by John Gilbert

Created on: June 29, 2009   Last Updated: July 06, 2009

Confession never gives someone permission to sin. We need to understand sin in order to understand the sacrament of confession which I will explain momentarily. Many non-Catholics view confession as a Catholic's way to be forgiven and then they can and do create the same sin again. Many non- Catholics also think, "I have accepted Jesus Christ as my savior and he died for all our sins, so all I have to do is ask God directly for forgiveness". They are right and they are wrong.

Sin carries with it two components. There is what I call the vertical component. We sin directly against God. There is what I call the horizontal component where we sin against our fellow man. Consider a husband and a wife who just had a huge argument, calling each other names especially forbidden by the 10 commandments. Well, later they reconcile and tell each other they are sorry. Of course they forgive each other. Sometime during their prayers they also ask God for forgiveness. It is easy for one to now understand the two components of sin.

In the book of Mathew, Jesus said to Peter; "you are my rock, upon you I will build my Church...whatever you declared bound on earth will be bound, whatever you declare loose shall be loose". It was this moment that Jesus Christ established Peter as the head of the Catholic (meaning universal as for all of mankind) church and gave him the authority to establish church doctrine and laws. One such law was the forgiveness of sins. Now a Pope cannot be everywhere so his duties are passed on to leaders (cardinal, Bishops, etc) of the church on down to priests.

We understand and look at the priest as the head of the church, especially the church we belong too. Since sin separates us from God and the church is the body of Christ here on earth, sin actually separates us from the church in the same way as an argument can separate us from our spouse or our friend or anyone. However, it is easy to ask forgiveness from a spouse, etc. Not all sins carry that ease of forgivenss and are much more complex in order to obtain forgiveness.

When a spouse or friend forgives us, then we feel better and no longer carry the guilt associated with the sin. Especially if we have asked God for that same forgiveness. So, there is also the pyschological component of going to confession.

So in the confessional we pray direct to God by praying an "act of contrition" and then the priest (representing the church - body of Christ) forgives us for the people he represents and allows us fully back into the church. The priest does no take the place of God in any way shape or form.

Now about repeat sin. The priest also holds us accountable and during confession will ask us, "why do you continue to repeat this same sin over and over?" He may even suggest tools to help us overcome that particular sin. One sin that may be easy for many to relate to, especially single people is lust. It is our desire to be with someone sexually that many people fall into the trap of lusting over others. It takes a lot of maturity and strong will to overcome such a sin. Each time we go to confession we also receive many spiritual blessings and graces to help us overcome our sins. Eventually the sin will die out and we will no longer commit it.

In summary, confession is a not an instrument that allows us to repeat sins. It is a spiritual and psychological tool that helps us to grow closer to Christ each time we go. During confession, it is God and God alone that forgives us for sinning against his laws and commandments. It is God and God alone that we ask forgiveness from. After we ask God for forgiveness and promise to try hard to avoid all sins, the Priest then forgives us back into the church.

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