You can confess your sins directly to God. You do not need to confess to a pastor, priest, or spiritual leader to be forgiven.
"Do what the Catechism (of the Catholic Church) says. It is very clear: If you cannot find a priest to confess to, speak directly with God, your father, and tell him the truth. Say, 'Lord, I did this, this, this. Forgive me,' and ask for pardon with all your heart."
Any baptized Christian may approach a priest and request to go to confession. A non-Catholic Christian may request the seal of confession (absolute confidentiality) and may receive a prayer, but may not receive absolution. Any baptized Catholic may request Sacramental Confession.
Presbyter is the Greek word for priest. Therefore, based on the Biblical evidence, we see forgiveness of sins is explicitly tied to confession to a priest, who has the authority to forgive sins, which is given by Christ.
Confession begins with the (1) Sign of the Cross and the penitent greeting the priest with the words, (2) “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. My last confession was ….” (weeks, months, years). The penitent (3) confesses sins to the priest, who stands in the name of Christ and the Church.
You can confess your sins directly to God.
According to the Catholic Church, there are seven mortal or cardinal sins: lust, gluttony, avarice (greed), sloth (laziness), anger, envy, and pride.
Many of us were brought up in a tradition where we were taught to confess our sins to a priest. There may be some value in that, but there is no place in the Bible where God says that you must confess your sins to a priest.
Loved someone or something more than God (money, power, sex, ambition, etc.)? Let someone or something influence my choices more than God? Engaged in superstitious practices (horoscopes, fortune tellers, etc.)? Been involved in the occult (séance, Ouija board, etc.)?
Answer: The basic norm for confessing grave sins is that we should be sorry for all of our grave sins without exception. For this reason the Church asks us to confess grave or mortal sins “by number and kind.” This just means “what and how many times” you did what you did.
“The idea is that you don't need to go to confession unless you've done something really, really bad,” said Shaw. “People say, 'I'm a good person. I haven't done anything bad, or I haven't done anything I think is really bad — so I don't have anything to confess.
Finding a Time for Confession
If you're not comfortable going to your own parish for confession, you may explore other churches in your area. It's better to go to confession at a different church than not to go at all. If you're traveling, some airports have small chapels staffed by Catholic priests.
You must go to Confession at least once a year if you're aware of having committed any mortal sin, that is, a grave or serious sin. If you have not committed such a sin, you are certainly not obliged to go to Confession.
Punishment for breaking the seal of the confessional is conferred by the severity of the violation: "a confessor who directly violates the seal of the confessional," that is: explicitly connects a sin to a penitent, "incurs a latae sententiae excommunication." One who breaks the seal "indirectly" (that is: through ...
You confess sin to God through prayer, but you can also pray for the courage to confess to another person, and ask Him to help you see any other things you need to confess (Psalm 139:23-24). Grieve your sin. It is appropriate to mourn your sin and the hurt and separation it has caused (Psalm 51:17; James 4:8-10).
“There can be unavoidable circumstances that prevent our coming to Mass, but under normal circumstances, attending Mass on Sunday is a solemn and binding obligation. If we deliberately fail in this matter, it is a grave sin and we must go to confession before receiving communion again.
Anxiety is not inherently sinful. In the same way that there's a doubt that leads to faith and a doubt that leads to faithlessness, there's anxiety that leads to faith and anxiety that leads to faithlessness.
Answer: It's not a sin if the individuals involved are not married. It's also not a sin if it is between people who are married to each other. But it is a sin if it is between a married person and someone other than one's spouse, as in the case you mention.
After leaving the confessional, go into a pew, kneel down and say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for his mercy and love. If the penance given by the priest is to say certain prayers, complete your penance in the church.
Catholics do not pray to Mary as if she were God. Prayer to Mary is memory of the great mysteries of our faith (Incarnation, Redemption through Christ in the rosary), praise to God for the wonderful things he has done in and through one of his creatures (Hail Mary) and intercession (second half of the Hail Mary).
Anger that has nothing good to achieve is outrightly sinful. Since anger an emotion, the devil can quickly use it against us. So, St. Paul cautions us in Ephesians 4:26 saying “And 'don't sin by letting anger control you.
In other words, the unpardonable sin is the refusal to accept salvation when it is offered by God at the time of death (i.e. final impenitence). Grace comes to us through the Holy Spirit and by rejecting that final grace, we sin against the Spirit. It is hard to imagine anyone refusing salvation, but it happens.
According to Church doctrine, tampering with the "male seed" was tantamount to murder. A common admonition on the subject at the time was "so many conceptions prevented, so many homicides." To interfere with God's will was a mortal sin and grounds for excommunication.
Yes. If one through bad memory or nervousness forgets to confess a mortal sin, the person's confession is valid and all his or her sins will be forgiven. The person should, however, mention that forgotten sin in the next confession to receive advice and a proper penance.