Thank you Father Nicholas for occupying a little part of the internet with credible and trustworthy leadership. You are a true pastor.

There is such a freedom and joy when you hear the priest says I absolve you from your sins. People go therapists and psychologists and pay loads of money to tell them . Just go to confession, it’s free. Just go.

Please pray for me . I am fighting with my depression please do pray for me

It's always a comfort to listen the Words of Jesus. Thank you father.

Father Nathan, I came across this homily of yours I saved in 2019. Still beautiful and impactful. Sometimes The Father puts things in my path that I need to pay attention to. This is a reminder of his great goodness and mercy. Thank you. Prayers for your good health and happiness. Today I attend Light of the world Church.

Very good video. I just went to confession after 10 years of being away from the church. I wish I would’ve done it sooner. And I can’t help but share with my friends and family that are away from the Church. But I first ask God to help me, to open the door. If it doesn’t feel right then I stop.

Confession is good for the soul . A great sacrament of the church.

Thank you Fr. Be Blessed in your work of God.

I'm not a great catholic, I have much room for improvement, but I know for a fact somewhere in the gospels it says Jesus breathed on the apostles, giving them the power to forgive sins. I'm sure Jesus, who is God, didn't do this expecting it to end there. Like I said, I'm no brain scientist, but it's clear to me Jesus expected this gift to continue for as long as man exist on earth.

Thank you Father I feel so strengthened in my faith.😇😇😇😇😇😇😇

I know when I have sinned because my deed accuses me and I am not at peace...

I'm truly extremely heartbroken now that I cannot have confession in person right now... terrified but praying to God that my sins will be forgiven in these terrifying times now.

Wow this was great. And unfortunately my husband pointed out something I said, and then I hear JAMES 1:26. I feel like this video was laid in my lap. It has been since Easter the last time I went to confession. I know where I am headed this weekend. Thank you Fr.

Thank you so much Father for clearing that up.

There was a time when I resisted going to confession. Several years ago I got real sick and almost died. It changed me. I no longer have a fear of confession. It is a wonderful sacrament that I go to willingly about once a month because it offers so much grace. I want salvation.

Rev Fr thanks very educative and insightful

Praise The Lord . I am your new subscriber Fr. William my best wishes from (Holy land)Israel and India to your channel 🙏

Thank you Father for this direct & deep explanation. You are full of the spirit of wisdom. I believe that there is no such thing as alternative nor option in this particular issue. May God continue to bless you. Amen!

Thank you for this series. It is beneficial. Since my last confession, it has been 4

Thank You Father. I was thinking that’s what I was told in 1st grade...

Confession is for us! We need to hear the words of absolution because we are human and we need the assurance of those words. Confession is God’s gift to us. Confession isn’t about God’s need but our need.

As Bill W. would say, unless one has admitted one's faults out loud to another human being, one's spiritual house cleaning remains largely theoretical.

This is why we must continue to pray for conversion of sinners!

Yes ,that is true . But what if the church does not provide much opportunity to go to confession ? In my parish ,there is no opportunity, we have a ' travelling' priest that goes from parish to parish , we can only celebrate communion every 14 days . This is all by lack of priests , which makes the churches become empty. So I also am not a perfect catholic ,but I love my Lord very much and I put my trust in Him . I am convinced ,as my Father knows what is in my heart, He will forgive my sins. Peace to all , from Belgium ❤❤🇧🇪🙏🙏

Speak the truth in love when correcting other's. Do it out of love for them when you have a relationship; people know the difference. Tell them God wants what's best for them and so do you; sin is not good for us.

