Why do you Repent and go to Confession?

Today I have an interesting (and little known to me) view of Christ's finished work and what some say is no need for repentance. I don't know if this view of never having to repent is widespread or not, but I am guessing it's a new theology among some proclaimed Christians today. I'd love to hear from my readers what they think and if they've come across this non repenting view before. Is this typical of nondenominational churches? Here's the question and my response:

Cassie writes: I belong to a Holy Spirit filled Evangelical Nondenominational Church and I totally do not understand the Catholic "Confession" doctrine. Why do you confess to a priest or anyone? There is nothing for anyone to repent of since Christ died and took all our sins to the cross. He died once and for all people taking the sins of us all Himself. We don't carry any sins now. There wasn't one sin that was left out. His work was complete...it was finished says Jesus Christ in scripture. Do you not believe that? Do you think you need to repent of things He already forgave you for...sins He already paid for? It's over and done. We (believers) are automatically forgiven all our sins just by believing in Christ. You don't have to confess or repent, Christ did it all for you.

My response: Wow... well that's a new theology to me! Thanks for sharing your views. Let me ask you something. If your spouse lies to you on Monday and you forgive him, then he repeats it on Friday is he "automatically" forgiven or do you wish him to confess the lie to you and ask to be forgiven for hurting you again? Christ sacrificed Himself on the cross to bring salvation. He is our Savior because of His sacrifice for us. Jesus never said people are now "automatically" forgiven. The "it is finished" is referring to Christ has completed all that was told of Him.
Luke 24:44 "He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
The bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament preaches repentance. Repentance is not just saying we are sorry, but also the action of being willing to change and not commit the offense again. This is often difficult and even those who try very hard to stay away from sin still fall into it. Each time we are called to repent and ask God forgiveness for sinning against Him. When we sin, we are hurting God. I can't imagine any Christian not wanting to say they are sorry to God for hurting Him. If you hurt a dear friend because you've said or done something against them, don't you feel guilt and sorrow that you've caused this dear one pain? Shouldn't it be more so when you hurt and bring sorrow to God for your actions or words? Christians must repent of every sin against God and each other!
Acts 17:30 "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent."
Now about Confession in the Catholic Church. Confession or Penance as it's called is completely scriptural. It comes from Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Jesus gifted His priests with the power and authority to forgive sins or retain them.
John 20:22-23 "And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
This was done ONLY to Christ's priests. This was not done with all believers, but specifically to the priests in the Catholic Church Jesus Christ had just founded on earth and placed Simon Peter the first pope of; Matt.16:18-19 "And I tell you that you are Peter [Rock], and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Here is some of what the Catholic Catechism has to say on Penance (Confession):
#1455 "The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible."
I think that says it perfectly. I hope I have helped you understand this sacrament in the Catholic Church. God bless.

Moral Law for who?

This is a comment left by Michael Ejercito from the post titled: Connecticut Catholic Corner: Catholic Church's Opposition to Gay Marriage. (click on link for post and comments)

Michael Ejercito writes: "Jews (like Jesus and his original twelve apostles) are obviously bound by Old Testament Laws. That means, no murder, no theft, no homosexual intercourse, and no intercourse with their stepmoms for them. What moral laws would apply to those of us who are not Jews?"

My response: I am sorry you didn't find my original post on this clearer as I believe the post you are commenting on answered this. Moral law is for humankind. It's God teaching us what is moral or right and what is wrong and sinful. You say "for them" and "the Jews" in your comment, but all those things listed are wrong for anyone to do, Jew or Gentile. It is wrong for a Buddhist to rape just as much as it's wrong for a Christian or Jew to rape. It's wrong for a Muslim to have incest just as much as it's wrong for a Jew. Moral law applies to all human beings. God decides what is moral and we are to accept that. To be immoral is to sin against God, ourselves and others. Scripture says the immoral will not enter Heaven- that covers everyone. We, humans must be moral, to be moral we first need to know what that means. God tells us what is moral and what is not. People have the free will to accept that or reject it. But we must never forget that if we reject any of God's teachings, we will be held accountable for it one day. And where we spend eternity depends on how we use our God given free will during our lives. Here's what the bible has to say about being immoral (in all its forms).

1 Cor. 5:1 "It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? 3Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.
6Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

1 Cor. 6:18 "Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body."

1 Cor. 10:8 "We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did- and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died." (NIV version)

1 Cor. 10:8 "Let us not indulge in immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell within a single day." (NAB version)

The point is immorality will send people to Hell by their own choices. Where we learn about what is moral and what is not is from God, after all it is God who decides what is sin and what is not. As I said in the original post, Jesus never said Moral Law was abolished in the New Testament. I hope that answers your question. God bless and thanks for the comment.

