Orthodox don't ask penance from priests. We confess directly to Jesus Christ in front of a priest. It's embarrassing. The apostles had to confess in front of the entire congregation. At least we don't have to do that. If we don't confess in front of someone else, we are just fooling ourselves. Again, we confess directly to Jesus Christ in front of a witness.
I'm not one but I can shed light on the reason even shout it from the roof tops....This is what stirs up the carnal emotions and lust of the flesh in the church. It's a tool used by Satan.
The Catholic Church believes that "Only God forgives sin."
When a penitent person asks God for forgiveness, his (or her) sins are immediately forgiven.
Catholics also believe that when someone sins they not only hurt their relationship with God, they also injure the entire church, the body of Christ.
Jesus said, "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,"Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (Luke 20:22-23)
Oral confessing of sins is recommended over and over in both the Old and New Testaments:
? James 5:16
? Acts 19:18
? Matthew 3:5-6
? Mark 1:5
? 1 Timothy 6:12
? 1 John 1:9
? Numbers 5:6-7
? Nehemiah 9:2
? Sirach 4:26
The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation with a priest ordained in the name of Jesus Christ not only reconciles the sinner to God but with the entire church, including you and me.
Remember all sacraments are encounters with God. This sacrament is a healing encounter between God and the penitent.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 1422 and following: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt2.htm
When the priest in a Catholic Church prepares for the Rite of Reconciliation, he becomes a Representative of God. When the penitent sincerely confesses his sins, the priest /Representative of God, forgives him.
They do not ask Penance from Priests. They do not pray to God for absolution. As the Representative of God, they speak as God and give absolution.
Without faith, you will never understand.
I think they dint think that Jesus is good enough to pray since they pray to Mary and other saints for things. And the bible is clear not to call any man father but thy Father in heaven. the pope nor any priest is in heaven that is on the earth, and we are not to communicate with dead people.
Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, none can go to the Father except through Him.
Doesnt mention Mary or any of the popes or priests or anyone else at all for that matter.
Just because they think they got the keys, doesn't make them the door.
1John 1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give [it] you.
GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH WE DONT ASK FOR ABSOLUTION/ NOR CONFESS OUR SINS TO A PREIST , ONLY TO GOD
WE CONFESS OUR SINS TO GOD/ WHO HAS TO POWER TO FORGIVE ( IN THE Greek Orthodox Katholik ( Universal ) CHURCH
We confess our sins to God and the power of forgiveness is God?s. However, the gift of God?s forgiveness, although assured, is not magical. It does not automatically spare us from spiritual struggle ? the continual vigilance against evil and the unceasing warfare against sin. Holy Confession will bear fruits in the Spirit only when the believer hates evil, utterly rejects sin and patiently cultivates positive habits of the life in Christ. ?So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ Jesus? Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wicked Nessa, but yield yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life? (Rm 6:11, 13) http://www.goarch.org/
ONE CHURCH THE BODY OF CHRIST ( PRAYER SAID BY PREIST TO ALL SINNERS WHO CONFESS
"... the Orthodox Church is neither the sum of a number of independent Churches, nor a federation of Churches with an external, inter-church law, but one Church, the Body of Christ, within which the local Churches are expressions of the one, undivided, LIVING HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH living, holy, catholic Church in various places." (Archondonis, "A Common Code," p. 48).
PRAYER SAID BY PRIEST ( AND WE ARE COVERED BY THE PRIEST'S STOLE AT CONFESSION.
Oh God and Saviour, who by Thy prophet Nathan has granted pardon to David repenting of his own transgressions, Who has accepted Manasseh's penitential prayer; do Thou, the same compassionate Lord, accept this Thy servant (name) who is repentant of sins that he (she) has committed. Overlook all that he (she) has done, forgiving all of his (her) unrighteousness, and overlooking his (her) iniquities. You have said, oh Lord, I desire not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should return from His wickedness and live; and that sins ought to be forgiven even unto seventy times seven. For as Thy greatness is incomparable, so is Thy mercy immeasurable. Who, oh Lord, would stand aright before you if Your judgment was to the extreme in what is amiss in our lives? You are a God of those who repent and unto You we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen."
Young People and Confession
OUR PRIESTS DON'T ASK YOU TO RECITE YOUR SINS
THE PRIEST READS THIS PRAYER . ( UNLESS YOU VOLUNTARILY WANT TO SHARE SOMETHING WITH THE PRIEST . THE PRIEST THAN ( PRAYERS WTIH YOU LIKE AN INTERCESSORY AND ASKS GOD TO FORGIVE YOU
( as the Priest cannot forgive you )
THE PRIEST DOES NOT INSTRUCT YOU WHAT PENANCE YOU ARE TO DO..
You are to go home Fast and pray / and ask God's Forgiveness / and do penance by your own accord/ and Take
the EUCHARIST when you go to Church. ( the Next Day)
But believe me we have plenty of fasts and prayers to God to forgive our sins. ( Greek Orthodox Katholik Christians are always praying and repenting for their sins.