I went to Catholic grammar school from kindergarten to 6th grade and my parents pulled me out of there. It was a horrible way to get an education. We had all female teachers and a few nuns. It was customary to have students stand up in front of class and humiliate them for not knowing an answer and make you cry. Physical assaults that would today be grounds for child abuse with criminal charges. I had a nervous stomach my entire childhood from everyday feeling like I was walking on eggshells just sitting in class. I hated school. Some of the teachers were parents that were filling in for classes where the school could not afford a trained teacher and by the time I left the Catholic school and started 7th grade public school, I was at least 2 years behind my peers. The last time I went for confession was when I was 12, (now 56) just before I left. The entire class walked over to the church and had to stand in line waiting to go into the confessional box. When it was my turn I said something to the priest like “I find church too confusing to understand and my grades are not very good.” The priest then yells at me, loud enough that everyone out in the church aisle heard him, say, “Son, don’t be a Bum!!! Go to church and learn! He scared me. When I opened the door to leave, the rest of the students were laughing at me. I felt so humiliated that I sat down in the pew and just buried my face. I was mortified. After I received my Confirmation, I never went to confession ever again. I went to public school after that and only go to church now for Christmas and Easter and a few other occasions. I want to get back into the Catholic Church, but I can’t bring myself to go to confession again. And now as a more educated adult, I feel that with many of the changes the church has gone through over the past few decades, especially with the mortal sins that have been committed by the church against its parishioners, I think the Pope should stop using priests as the mediator for confession. I think too many people these days are too embarrassed to sit face to face with a priest and tell them their deepest thoughts. We have seen how thousands of priests have been caught doing the most obscene violations against the Church that would make the average parishioner turn red. It has also been proven that these gross violations have gone all the way to the top to the Pope for covering up these MORTAL SINS. I don’t care what the Catholic Church says I have to do. The Church had its chance to do the right thing and has failed miserably. The Church is losing people. Things need to change. Why would God allow these horrific crimes and behavior to occur in His House? I tried going to a few non-denominational churches and actually found one that I like. But I still want to be Catholic with my relationship to God. So, I will do my best to follow all the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, except confession. If I can pray to God directly, then I should be able to confess my sins to him directly also. If I am wrong about this, well under the experiences I endured, I am sure God will understand.

I haven’t been to confession in too long , its just been that long I I’m scared to go back , I recently got a thought to open a random page in the bible(I haven’t opened a bible since I was about 13/14 I’m 23 now) and the verse I stumbled on was so powerful to me, I want to get back to god but I’m struggling with everything in life and the weight of the world is pulling me in and holding me down

Yes Sir as I gave testimony to the fact that our Soul has a target to Jesus crucified on the Cross

I am not Catholic, and never have been, for perspective, I am a confessional Lutheran. Everyone, needs or should go to private confession. James 5:16 -James clearly teaches us that we must “confess our sins to one another,” not just privately to God. There is no better person to confess your sins to than your “father confessor”. Confessing sin allows for a clean conscience, it is life giving and should not be despised.

For some people, Confessing to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, when they are really and truly serious about it can be much more personal and a lot more difficult. Great video Father Nicholas!

Oh and thanks for the James bit. I didn't know about that.

So clear! I always knew about apostolic succession. You went beyond. Thank you Father for making it so clear why we need to confess to a priest.

I endeavour to go to confession once a week where possible. Thank you, Fr. It's lovely to see a priest in his proper apparel. I wish more of you dressed like this even in the open; so many souls would be saved that way. Pax.

A young woman who was raised Protestant and raised to hating the Catholic Church had a rude awakening. She took several theology courses and realized that first century Israel the people was required to go through a priest using a sacrificial animal to reconcile with GOD. A person can not reconcile with with GOD on their own. A priest has to be involved. I pray for the heretical Protestants everyday. I hope someday they wake up! Jesus started the priesthood. It is his church and we lay people have to support these men especially during unpopular and unprecedented times. If anyone questions if we need any other person to reconcile with Almighty GOD? They just have to read about Jewish tradition and how they reconciled with their Creator. Through a Priest!

Awesome! God Bless and stay safe

Thank you so much for your information. View the person who consume spirits over limited level can't be representative of God. They themselves may have wrong doing without declare. So myself confess likely to whom I trust and mostly I confess directly to God. But there are many good priest around the world.

Extremely well explained Father. My attitude is that we confess our sins/ admit our sinfulness directly to God on a daily basis, but I believe that I need to confess my sins to My Priest to receive absolution from an Authourotive Religious Figure. I feel better admitting my sins to a Priest in addition to asking God’s forgiveness every night. That is just my mindset. Neville J.

My dearest prayers go out to pious souls who die unexpectedly without having a chance to go to Confession for a mortal sin, especially if they have genuine remorse for their sin. May the Lord have mercy on their souls and find true repentance deep within their hearts.

When the Veil was torn in two, the OT need for a mediator was no longer needed.

James is maybe my favorite book, along with the Psalms. I am a very direct, plain speaking person.

The problem with requiring confession to a priest is that the priest will limit his availability to a few hours on a few specified days, which may not, indeed usually does not, fit the confessor's schedule, whereas God is always available.

James is probably my favorite book in the Bible. James was not afraid to speak the truth. He kept it short but sweet. I think why so many Protestant denominations leave out James is because of views on works and faith and confession. They see it as too Catholic I guess, but it says part of Scripture, Catholic or not. Before I converted to Catholic, I never heard a preacher ever even mention James. No matter what Church that I attended.

