Following His glorious Resurrection, as He appeared to His Disciples, Our Lord Jesus Christ gave the command that: “Whosoever’s sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosoever’s sins you retain, they are retained.” John 20:23
From that moment in history, the Church has seen Confession (or repentance) as one of the holy mysteries (or sacraments) of the Church, through which the penitent receives the divine forgiveness of Christ for any sins that are confessed.
The Lord Jesus Christ bestowed His authority upon the Church to forgive sins, and the priest or the bishop, as His representative on earth, through his ordination, prayers to God for the salvation of the servant of God who really repented of his / her sins and God forgives the sins through the priest. Not the priest but God through the priests’ prayer forgives. The Mystery of Holy Confession is holy because it connects God and His children, with the priest acting as the Bridge.
Dependent upon the sin committed , the priest has the right to ban a communicant from receiving Holy Communion, for serious sin requires a time of repentance. Every priest has the right to forgive and retain through God the sins of the faithful, who are coming to Confession, but every priest can not listen to Confessions, they have to be appointed by the local Bishop, they should be trained in the practice and in the spiritual life.
To make a good confession it is necessary to prepare yourself carefully.
Ask God to give you Grace to make a thorough examination of your conscience.
Abbot Tryphon
A Partial List of Behavior that should be confessed. — Father Wayne
- anger
- concealing sins in confession
- disobedience
- disrespect
- insubordination
- drunkenness
- gluttony or over-eating
- evil speech
- foul speech
- saying unseemly things
- gossip
- grumbling
- idle talk
- lying
- greed
- inattention
- carelessness
- laziness
- negligence or carelessness
- love of money
- love of sensual pleasure
- sexual sins
- impure thoughts
- missing church services
- sleeping in church
- neglect of prayer
- attachment to things
- love of glory or honor
- pride
- self-love
- self-will
- vainglory or false values
- envy
- jealousy
- remembering wrongs
- reproaching others
- judging others
- condemnation of others
- resentment
- scorn
- slander
- theft
- The penitent then mentions any other sins of which he is guilty