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Why do we go to a priest for confession?

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Sacrament of Reconciliation explanation

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why do I have to come my sins to a priest if I pray that God won't forgive me  if it's been a long since your last confession or maybe even just been awhile since you've thought about this Sacrament you might be asking yourself this very question why why is it necessary for me to when do a confessional and confess my sins to a priest in order to be forgiven can I just pray to God for forgiveness well yes you can and should pray to God for forgiveness anytime you are aware of a sin you've committed but that's only part of the answer because asking God for forgiveness is only part of the remedy for our sins in order to fully understand why Catholics celebrate the sacrament of penance the way we do let's look at one of our core beliefs about who we are as a people of faith just as a body though one has many parts but all its many parts form one body so it is with Christ God has the body together so that there should be no division in the body but that its parts should have equal concern for each other are one body each of us a different yet important part of the whole the children of God are somehow in extremely connected even though we don't know louder or even like each other this Theology of St Paul is what Christians referred to as the mystical Body of Christ each of us may think it's stall about me or even all about me and God but that's not how the church sees it we are all in this together in fact call goes even further in describing the mystical Body of Christ if one part suffers all the parts suffer with it  if one what is honored all the parts share its Joy  and when one person sends it hurts and affect the entire community of believers why because we are one body in Christ often times a modern approach to send might be summed up no harm no foul under the mistaken impression that if we do something wrong but no one is aware of it or seemingly harm by it it's not really that bad of a sin  princess let's driving in my car when another driver Cuts me off or is driving slower than I think they should be so I let some words slip out that are unkind and mean-spirited but hey the other driver didn't hear me so it's not that bad right for Catholics that still is sent because I am called along with all my brother sisters in the body of Christ to be loving and charitable and patient so when I make a choice that's contrary to how we had Believers should live mice hurts us all and I need to ask forgiveness not only from God but from the other members of the body of Christ as well each and every sin we can harms our relationship with God and harms our relationship to the other members of the community so it's not enough to Simply ask God for forgiveness sin creates a separation the sacrament of penance also known as the sacrament of reconciliation is about mending that separation or exiling us to both God and Community that's why we confess our sins to a priest he is there as both an intermediary of is Grace and as a representative of the people of God in fact in the earliest centuries of the church Christians would publicly confess their sins to the Tire community of Believers today's practice may be less embarrassing but it still has the same effect the priest welcomes us back into the communion of God's people communion is a word we usually associate with a different sacraments here to sometimes our sins are so serious sleep take ourselves out of communion with God and with one another excommunication is a scary word that most people think means being kicked out of the church but in reality when we commit grave or what we call mortal sins we remove ourselves from communion with God in the church that's why the church teaches that if you committed any mortal sins you need to go to confession before receiving the Eucharist because you have to be in communion to safe commute and that's what's so great about this sacrament of penance or reconciliation or confession no matter how bad our sins are how long it's been through God's grace and forgiveness we are brought back into communion to once again be a part of the body of Christ

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Why do we go to a priest for confession?

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