Sunday Night with Fr Kelvin
From Onoja E.
Good evening father
Please I have a question.
Must one have to confess his/her sin to a priest to be forgiven? Can God not forgive us if we pray directly to
him? What about non-catholics? Does God not forgive them? What about catholics that live in places where
priest are not available, how would they have their sins forgiven?
These are questions a catholic(charismatic member) raised while trying to tell us that there is no need
confessing to a priest.
I would have responded with my little knowledge but I felt there's no need arguing with him. So I would be glad
if I can get a response from you on this subject matter. Thanks padre!
My response:
First thing we should note is that confession/penance is a sacrament. In the church we have seven of them:
baptism, confirmation, Holy Eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick, Holy Order and matrimony.
So, just as your charismatic friend has asked some questions, we too can ask your charismatic friend the
following questions as well:
What if one does not received baptism even when Christ made it clear in John 3:5 “Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"
What if there is no one to baptise the person even if the person truly wants baptism?
What also happens to non Christians. Following Christ words, does it mean they will be condemned?
OKAY, we move away from the sacrament of Baptism and we go to the sacrament of the Eucharist. In the
same way, we can also ask your charismatic friend the following questions:
What if one does not receive the Eucharist even when Christ said emphatically in John 6:54 "truly, truly, I say to
you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you"
What if there is no priest or minister and the person never had the chance to receive the Eucharist?
What if the person is not even a Christian, what will happen to him or her?
We can go on and on with the seven sacraments, but let focus on penance or confession that he is arguing
about.
Penance or confession just like other sacraments was instituted by Christ. We read in John 20:23
When Christ gave this power to his apostles saying "Those whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them,
and those whose sins you shall retain, they are retained."
When one go for confession, it may look like you are confessing to a Priest who is human, but actually that is
not often the case. Remember, it is Christ that gave this power to his apostles, and like in our day today, the
priests. Every sacrament, the priest is just there to help you reach to God. He does not forgive sin, God does.
We know the sacraments help us reach God. So, I say this to you, God knows what will happen to the person
who is not baptised for no fault of his. God knows what will happen to someone who cannot receive the body
and blood of Christ for no fault of his, or someone who cannot receive the sacrament of confession for no fault
of his. God knows!
But the biggest question will be, what happens to those who came to know how emphatic Christ was about
these sacraments and the person has all the opportunities to receive them but adamantly refused.
It is like having a large pool of fresh water in front of your house, which is accessible to you at all times, but
even though you can see it, you still stubbornly chose to trek for miles to fetch water with a small bucket in a
far away small river that is not so clean.
Anyone who looks at the person will actually feel he or she is foolish. Yes, you finally took your bath with the
not so clean water you got from the river, but a fresh clean water is more than sufficient before you but out of
your foolishness or unnecessary stubbornness decided to punish yourself by trekking miles. To what end
Then the worst part is, you are not contented in simply being foolish and ignorant alone, but you decided to go
on a mission of recruiting others to join you to be foolish so that you can have that consolation that you are not
just foolish alone.
Unfortunately, this is what your charismatic friend is doing.

I am learning