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"Confess your sins one to another." This Bible verse is the basis for the Catholic sacrament of Reconciliation, otherwise known as confession. Going to confession is an important life. In the past many people went to confession every week. Now in many parishes, it is preferred to do it once a month unless you have committed some serious sins. At a minimum the faithful Catholic should confess once a year.

To confess your sins means you are looking at them. The worst people in the world can sin away without even noticing it. If you want to be a better person than that, you have to be aware of the moral nature of what you are doing.

What kind of sins are confessed? The Bible teaches that all sins are bad and are condemned by God. Jesus suffered and died for all sins. Yet some sins are recognized in the Bible as being very serious, and others less so. In modern times we call the serious sins 'mortal sins' which means they involve an intentional turning away from God and His commands. Other sins are called 'venial sins'. These are the little everyday sins we might commit that don't mean a turning away from God, but are a result of our human weakness. Mortal sins must be confessed, while with venial sins it is not a requirement.

In order for the sacrament of Reconciliation to be valid, the sinner must repent of his sins and decide to 'go and sin no more'. If you intend to keep on committing a sin, such as adultery, confessing it will not get you forgiveness since you have not sincerely repented and changed your ways.

The form of Reconciliation we have today is the result of a long history. From the time of the Early Church, Christians have dealt with the problem of what to do when someone commits a serious sin after baptism. Throughout the first millennium of Church history, forms of confession and repentance came into being, resulting in the form of confession we know today.

Many Protestants may ask 'how can a priest forgive sins?' The forgiveness comes from Jesus Christ through his suffering and death on the cross. The words of Absolution spoken by the priest do not offer the priest's forgiveness, but Christ's. It is similar to the way that Jesus, while He was on earth, sent out 70 disciples to preach, to heal and to cast out devils in His name.

Most Protestant denominations threw out sacramental confession at the Reformation, but retained the idea of repentance. Repentance of sins has been historically a very important part of Protestant teachings. In many cases Catholics are inspired by the sincerity of the repentance of their Protestant brothers in faith, and follow their example.

Sometimes the idea of the need for repentance can be wrongly expressed. In the past, some Protestant circles young girls pregnant out of wedlock were required to confess their sins in front of the congregation. In other cases ministers have felt free to preach on the sins of individual church members. This has been less of a problem in Catholic churches because priests are strictly forbidden to tell anyone the contents of a confession. But Catholics as well have been unforgiving of a known sinner.

In more modernistic church circles, both Catholic and Protestant, the idea of sin has been rejected as old-fashioned, and repentance looked on as psychologically unhealthy. This leads to people continuing in sin when they should have been led to repentance. But such an approach ignores the Bible and the teachings of the Church and is not spiritually healthy.

Learn more about this author, Nissa Annakindt.
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