I love the Sacrament of Confession. As Jesus said to Saint Faustina, "know this, that the priest is just a screen and it I. Myself, who is waiting for you, and it is I, Myself, who will act in your soul. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world. Jesus, I trust in you.

great answer, i have the same thoughts thanks father

Bravo!!! what a perfect explanation. Thanks for this enlightening bible referral.

This was truly enlightening and comprehensive and complete an explanation. Thank you Fr William.

Interesting and insightful interpretation. Thank you, Father.

Pray an act of perfect contrition everyday

Hi, can someone please pray for me? I want to be good.

The Bible tells us in 1 John 1:8-9 But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all our wrongdoing. Through faith or believe in God's Word is my guarantee that my sins are/were forgiven. Hebrews 11:1 To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:6 No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him. Psalms 103:12 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our sins from us.

God continue to bless you

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

The Sacrament of Confession heals our souls. Jesus pours out a torrent of graces on us through this sacrament of His mercy. Through the words of the priest Jesus counsels us, comforts us and forgives us. I will be ever grateful for Jesus' Divine Mercy.

Amen God is good all the time Amen all the time God is good Amen thank you Lord Jesus Amen I give myself to you Lord bless you my Angle I love you

So as a Protestant, I have no problem with someone confessing to a priest as we are supposed to confess to others (although I don't think you always have to confess to another person for the following reasons) . I do have a problem with a person _having_ to confess to a priest specifically. Every believer in Christ as Lord and Saviour is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. When the veil was torn at Jesus' death, the divide between people and God was broken and we no longer need a priest as middle man between God and us. All believers are themselves temples of the Holy Spirit, and the kingdom of God is a kingdom of priests. A person in vocational ministry is not closer to God in any way. So I think we can confess to a priest, to a brother or sister in faith, or to God directly, following the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to which we should do. Thanks for this video and your perspective, I like to learn about what other Christians believe.

Thank you Father, Praise be JESUS and MARY...

if you go to confession properly you will be in the state of grace for a while then your actions will be deemed good, it is most important ! it is only in a state of grace that we can be in God's grace !

Exactly! I can always hear your prayers.

Confession: because even an unused room needs dusting

I read in the gospel of Luke " And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

fr william new subcriber .im a filipino thank you for your explaination

So many arguments , excuses and attempts to interpret ( or misinterpret) scripture in order avoid confessing our sins to a priest. This is scandalous ! Are people so ignorant of Jesus' words in Matthew 18:18 ? Dear Rev. Fr. one of your homilies gave me so much confidence and the grace to make my confession, which I am determined to make a regular habit of. Thank you so much and God bless you for the very simple and inspiring sermons.

Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

After 42 years I went to confession. Stubbornness and pride kept me from going. In the past I have confessed sins directly to God. If I’m truly honest with myself, I didn’t go to the priest because of my ego and shame. Humbling myself I went to seek forgiveness. We know God is with us and He forgives us because He loves us, but we can’t physically touch or see Him. We have only ourselves to hold us accountable and sin no more. We are fleshy and weak. The act of confession to the priest or one another holds us accountable if we’re truly sorry for the sins. I had not seen these videos before but I appreciate they are available for those that are not able to get to the church.

I am a Catholic in Japan. I want to go to confession. But the church here does not seem to have a weekly confession. Furthermore, there are only Japanese speakers.Iin the case of those who through disability are unable to vocalize confession to priests, what is the accepted teaching?

I am just returning to faith after 35 or more years of living totally in the world. I haven't taken confession in over 30 years, any suggestions on doing my first confession in decades? I don't remember every sin but I know I have broken every commandment in one way or another.

Also for confessions St Matthew 9:1to 8 /St John 20:21-23 /2 Corinthians 5:18 - 20

We only have 1 hour a week assigned for a 1500+ congregation. And sometimes you can't make it to that hour.

Confessing to God's Holy Priests is True Humility !!!!! Amen

Whether the church like it or not a person does not have to confess to a priest! Jesus is the best person to confess our sins to.

Good explanation.... 🙏

I feel learned now. Thanks be to our God.