Was Mary the "Ever Virgin"?

Mary the Mother of God is a topic of interest and many questions for non-Catholics and Catholics alike. She is also a subject I love and enjoy discussing with people as I have a great love for Mary. I hope to always honor her name and answer questions about her correctly. If any Catholic readers ever see an error in any of my responses please email me your corrections, I welcome them. Now to the question from Lora and my response about Mary:

Lora writes: Why do Catholics elevate Mary so much so that she seems to be nearly equal to Jesus? And what's with the "Ever Virgin" stuff? The bible clearly states several times that Jesus had brothers so we know Mary had other children. Why do Catholics ignore that?

My response: You've asked some great questions and I am happy to answer them to the best of my abilities. First off, let me say the Catholic Church does not elevate Mary to be equal to Jesus Christ. I can't speak for every individual Catholic in the world, so perhaps there are some out there who mistakenly and wrongly do that, but what I can tell you is the official teaching of the Catholic Church and my understanding of it. Mary is honored as the Mother of God Incarnate. Scripture states this and the Catholic Church believes it. In Luke 1:48 scripture declares that all ages/generations will call Mary blessed for being the Mother of God Incarnate. This is the high honor that God bestowed on her according to this verse. The Catholic Church today recognizes this honor and honors Mary accordingly. We do not worship her or elevate her to the same level as our Savior Jesus Christ, He is our Lord and Savior, she is our Blessed Mother. She is honored greatly, first by God as scripture shows and then by us. Even non-Christians honor Mary for being the Mother of Jesus Christ. Muslims, though they do not believe Jesus to be God Incarnate, view him as a great prophet and honor Mary as His Mother. The reason Mary is called the "Ever Virgin" is because she was. Mary gave birth to Jesus and Jesus only. Even the Reformers who founded Protestantism believed Mary to be the Ever Virgin. Here are a few of their quotes:

Martin Luther: "Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that". {Luther's Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }

Luther: "Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that 'brothers' really mean 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers". {Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539)

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John Calvin:

Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ's 'brothers' are sometimes mentioned. {Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin's Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p.215; on Matthew 13:55} [On Matt 1:25:]
Under the word 'brethren' the Hebrews include all cousins and other relations, whatever may be the degree of affinity. {Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 283 / Commentary on John, (7:3)

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Huldreich Zwingli

I have never thought, still less taught, or declared publicly, anything concerning the subject of the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of our salvation, which could be considered dishonourable, impious, unworthy or evil . . . I believe with all my heart according to the word of holy gospel that this pure virgin bore for us the Son of God and that she remained, in the birth and after it, a pure and unsullied virgin, for eternity. {Thurian, ibid., p.76 / same sermon}

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John Wesley
I believe... he [Jesus Christ] was born of the blessed Virgin, who, as well after as she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.
{"Letter to a Roman Catholic," quoted in A. C. Coulter, John Wesley, New York: Oxford University Press, 1964, 495}
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Heinrich Bullinger

'The Virgin Mary . . . completely sanctified by the grace and blood of her only Son and abundantly endowed by the gift of the Holy Spirit and preferred to all . . . now lives happily with Christ in heaven and is called and remains ever-Virgin and Mother of God.' {In Hilda Graef, Mary: A History of Doctrine and Devotion, combined ed. of vols. 1 & 2, London: Sheed & Ward, 1965, vol.2, pp.14-5}
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The bible never mentions Mary giving birth to anyone but Jesus. When the term "brother" is used, it points to ANY male relation (uncle, cousins, step-brothers etc.). We can find a few examples of this right in scripture. In Gen.14, Lot calls Abraham his "brother" when in fact Lot was Abraham's nephew. Another example is Jacob and his uncle Laban are called "brothers" when they are just 'relatives' (uncle and nephew). The same is done with Jesus and his 'relatives' in scripture. These "brothers" are male family relations, uncles, cousin and possibly (as some believe) step brothers if Joseph was a widower when he married Mary. Mary never gave birth to anyone but Jesus, that is what the bible records and the Catholic Church believes it. To believe otherwise is to go beyond Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition held by Christians for centuries, as shown above even the Reformers knew without a doubt that Mary was the Ever Virgin. So you see, Catholics don't ignore anything, we embrace the truth revealed by God to His Church. I hope that answered your questions. God bless.

Catholic Church's Opposition to Gay Marriage

Edmond asks: I want to know about the Catholic Church and it's opposition to gays and gay rights. It seems homophobic to me. The word homosexual is not in the Bible and the Levitical law that calls 'man laying with man an abomination' only applied to Jewish men. That has nothing to do with Christians so why is your church opposed to gay marriage and gay rights like adoption? Why all the Catholic protesters in California over gay marriage being legal now?