WE ARE NOW FASTING IN THE HOLY FEAST OF PASCHA ( by the Old Calandar)
On the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha, Orthodox Christians celebrate the life-giving Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This feast of feasts is the most significant day in the life of the Church. It is a celebration of the defeat of death, as neither death itself nor the power of the grave could hold our Savior captive. In this victory that came through the Cross, Christ broke the bondage of sin, and through faith offers us restoration, transformation, and eternal life.
http://lent.goarch.org/holy_pascha/learn...
Jesus Christ Granted the Apostles His Authority to Forgive Sins
John 20:21 - before He grants them the authority to forgive sins, Jesus says to the apostles, "as the Father sent me, so I send you." As Christ was sent by the Father to forgive sins, so Christ sends the apostles and their successors forgive sins.
John 20:22 - the Lord "breathes" on the apostles, and then gives them the power to forgive and retain sins. The only other moment in Scripture where God breathes on man is in Gen. 2:7, when the Lord "breathes" divine life into man. When this happens, a significant transformation takes place.
John 20:23 - Jesus says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear.
Matt. 9:8 - this verse shows that God has given the authority to forgive sins to "men." Hence, those Protestants who acknowledge that the apostles had the authority to forgive sins (which this verse demonstrates) must prove that this gift ended with the apostles. Otherwise, the apostles' successors still possess this gift. Where in Scripture is the gift of authority to forgive sins taken away from the apostles or their successors?
Matt. 9:6; Mark 2:10 - Christ forgave sins as a man (not God) to convince us that the "Son of man" has authority to forgive sins on earth.
Luke 5:24 - Luke also points out that Jesus' authority to forgive sins is as a man, not God. The Gospel writers record this to convince us that God has given this authority to men. This authority has been transferred from Christ to the apostles and their successors.
Matt. 18:18 - the apostles are given authority to bind and loose. The authority to bind and loose includes administering and removing the temporal penalties due to sin. The Jews understood this since the birth of the Church.
John 20:22-23; Matt. 18:18 - the power to remit/retain sin is also the power to remit/retain punishment due to sin. If Christ's ministers can forgive the eternal penalty of sin, they can certainly remit the temporal penalty of sin (which is called an "indulgence").
2 Cor. 2:10 - Paul forgives in the presence of Christ (some translations refer to the presences of Christ as "in persona Christi"). Some say that this may also be a reference to sins.
2 Cor. 5:18 - the ministry of reconciliation was given to the ambassadors of the Church. This ministry of reconciliation refers to the sacrament of reconciliation, also called the sacrament of confession or penance.
James 5:15-16 - in verse 15 we see that sins are forgiven by the priests in the sacrament of the sick. This is another example of man's authority to forgive sins on earth. Then in verse 16, James says ?Therefore, confess our sins to one another,? in reference to the men referred to in verse 15, the priests of the Church.
1 Tim. 2:5 - Christ is the only mediator, but He was free to decide how His mediation would be applied to us. The Lord chose to use priests of God to carry out His work of forgiveness.
Lev. 5:4-6; 19:21-22 - even under the Old Covenant, God used priests to forgive and atone for the sins of others.
The Necessity and Practice of Orally Confessing Sins
James 5:16 - James clearly teaches us that we must ?confess our sins to one another,? not just privately to God. James 5:16 must be read in the context of James 5:14-15, which is referring to the healing power (both physical and spiritual) of the priests of the Church. Hence, when James says ?therefore? in verse 16, he must be referring to the men he was writing about in verses 14 and 15 ? these men are the ordained priests of the Church, to whom we must confess our sins.
Acts 19:18 - many came to orally confess sins and divulge their sinful practices. Oral confession was the practice of the early Church just as it is today.
Matt. 3:6; Mark 1:5 - again, this shows people confessing their sins before others as an historical practice (here to John the Baptist).
1 Tim. 6:12 - this verse also refers to the historical practice of confessing both faith and sins in the presence of many witnesses.
1 John 1:9 - if we confess are sins, God is faithful to us and forgives us and cleanse us. But we must confess our sins to one another.
Num. 5:7 - this shows the historical practice of publicly confessing sins, and making public restitution.
2 Sam. 12:14 - even though the sin is forgiven, there is punishment due for the forgiven sin. David is forgiven but his child was still taken (the consequence of his sin).
Neh. 9:2-3 - the Israelites stood before the assembly and confessed sins publicly and interceded for each other.
Sir. 4:26 - God tells us not to be ashamed to confess our sins, and not to try to stop the current of a river. Anyone who has experienced the sacrament of reconciliation understands the import of this verse.
Baruch 1:14 - again, this shows that the people made confession in the house of the Lord, before the assembly.
1 John 5:16-17; Luke 12:47-48 - there is a distinction between mortal and venial sins. This has been the teaching of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years, but, today, most Protestants no longer agree that there is such a distinction. Mortal sins lead to death and must be absolved in the sacrament of reconciliation. Venial sins do not have to be confessed to a priest, but the pious Catholic practice is to do so in order to advance in our journey to holiness.
Matt. 5:19 - Jesus teaches that breaking the least of commandments is venial sin (the person is still saved but is least in the kingdom), versus mortal sin (the person is not saved).
The bible says 'confess your sins to your brothers' That what the pope has to do and all catholics. This is one area the non-catholics fail in. Priests do not act as 'God' they are the same as the ordinary people - brothers in faith.
Why do Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodoxies ask Penance from priests?
