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Hi, Michael —
You said:
- If God always hears our prayers, and if
God will always forgive us if the request
is sincere, then why is it such a terrible thing for
me not to go to Confession?
Because Catholic Christians and most
non-Catholic Christians believe Jesus
Christ is the
[God-Incarnated Man] for our salvation.
Jesus speaks about Confession but only to His Apostles/ disciples in John 20:19-23:
19 On the evening of that day, the
first day of the week, the doors
being shut where the disciples
were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus
came and stood among them and
said to them, "Peace be with
you." 20 When he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his
side. Then the disciples were
glad when they saw the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace
be with you. As the Father has
sent me,
even so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
(John 20:19-23)
This is the biblical basis for the
sacrament of Confession. Remember
Michael, it may appear that we are
confessing to a priest but we are
really confessing to the Lord. Jesus
is using the body of another man
for his body to absolve the faithful
in His Church of their sins.
Can you confess your venial sins
privately to the Lord? Sure! as well
as in Confession. Mortal sins, though require sacramental
absolution by going to Confession.
You said:
- Does it make me any less than a good,
faithful Catholic, by asking God directly
to forgive my sins as opposed to going
to Confession and having them forgiven
through
a priest?
Yes it does, because you now know that Jesus Our Lord instituted this sacraments
for you as a normal means of absolving all your sins and receiving extra graces for sins you commit. The Bishops of the United States have recommended that the faithful go to Confession monthly.
I refer to the sacraments of the
Church as the dynamite in the Church. The
word sacrament comes from a word
which means to swear an oath. In
every sacrament of the Church, the
Lord is swearing an oath to fulfill
what that sacrament does.
This
is His divine desire; we should follow
it.
Find out where Church services are
in the airport, either going to or
coming from work, and ask a priest
to hear your Confession. If
needed, make an appointment to see
what would be a good time to hook
up with him on a regular basis.
Finally, if you haven't been to Mass
in a while, you have to get to Confession,
as missing Sunday Mass, without a
good reason, is a mortal sin. Think
of attendance at Sunday Mass as the
gasoline that every airplane needs
to fly for that week.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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