Saints LightHow Do I Go to Confession?
Jesus gave his priests the power to forgive sins in his name. You examine your conscience, tell your sins honestly, receive a penance, say you are sorry, and hear the words of absolution, and the priest can never tell anyone.
What this lesson teaches
- Jesus gave the apostles power to forgive and retain sins, which requires that sins be heard.
- The penitent brings contrition, confession and satisfaction; God gives absolution through the priest.
- Confess all mortal sins you remember, in kind and roughly how often; at least once a year if in serious sin.
- The seal of confession is absolute: the priest can never reveal what you confessed.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 1440-1445
- CCC 1451
- CCC 1456-1457
- CCC 1460
- CCC 1467
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: John 20:21-23; 1 John 1:9.
A sample question from this lesson
Why do Catholics confess sins to a priest rather than only to God in private?
- Because God cannot hear prayers that are said in private
- Because the priest earns forgiveness for us by his own holiness
- Because Jesus gave the apostles power to forgive and retain sins, which requires hearing them
- Because the Church invented confession in the Middle Ages
Show the answer
Because Jesus gave the apostles power to forgive and retain sins, which requires hearing them. In John 20 Jesus gave the apostles power to forgive or retain sins, and they cannot judge what they have not heard. The priest also represents the Church that sin wounds.
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Contrition
- Sorrow of soul for sin, with the resolution not to sin again.
- Absolution
- The words by which the priest, acting in Christ's name, forgives sins.
- Seal of confession
- The absolute obligation of a priest never to reveal anything a penitent confessed.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"How Do I Go to Confession?" is lesson 5 of The Seven Sacraments. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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Related lessons
- How Do I Make My First Confession? (Becoming Catholic, free)
- the forgiveness of sins (The Creed, free)
- Why Confess to a Priest? (Hard Questions)
- The Precepts of the Church (Grace and Virtue)