My response: Good questions! I will do my best to answer this to the best of my knowledge but let me also recommend asking a local priest to explain the Catholic Church's teachings on this. I am a lay person, not a theologian, but I will do my best. If you don't mind, I am going to re-post a response to this issue I wrote last year that I think covers all your questions except for the protesters in California. To my knowledge the protesters who oppose legal gay marriage are made up of different Christians and religions. That is to say that all those who oppose gay marriage are not just Catholics. I know there are Jews and Muslims against gay marriage too, but I couldn't say if they are part of some protest in California or not. Now to the rest of your questions on this issue.
So many Christian's and their denominations are struggling with the issue of same sex marriage and relationships. Why? The bible is clear on this. It has nothing to do with "homophobia" or being "biased" or wanting to make some people into "second class citizens". God, not man, decides what is sin and what is not. The Pope does not have some secret anti-gay agenda. Man has the choice to accept the Word of God or reject it, the Catholic Church is merely teaching the Word of God. The scriptures list what God calls sin. For Christians, Catholics and Protestants alike we proclaim Christ as our Savior and follow our Lord and his teachings to the best of our abilities. There are many laws in the bible, but on the issue of same sex marriage we need to look at Moral Law and the institution of marriage in the bible between men and women. God did not institute same sex marriages. We look to God's Word because we are Christians and the bible is a wonderful tool- gift really- to be used in teaching God's will for us and our lives. Should we thump non-Christians over the head with our bibles? No. They have the choice and free will to accept or reject God's teachings. For those of us who call ourselves Christians, we have made our choice and must adhere to the Word of God in all things in our lives. For Catholics this also means accepting and trusting the authority of the Catholic Church to teach the truth.
The Catholic Church has clear and distinct teachings on homosexuality and same sex marriage, other Christian churches are not always so clear and to some seem chaotic and dividing. The Catholic Church position is marriage is between one man and one woman. The Catholic catechism states that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered” (#2357), because they are contrary to natural law. That is to say, God created a woman for a man to be joined in matrimony. The Church further teaches that homosexuals are called to chastity (catechism #2347) and they are to be treated with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity.” (catechism #2358).
Why do some Christians think that the Moral Laws of the Old Testament where tossed out by Jesus Christ in the New Testament? Did Jesus ever say that adultery, fornication and/or sexual immorality etc., are A-Okay under the New Covenant? No, He did not. So that tells us that all the Moral Laws still apply today for believers. It is still wrong to rape, murder, commit incest, adultery, fornication and all forms of sexual immorality as defined by God (man didn't decide what was immoral, God did). The liberal (religious, not political) argument that is often given is that ‘Leviticus Moral laws only apply to Jews’ (exactly what you referenced in your comment about the "man laying with man") is a house built on sand with the tide coming in, in my opinion.
The Moral Laws include not murdering, raping, stealing, fornicating, incest, sex with animals and more. All those things are still wrong. The liberal religious thinking that gay relationships are okay after Jesus came is absurd. You can't pick one Old Testament sexual abomination and say "This one is OK now, but all the others are still abominations." Either they all are sinful or they all are not. Is it acceptable for a father to have sex with his daughter now? Is it acceptable for siblings to have sex now? All of these are listed in Lev.18 as wrong because they are sinful and you can't pick one out of this list and stamp it as "good" while rejecting the rest as still wrong. All the sexual immorality abominations in Lev.18 are still abominations in the New Testament. Jesus never said "Oh and by the way, all those sexual abominations in Lev.18 still hold true except for the ‘man with man’ one, you can do that all you want now." That is not biblical no matter how people try to twist the Word of God or justify their actions. God will not be mocked and the Truth will always be the Truth. The Catholic Church knows this and will not be swayed in its teachings by secular society and what is politically correct at the moment. The Word of God is built on the Rock of Truth, not the sand of the liberal religious wishing to rewrite the Word. The Old and New Testaments up hold Moral Law and the Catholic Church preaches this today as it has over the centuries.
To quote the bible, Romans 1:26 “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."
And 1 Cor.5 also addresses the issue of the sexually immoral (in all its forms homosexual and heterosexual) within the church and what the church is told to do about these people (verse 13). The straw man that some attempt to build is "well you eat shellfish!" (referencing dietary laws placed on the Jews under the Old Covenant). Unfortunately, it seems some people can not see the difference between dietary laws and Moral Law. Jesus was clear on the dietary law in the New Testament.
Mark 7:18 "Are you so dull?" he [Jesus] asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.") 20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"
The next argument to be debunked is "Monogamous gay love is OK with Jesus". Where did that come from? Certainly not God or the bible in any verses we can find. Monogamy has nothing to do with it. The sin is the same if you have one partner or a hundred! It's the relationship that is wrong. That's a bit like saying a father who has four daughters isn't wrong if he has sex with only one of them, but if he has sex with all of them then its wrong. It doesn't work that way, it's all wrong and sinful. The relationship is immoral and unnatural. That is the sin according to scriptures. The amount of times the act happens is just how many times you need to repent of the same sin. That is the Word of God and teaching of the Catholic Church. Christianity isn't forced on anyone but if you call yourself Catholic you believe these teachings and accept the teaching authority of Christ’s Holy Catholic Church. It's our faith.
God never gave us multiple choice on sins. He declares what is sin and Catholics must believe Him. Who are we to tell God He is wrong? The bible is clear on Moral Law, it stands today the same as yesterday and generations ago. God never changed Moral Law, what was wrong before is still wrong now. The Catholic Church is teaching the Word of God and standing firm today as it has in history. I hope I answered your questions.

