by doing so, we judge another human and the gifts given them by God. We shall indeed give an account to God and for us to follow the commandments, and to Imitate our Lord, we shall honor our father and mother, and thereby, since God gave Jesus an earthly father and mother, as He honored them, so too shall we. It is of utmost respect. We are family in God's kingdom. It is not only us and God. If it were, why would he have made us family and come into an earthly family. Jesus said “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, whose sins you retain are retained.” John 20:22-23 Consider the "you" he is speaking to. For a clearer explanation on confession, see www.catholic.com/magazine/online-edition/is-confession-in-scripture

Esther Miller read (John 20, 21-23) (2 Corinthians 5, 18-20) The first Christians confessed (James 5, 16) (acts 19, 18) Priests, being men like us, can understand us and help us to advance in the way of our own sanctification. (Hebrews 5 1-2) On the other hand, the idea of ​​confessing directly with God is not biblical. In the Old Testament it is said that the confession of sins is made in the presence of a priest, in a cultic and liturgical context (Lv 5, 1-13, Nm 5, 5-10). He who in any of these ways has become guilty, will confess his guilt and present to the Lord, as a reparation for the sin committed, a female of the flock, sheep or goat, in sacrifice of expiation. The priest will thus make you atone for your sin, and you will be forgiven. (Lv 5, 5-6)

Time to start using your imagination more, or at least expand your knowledge of Scripture. Is this the ONLY passage people know? Do they even know what the passage says? No one calls me 'YOUR Father". No one addresses me as MY Father. They just call me "Father." The Bible was not written in English by Christian Protestants. 'Your Father" the term Jesus forbids, is a more formal term than simply the term "father". Even then, Jesus Himself uses the term repeatedly throughout the Gospels in reference to a persons father. So, unless Jesus contradicted Himself, in which case faith in Him is gravely misplaced, then He obviously meant it in a different sense than the one some biblical ignoramuses are fond of.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Jesus called His Father "Father", but I don't see where He used it anywhere else. Not being combative. I went to both catholic and christian schools. Matthew 23 is a great chapter explaining religious leaders. Why does Jesus say "all ye are brethren" when He says not to call men "rabbi", "father" or "master"?

When Jesus says, "unless you hate Father and Mother", when he makes references to the "father" in his parables, and when he quotes the (Greek translation of) Genesis, "that is why a man leaves his father and mother..." he uses the same word he forbids when he says "Call no man on earth your father." The difference is the inclusion of the word "your" which is a much more formal term. Watch the movie "the Ten Commandments" and note how characters address their fathers -- "Yes, my father", "is it true, my father?". That is more the spirit of what Jesus meant if we translate it to English. No one in English (or very few) addresses me or, for that matter, their dads as as "My Father", but only "father." It is like the Spanish conjugation of verbs between the two forms of the word "you", the familiar "tu" and the formal "usted". We don't have that distinct form of conjugation in English. So it is hard for people who only speak English to comprehend the formal address for "Father" in another language, like Greek or Hebrew. It is the formal "YOUR father", or "MY father" in the same way we refer to God as "OUR Father" that Jesus means. Unfortunately, many non-Catholic Christians who have a bone to pick don't understand this.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 Jesus had a bone to pick with the religious leaders of the day. Matthew 23 is very clearly about the scribes and pharisees. Not about calling you father, "father". He is specifically talking about them. The chapter is dedicated to warning the religious leaders about their hypocrisy. He mentions their fancy robes, wanting special seats at events and being called "Rabbi or Father".

Be that as it may, Jesus is still only prohibiting the FORMAL address of YOUR Father, as we address God as OUR Father. He is not forbidding the use of the term "Father". Still, his admonition to the Scribes and Pharisees does, as you point out, further call them out on seeking a title merely for the sake of having the title. Just as he criticizes them for piling heavy burdens but not lifting a finger to help carry them. He does not criticize the burden, only the failure or refusal to help carry them.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-a9Va8IO7Ivo.html -- Confessing to a priest is essential for the forgiveness of sins. Otherwise we deny the Incarnation.

You have neither the credentials, nor the authority to make that conclusion. For that matter, neither do I. There is only one spirit that would make anyone draw such conclusions, and it's not a holy one. Time to check any arrogant presumption at the door and start to approach our God with the humility He requires and the faith (without personal classification) in both the Son He sent, and in the Church His Son founded, and with whom He promised He would always be.

