From: joachim omolo ouko
News Dispatch with Father Omolo Beste
FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 2014

Regina from Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County writes: Fr Beste I am not a catholic but like your homilies so much. I shared your homily on Ash Wednesday with my jirani here (neighbor), she is also not catho (Catholic) and was wondering why Catholics confess their sins to priests while for us protestants we confess our sins directly to God?”

Mercy from Kahawa Sukari, Nairobi writes: “Dear Fr Omolo I like the question of Gladys from Bungoma and how you answered her. Some things we ordinary Christians just see how priests are doing them at the altar without understanding them. To be honest with you I did also not know why the priest is pouring oil on ashes when he is blessing the.

Father I would also like to know, our priest where I attended mass told us that at least we must confess our sins once a year before Easter. I thought this was misleading because my understanding is that we should confess our since as frequent as possible”.

Thank for the question and interest on my homilies Regina. The Sacrament of Penance, commonly called Confession, is one of the seven sacraments recognized by the Catholic Church as instituted by Jesus Christ himself.

Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession on Easter Sunday, when Christ first appeared to the Apostles after his Resurrection. Breathing on them, he said: “Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained” (John 20:22-23).

Jesus ordained and commissioned the Apostles on Holy Thursday during last Supper when he changed bread into his body and wine into his blood, telling his apostles to do the same in his memory. He later gave them the faculty to forgive sins on Easter Sunday after resurrection when he appeared to them in a closed room.

Since Catholics believe that the sacraments are an outward sign of an inward grace, is why the outward sign is the absolution, or forgiveness of sins, that the priest grants to the penitent (the person confessing his sins); the inward grace is the reconciliation of the penitent to God (which is why the sacrament is also sometimes called the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Three things are required of a penitent in order to receive the sacrament worthily. You must be sorry for your sins, confess those sins fully, in kind and in number, and you must be willing to do penance and make amends for your sins, not to repeat them.

During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, “the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God “had given such authority to men” (Matt. 9:8).

It explains further why Christ gave this power to the Apostles, and now the priests so that the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20), would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations.

This power was understood as coming from God: “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18). Indeed, confirms Paul, “So we are ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor. 5:20).

Thank you for this important question Mercy. What the priest told you is correct and is not misleading. This is according to the second precept of the Church (Catechism No. 2042, “You shall confess your sins at least once a year”). In other words, it is mandatory for all Catholics to confess their sins once a year, failure to which is considered a sin.

Catechism No. 2042 says that the annual confession “ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.” Here, reconciliation is not seen just as the obligatory means of being shriven of mortal sin but as one of the habitual and even necessary means of spiritual progress.

Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
Tel +254 7350 14559/+254 722 623 578
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