Faith Without Deeds is Useless

Faith without deeds is useless. That is what sacred scripture says. Jesus says the sheep and goats will be separated by their deeds. Those who did good works are the sheep, those who did not do works are the goats (Matthew 25). Looking around the world today there is a lot we can all be doing to help each other in our time of need. Maybe you can't afford to give money to the flood victims in Iowa, but you can pray for them. Maybe you can't rebuild a home to a tornado victim in one of the areas devastated by the recent tornado's in our country, but perhaps you could donate clothing to a charity to help replace what they've lost. Or raise money for the tsunami and earth quake victims in other countries. Donate food to shelters for the homeless. It doesn't take much if we all work together and do what we can. A local radio station in Connecticut is asking every single person to donate just $1 to help others. What a great idea! If everyone gave at least $1 think of all that could do when everyone contributes and we work together for a common good. That is putting our faith to work. That is living our Christian faith. That is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 25 when He describes the Sheep as those who fed Him when He was hungry and clothed Him when He was naked and gave Him drink when He was thirsty. He said "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me." (Matthew 25:31-46) And in the book of James we see that faith without deeds is no faith at all, it's dead like a corpse. No good to anyone.

James 2:14-26

Faith and Deeds

14 "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. 19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead."

So let our faith not be useless. Show compassion on the victims of these tragedies with your good deeds and help in any way you can. We can all pray, and some of us can do more.

To help any of these victims please contact:
Catholic Relief Services
228 W. Lexington St.

Baltimore, Maryland 21201-3413
888-277-7575
Catholic Relief Services http://crs.org/

New Holy Land Cross Dedication Today

Today at 10 AM is the dedication ceremony for the new Holy Land cross in Waterbury. Last April, the original Holy Land cross was taken down after more than fifty years as a luminous beacon on Pine Hill in Waterbury. The new cross will not be lit from the inside, but instead will be lit by flood lights. For more on this story, check out this news video: http://www.wtnh.com/global/video/flash/popupplayer.asp?ClipID1=2602436&h1=Dedication%20ceremony%20for%20new%20Holy%20Land%20cross%20-%20by%20Kent%20Pierce&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=90967&LaunchPageAdTag=News&activePane=info&rnd=14746399

This is a follow up story to: Connecticut Catholic Corner: Holy Land USA Cross Comes Down

My 100th post...not what I had planned

My 100th post on this blog. I had been thinking for a while what I would write about and had a few ideas none of which are what this blog is going to be about. This Father's day while many children were celebrating their fathers and fathers were basking in their special day, one family in my community were grieving and still are grieving. On Father's Day evening their teenage daughter was killed in a tragic car accident. This girl's little brother is a friend and classmate of my youngest daughter. Our hearts are breaking for this family and this tragic loss of such a young and beautiful life. I haven't got anything more to say on this, but I'd like to share a prayer and ask my readers to please pray for this family. Thank you.

Precious Lord, bring peace to this mourning family and their friends as only You can. Comfort them as they grieve and bring them peace to accept this tragedy. Let them feel your love and grace surround them and carry them through this time of mourning and sorrow. Let them remember her with happiness and smiles. May God bless her family and friends, and may she rest in the loving arms of her Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Catholic "Facebook/MySpace" combo takes off!

The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell has launched a new website aimed at Catholics age 16 and up. The site is a sort of mixture between the popular "My Space" and "Facebook" websites. The site welcomes non-Catholics but asks that they be respectful of Catholic beliefs. The new site already offers several different topics for discussion and if you don't see what you want, you can create a topic. There are areas for theology, the World Youth Day, sports, saints, our Pope, book discussions and many more. So check it out and let other Catholics know about it.
www.xt3.com