That point is clarified in the video.

At LEAST once a year. Yes, there is "one mediator", but we gotta do it the way the "one mediator" told us to do it rather then selectively ignore much of what the "one mediator" said. And one thing the "one mediator" did NOT say is "call no man father." The "one mediator" said "call no one on earth YOUR Father". There's a difference (and remember the Bible was not written yesterday, nor in English, nor in America by anti-Catholic Protestants). BTW - If you actually READ the Bible you will note that in the New Testament people DID confess their sins to John the Baptist (gospels) and to the Apostles (Acts), not to "everyone"; and 1 John and James tell people to confess their sins (gotta do it to someone). And Jesus said to the Apostles (not to everyone): "Whose sins YOU forgive [not whose sins anyone forgives] are forgiven..." Everything you wrote?... I've heard it all before. It's all too easy, and it really gets tiresome! Come up with something new, that no one else has said, pleeeease!

@@fr.williamnicholas955 matt:23:9 "father" in this verse applies to religious leaders,not our biological fathers as in eph 6:2,children are told to "honour thy father and mother". Christ is condemning the scribes and phariseess. Matt:23 potrays these religious leaders with their pretense of piety,their long fancy robes,their love of being noticed and of sitting at the head of a table. (The catholic father has all this character too,in the church they will sit on a special like throne chair). They prided themselves in being called as "rabbi" and "father". Christ rebuked these religious leaders,the scribes and pharisees for their hypocrites. (Do you think Christ,going to be silent,today,to the catholic priests and father). Read 2 cor:13-15 Christ speaks about this hypocrites.

@@fr.williamnicholas955 confession to priest is nowhere taught in the new covenent. 1 peter 2:5-9 described believers as "Holy Priesthood" and "Royal Priesthood". In the old covenent,priest are mediators between the people and God. But that is no longer neccessary because of Jesus sacrifice. Now we can approach God directly,without the use of a human mediator. Why?,because Jesus is our great high priest (heb 4:14-15,10:21) And the only mediator between us and God 1tim 2:5 in the new testament teaches that there are to be elders 1tim 3:1-7,titus 1:6-9 Deacons 1tim 3:8-13 Pastors eph 4:11 but not priests Believers are told in 1 john 1:9 to confess their sin to God. Pleeeeeeesssseeeeee check the fact,what i given you is with bible backup not traditions.

Sorry to disappoint you but Jesus did not say "call no religious leaders your father." He said "call no one on EARTH your father." Either way he did not forbid the use of the word "Father" because he uses the same Greek word when he says "that is why a man leaves his FATHER and mother...." and "unless you hate your FATHER and other..." So obviously it was not an outright prohibition of the word FATHER, but rather of the formal use YOUR father, OUR father, etc, that is reserved to God. (and btw, I'm not a pharisee. So by your logic he is not talking about his own priests, but the Jewish leaders.) Sorry to further disappoint you but it was AFTER Jesus's sacrifice that he said to the apostles, "whose sins YOU forgive are forgiven" and it was AFTER His sacrifice that people confessed to the Apostles in the Acts of the Apostles. 1 john 1:9 -- "If we confess our sins, he is faithful..." Sorry, he never says confess "to God" So logically, we confess our sins to those who have the authority to hear and forgive in Jesus' name -- John 20:23 Keep trying. I've heard it all before (Yaaawn!) I know it's hard to come up with something original, but Catholics have been around a lot longer. We've heard it all before.

It's no claim. I'll see your Peter, John and Paul and raise you one Jesus Christ -- "Whose sins you forgive are forgiven, and whose sins you hold bound are held bound" (John 20:23) and "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 16:19); and he didn't say this to ALL "born again" believers. Just the leadership and their presbyters. (and BTW, nowhere in Scripture does it say Christians must be "born again" (go ahead, I dare you. I'm ready!)) Need to read the ENTIRE Scripture, not just the passages you like to misquote.

Well Jesus Christ certainly believes we need to confess our sins in the Confessional to the Priest who is in Persona Christi. He exhorts through His Priests. Jesus Christ saves us baptized with The Holy Spirit and Holy Water from original sin. Sins committed after Baptism have to be confessed, we have to receive absolution and serve our Penance to be forgiven by God. That’s why He instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). 2 Cor 5:18-20, Jn 20:21-23, Mt 16:18-19, 18:17-18.