(goldy;50915)
The priest can certainly ask the person to pray for him too. "God the father of mercy through the death and resurrection of his Son sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of His Church, may God grant you pardon and peace, and I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." These are the words the priest says after we confess our sins. When we confess our sins through the sacrament of Reconciliation, we are simply whispering into the ear of Christ Himself. I compare it to coming home to my Father.....the return of the prodigal son.
There are good things and bad things in that prayer (the one the priest says) as far as I can tell. Though, memorizing a prayer and saying it ritualistically has other problems in and of itself in my understanding. It really loses the *relationship* aspect when you go with a pre-drawn prayer, ready to go, as if read from a book or sheet of paper. Okay, to the prayer."God the father of mercy through the death and resurrection of his Son sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins." Nothing that I know about God contridicts that at all. Very true indeed.This is where it starts to fall apart for me. "Through the ministry of His Church, may God grant you pardon and peace, and I absolve you of your sins".It's the, "through the ministry of His Church" part that throws me for a loop, and then the following part where the priest says "*I* absolve you of your sins". Sadly, there are many people who probably believe their sins aren't forgiven until a priest does this.See, I always thought that I was "whispering in Jesus' ear" whenever I prayed to God. I mean, the time I am not speaking to him directly. Sometimes I shout, sometimes I sing, sometimes I cry, other times I talk plainly, and sometimes I whisper.I agree, the Bible (God's Word tells us) that we should confess our sins one to another... but there is no special absolving of sins that would otherwise go unforgiven if not done through confession to a priest. It is damaging to people who think that there is something special, or extra forgiveness. We are forgiven 100%, wholly, through Christ and simply trusting God at His Word to save.