I experienced last year ago that I go to confession and a Priest just said to me I'm busy cuz I have important to go and just walk away Without encouraging, reassuring me to go back tomorrow and have confession. I understand because I know priest are busy sometimes and By the Grace of God, I don't gived up nor sad and I went to confession the day after but by ANOTHER Priest. I have just question. Is it a sin of a priest, if he just said to me carelessly that he's busy and he just said I have something to do and walk away without reassuring me to come back tomorrow? I don't know if It's really important, it's really urgent or not but ONLY GOD knows. I'm confused cuz Confession is also Important and very urgent and secondly. I'm the only one no one's next to me on the line. I'm the only one, so theirs no problem we just have to make it quick but instead he carelessly denied my confession without encouraging, reassuring to come back tomorrow and Yes I did Come back but by another priest. I'm okay with it if a priest denied my confession cuz God already know I've done my best to go to confession even if Priest denied my confession By the Grace of God I don't give up I keep on hoping that's why I go tomorrow for confession to another priest. But what if let's just say what if it's another person and same with my situation a priest denied his/her confession and that person is HURT discouraged sad that a priest is like that, and he/she goes back to his sinful ways, it could be possible that a person will go back to his Sins and worst become Atheist and hate God more blaming God why God denied him through Confession, he/she question God if theirs a God why do you deny me, if you are so merciful why do you let the priest denied my Confession? and don't believed in God anymore because he is really hurt by the Priest and get Discouraged because not everyone knows that God is understandable even if Priest is like that God will never do that to him Not everyone knows that.

My single biggest issue is the limited time slots my church has for confessions (which, I now feel the need to say, is still no excuse😞), but I have surprised myself in how often I have managed to confess to a priest.

This is an excellent explanation! In light of what father said in the video, I would like to also add that Jesus Himself gave His apostles the ability to forgive sins when He breathed on them the Holy Spirit, which has been handed down up to this very day. People don’t do the research of the early church, yet want to call the Catholic Church the hoar of Babylon, and all kinds of other lies.

Fr. Nicholas, I’ve been in total quarantine since last March. God forbid anything should happen to me, and the Lord calls me home without being able to have a priest hear my confession? Have been viewing daily Mass since March and doing my spiritual communion. But still concerned. Am sure am not the only senior under this circumstance because of Covid-19. Please keep me in your prayers Fr.. God bless you. Truly enjoyed this video. Thank you.

Thank you ever so much Fr. William for your much detailed and informative explanation about confessing our sins to a priest to receive God's forgiveness. It is really sad to know that more and more Catholics shy away from obeying this one of the most vital Sacred Sacraments. More so being disobeyed by those whom they called themselves as non practicing Catholics. There is no such thing as practicing nor non practicing. It's either you are a devoted and a dedicated Catholic or you are not. (No judgment here, just observations). For the most part, those who don't adhere to the Sacrament of Confession lack the complete understanding of its valuable meaning. There are so many factors contributing to this lack of understanding. 1.) Fear of Confidentiality - Most are still doubtful about the oath of secrecy that their sins would not be divulged. They still believe that when they confess their sins to the priest that the same priest would tell others about their sins. 2.) Lack of knowledge about the whole concept of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In Hosea 4:6, it says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." And so it is. There is no excuse for ignorance especially now with our technological world where you can always search and found out for yourself or the easiest and simplest way is just ask your priest. 3.) Feeling of Embarrassment. This I do understand but when one completely realized from this Sacrament of Healing the rewards of being free by absolution, it is a glorious feeling knowing that whatever it is that is pricking your conscience is gone and that you know that you do have the love of God and His mercy all along, you would not have missed this for the world. 4.) Unpleasant previous personal experienced. This is an individual situation which I believe can be resolved by continuous praying, fasting and eventually would lead to an awareness of the importance of confession to the priest. 5.) Pride. This is one character trait that most of us have one way or another. There is a feeling of 'for lack of a better word,' ignorance because of self righteousness attitude and thinking that the priest is just another person and why should they go to them and confess their sins. They have to quite understand that priests are God's Shepherds, Holy Men, Anointed Holy Men and not just ordinary human beings. Again, Hosea 4:6. So many misunderstandings about this topic and one can only renew their outlook about it through their own will if they so desired. No one is forced to do anything, that is against to one's will, a betrayal to oneself. All in all, at the end, we all have to answer to only one Source and hopefully we are all ready when that time comes. Having said these, I do go for monthly confession and that for me should be more than that. Why? We are all human beings, we are all sinners and there's never a moment that we have to think that we never sin so we do not need to go for confession to a priest. Through the priest we received pardon and be reborn, renewed and purified. Thank you once again Fr.William and may the blessings of the Lord be upon you now and forevermore.

I hear “multitude of sins” and I think 1 Peter 4:8. Does anyone know the catholic teaching on it? Does love cover a multitude of sins, where the multitude includes mortal?

