ptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (12/18/85)
Hi,
Just to let you know the Roman Catholic church has two forms of
confession - individual and communal. Individual confession also
has a couple of forms: the penetant can either go to the priest
in a confessional or meet him face to face in his office or wherever
both agree on. The confessional allows the penetant to have some
form of anonymity (not much, though :-) ), whereas face to face could
be just sitting in chairs, sharing with the priest the burden of the
sins that bring you to seek his counsel and God's blessings.
The communal form is where everyone meets together in church, prays
for forgiveness, trusts God for it, then the priest gives what's called
a general absolution, again in God's Name. Yes, God is the One who forgives
the sins, the priest is His `personal touch', as an ordained servant of God.
Scripturally, I believe the passage `what is loosed on earth is loosed in
Heaven, what is bound on earth is bound in Heaven' is where absolution comes
from. If anyone is interested, I'll look more into it for you. Matter of
fact, it'd be fun to learn more about absolution anyway!
God Bless,
Mike Andrews
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God says He is always with us, and will not leave us.
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ARPA : fluke!ptl@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP : {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!ptlptl@fluke.UUCP (Mike Andrews) (12/21/85)
Hi,
Just to clarify some information regarding the Sacrament of Reconciliation in
the Roman Catholic church, also referred to as confession. There are
three Sacramental forms of confession: individual (meeting the priest
either in a confessional, or face to face), communal worship with individual
confession, and general absolution. The point misunderstood about the
general absolution form, a point I didn't know, is that it is
done only when the priest believes it is impossible for him to spend a
reasonable amount of time with each penitent. Say, for example, he is the
only priest available, there are 50 people waiting, and he has to be
some where else in three hours. The priest I spoke with said he likes to be
able to spend at least 15 minutes and longer with each person. He also said he
wouldn't want to just be a dispenser of grace on a production line basis.
He likes to give each person the time they need to share whatever it is in
their life that bothers them. One other important thing about the general
absolution form, the Roman church requires that this form be used only once
in succession; that is, if you receive a general absolution, before you can
receive another general absolution, you must have an individual confession
first. I believe this is intended to keep the Sacrament on a personal level,
away from the production line idea.
Thanks, Steve, for raising the point. The more I learn about my faith as
a Christian, and my denomination as a Roman Catholic, the more I find the
Love God already has for all of us, no matter what faith, no matter what
denomination.
God Bless,
Mike Andrews
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Merry Christmas to All! With All God's Good and Rich Blessings.
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--
*******************************************************************************
God says He is always with us, and will not leave us.
*******************************************************************************
ARPA : fluke!ptl@uw-beaver.ARPA
UUCP : {uw-beaver, sun, allegra, sb6, lbl-csam}!fluke!ptl