the Sacrament of Confession

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄, 𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐒 𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐓𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐒.

Many say,

“I confess directly to God, and that’s enough.”

But then… why did Jesus do this after His Resurrection?

In the Gospel of Saint John (20:19–31), Jesus appears to His disciples and says something very clear:

“𝙍𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩. 𝙒𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙.”

(John 20:22–23)

Here, we do not see Jesus saying,

“Everyone just ask forgiveness on your own, and that’s it.”

What we do see is that Jesus gives His apostles a concrete mission:

to forgive sins in His name.

Let us reflect on this honestly:

If Jesus had intended everything to remain only between each person and God,

why would He breathe on them?

Why give them the Holy Spirit for this mission?

Why explicitly tell them to forgive or retain sins?

Jesus does not act without purpose.

He establishes a visible and real means to communicate His forgiveness.

Yes, we must ask God for forgiveness with all our heart.

But it is also true that Christ willed to entrust His Church with the power to forgive sins through His apostles, and through those who continue their ministry: the priests.

Confession is not a human invention.

It is not merely a custom.

It is a gift from the Risen Christ to heal the soul.

When the priest absolves,

it is Jesus who forgives.

When the priest hears your confession,

Christ Himself comes to meet you with mercy.

That is why sacramental confession is so profound:

you do not simply say, “God, forgive me,”

you receive the certainty of forgiveness that Christ chose to give through His Church.

The Risen Christ brings peace…

and one of the most beautiful ways He gives it

is through confession.

Видео the Sacrament of Confession канала G49O69