Hello Frier. I live in England and would ask why does it take a year for someone to be able to convert to Catholism and only after a year, only then be able to go to confession to then finally be able to receive the blessed sacrament? Why was it that Peter and the other deciples converted people who then confessed their sins and received the body and blood of Christ all in a day? Why is it if Peter was the first pope and was able to do this, then why over 2000 odd years later, the Catholic Church cannot do the same thing? Bearing in mind the many apparitions of Our Lady and her urgent messages of the need for people to convert, confess, receive the holy sacraments, pray the Rosary every day etc etc; It's a lot to ask, in this day and age, to ask people to "hang on" for a year plus until they can go to confession to then be clean enough to receive the sacraments (which I think is right). What makes me shocked about all of this, is I go to my Catholic Church as an Anglican wanting to convert and cross my arms when the priest gives out the Sacraments. Unless I had of researched this prior to going, i wouldn't have know it was wrong and the priest never asked me, yet I know FOR A FACT! that 99% of every other person did not go to confession on the specified days and times ( I was there at those times), yet they still all took the sacraments. This is a complete contradiction & is wrong on every level, yet it happens week in and week out. Something's not right about all this that people are allowed to do this and completely get a way with disrespecting The Farther like this. Why don't the priests remind people before any mass that they're not to receive the sacraments unless they've been to confession before hand?

I confessed my sins to a priest today and felt relieved. However, in between confessions I pray to God through Jesus for our sins with the help of the Holy Ghost to allow us the ability of the perfect penance just in case we die in our sleep with an unknown mortal sin.

Well yes James is right , I feel zero devotion when I don t control my tongue .i feel uneasy to confess over and over again this sin. But I never recieve communion if I don t confess,Never.because a priest explained and showed me in the new testament that it will have a reverse effect on me and hurt me. Indeed

Fr. is it only in one place we found about the confession of sin in rhe Bible, letters of st. James? I want to know more about the confession of sin from Bible, will you provide me some advice?

Our Dear Lord Jesus speaking to the Woman at the Well.....His Holy prophecies as to where mankind will worship God The Father!

The way iread it is you confess to God when you are examining your conscience,then you confess to the priest but your sorrow being directed to God,

The confessional is used as a storage area and confession is only available if you phone to make an appointment

Thank u Father

I have twist on that topic.. what happens ( as did to me) when the priest says " I cannot offer you absolution" I am involved with a man. What then ? I guess my soul is lost since I cannot have absolution..

Father how do we pray properly as a Catholic? do we just pray verbally or the mind must also participate in the prayer.

Thank you.

We can make an act of Perfect Contrition out of the Love of God and our sins are forgiven. I know this applies supposedly to when we can't see a priest but to me it shouldn't be conditional.

I was a catholic, and I still remember instruction that confessors should , before going to the priest, first confess their sins to God in repentance, where God Himself undo our sins, so that when we kneel before the priest, we just might end up getting his counseling, which is salient.

the problem is we confess to a priest but later he quits his priesthood due to sin. what happen then.

Hello Father, Regarding the "State of Sin", example after knowing that One has commited a Grave sin or elevating it to mortal sin category if all 3 conditions were Met, how Do we know if we are still in a "State of Mortal sin"? If the person is still planning to go to sacrament of Confesssion in the near future, but at the moment if he repented and do an Act of Perfect Contrition and trying his best to avoid even venial Sins, even if he didn't go to the sacrament of confession yet(but still has intentions to go soon) is that person still on a State of Mortal sin? Or is he back now in a state of Grace?

The letter to The Romans says there is one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus. How does the Catholic church reconcile that verse with the idea if priestly confession.

Thank you Father. Now, if we can just get all of our modernist clergy to embrace the whole deposit of our faith, we can begin to turn this ship around. If, and I do mean if, it is God’s will. Thank you again Father.God bless you

I am dying in hospital and the chaplain is a deacon who can minister viaticum. The chaplain can ask me to make a confession to assess that I am in a fit state to receive Holy Communion, but cannot give absolution. Self-accusation is a useful exercise and one may hope that if I die shortly afterwards then there will be a more favourable outcome. This is just about the only case I can think of where non-sacramental confession may be useful. Of course the deacon can send for a priest and I may indicate my consent to that, but if I die in the meantime we have done something useful.

Confession humbles us

What about the sins that we are unaware of? Does the priest know about them as God does? What about the sins of the priest himself? How can a sinner forgive sins?

Also Protestant churches offer Confession and in my church (Lutheran) we have confession of sin and general absolution in the liturgy. But for Catholics it seems like a virtue to go to confession often and for Protestants it is a virtue not to go to confession often...It's not good at all if we constantly fall in the same sin.

Father a question please. Once we confess our sins is the punishment for those sins forgiven also or will there still be punishment for thosein purgatory.