\n| Accept common sense or Chesterton will cry.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n But for those scrappy types that don\u2019t go down until the 9th inning*, let me explain:<\/p>\n Jesus gives the Apostles, human beings,\u00a0the power to forgive sins. Now, you can look\u00a0these Apostles in one of two ways:<\/div>\n 1. They are either representative of every Christian OR<\/div>\n 2. They had a unique,\u00a0special and individual purpose within the new Church.<\/div>\n If you are of the latter bent,\u00a0then Reconciliation makes perfect\u00a0sense.\u00a0After all, certain men were given the power to forgive sins then, just as certain men \u2013 priests \u2013 are given the power to forgive sins now. However,\u00a0if you are inclined to the former explanation of the apostles, that Jesus\u2019 gifts to them were to every Christian ever to live, well then you\u2019ve got some explaining to do.<\/div>\n In case my logical thread was lost, I\u2019ll boil it down: if Jesus Christ did not only give certain men the power to forgive sins, then He gave every man the power to forgive sins. So, Protestants, why do you not forgive one another\u2019s sins?<\/span><\/span><\/span> Why, when a brother commits an evil act do you not lay your hands on his head and tell him, \u201cI forgive you, and therefore you are totally forgiven.\u201d Granted, I\u2019m\u00a0glad that you don\u2019t. There should remain some of the Jewish outrage that \u201conly\u00a0God has the power to forgive sins.\u201d<\/p>\nSo listen. My claim is that by your refusal to commit the blasphemy of claiming to forgive sins, you admit that it is a power reserved only for certain men. Do not blame Catholics, then, for going to confession. We have those certain men. They wear collars.<\/p>\n But, \u201cJesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man\u201d (1 Timothy 2:5), no? Well yes, in the ultimate sense \u201cno one comes to the Father except through me\u201d (John 14:6). But that does not mean that no one can talk to the Father through anyone but Jesus. If you are praying for a friend, congratulations, you are being a mediator between God and another man. There is no mediator between God and man other than Christ because Christ filled the infinite gap between God and man in his death. But because of that death, we can now play \u00a0an intimate role within the Trinity, and are blessed to have a Church with the power to bind whatever it would have bound, loose whatever it would have loosed, and forgive whatever sins it would have forgiven, as made explicitly clear in Holy Scripture. Again, to boil it down, any mediation between God and man ultimately is through Jesus who brought the two together, but that in no way disallows others to use the powers clearly and explicitly given to the Church in John 20:23. That would just be contradiction, something the Lord just doesn\u2019t do.<\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_X2PKA9oPl2k\/SZ99aEzyqAI\/AAAAAAAAAkA\/cOAjZQSxXyw\/s400\/confession.gif\") <\/a>So. That explains why Reconciliation is legitimate, but why is it necessary? Why can\u2019t you just ask God to forgive your sins and be forgiven? Well, believe it or not, the Church teaches that you can. Reconciliation is not the only way to be forgiven, Reconciliation is the only way to know you\u2019re forgiven. I admire the Protestant who sins, works himself into a state of true sorrow for those sins, apologizes fully to God, feels His forgiveness, hears His word in his life, and resolves to make a change. But if we are honest with ourselves, that isn\u2019t always very easy, or even possible. Sometimes it\u2019s very difficult to realize why a sin is wrong, sometimes \u2013 and especially with habitual sin \u2013 sorrow becomes logical, not emotional, sometimes apologizing to God seems routine, sometimes we sin so often that it is<\/span> a routine, sometimes we don\u2019t feel forgiven, sometimes we can\u2019t work ourselves up to the state required to realize we are reconciled with God. The Church knows this. The Church, in her wisdom, ritualizes this very divine experience of Reconciliation, so it can be achieved by anyone, no matter what state they are in, no matter what emotions\u00a0they are feeling.<\/span><\/span><\/span> Need to realize you\u2019ve sinned? Well that\u2019s the first part of the ritual, the Examination of\u00a0Conscience.\u00a0Need to feel sorry for your sins? Thats part of the ritual, The Act of Contrition. Need to admit? \u201cBless me Father, for I have sinned.\u201d Need to apologize? Obviously that\u2019s an essential part of the whole Reconciliation thing. Need to hear God\u2019s word in your life? That\u2019s part of the ritual, the priest gives you the words you need to hear. Need to commit to a change? That\u2019s your closing line, to \u201cfirmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more, and to avoid the near occasion of sin.\u201d Need to be forgiven? You are, by the same power invested in the apostles in John 20:23.<\/p>\nAlso -and here\u2019s what i really love \u2013 it\u2019s important to realize that sin does not just affect you and God, but the whole Church. We are the Body of Christ, and just as our good works build up that body, our sins attack it. How important it is then, to admit your sins not only to God but to the Church, the Body of Christ? The priest represents the Church. The priest is a member of that Church. You are reconciled to God, to yourself and to your brothers and sisters in Christ in that confessional. And again, it\u2019s all part of a beautiful ritual, a ritual that remains no matter how you happen to be feeling that day. To my Protestant friends: why DON\u2019T you have confession? Too easy for you?<\/p>\n That was the first of a series of challenges I have for my Protestant brothers and sisters. Sorry if it was too heavy, and without any videos to distract, dear me. Feel free to direct any hard-thinking Protestors to this site for some discussion.<\/p>\n AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! I\u2019m already stoked for advent, and so should you be. I will do almost anything for more people to listen to this band.<\/p>\n
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