1 John 1:9
[SUP]9 [/SUP] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
We are to confess our sins to God, not to a Catholic Priest.
You can go to the priest for confession if you want to, he just can't give you absolution since you are not Catholic, but he will provide spiritual direction you can take it or leave it. The prayer of the penitent who first walks in to the confessional is,
"Bless me father, for I have sinned, I confess to Almighty God, and to you father, these are my sins..."
Your "many years" in the Church and you don't know what you are talking about.
Also James 5:16 says to confess one to another.
The context of "one to another" does not obligate Christians to confess shameful sins to Ms. Gossip. I spent 30 years in many non-Catholic churches, bible studies, non-denominational/evangelical churches and NOBODY confesses their sins one to another. They may get counselling from a pastor, but no Protestant pastor can grant absolution. Plus, you are leaving out important context of James 5:14-15
13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick?[f]He should summon the presbyters (priests) of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord, 15 and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
Going directly to God for minor sins is fine and dandy, but an HONEST look at these verses says nothing about confessing only to God, nor does it say to confess to just anybody. Priests are included in the "one to another", they are not a separate class of Christians that anti-Catholics make them out to be, but they have specific ministerial duties not shared by the universal priesthood.
I have spent many years in the Catholic Church and many years confessing my sins to a Catholic Priest and not one time did the Priest ever confess his sins to me!
First, your "many years" in the Church does not qualify you to make dogmatic declarations on the Catholic faith.
Second, "many years" could mean you abandoned your faith after the 8th grade.
Third, being a Catholic by inertia or by ethnicity does not mean you were a Catholic by practice. That's an identity, not what you believed. Catholics who are properly catechized, believe and live their faith don't fall for slick evangelical tactics and emotionally driven alter calls. Based on the hate and lies you have posted, I have a hard time believing you were any kind of Catholic at all. Do you realize you have dishonored your parents by your apostasy? Or are you angry at the Church because you cannot take it out on your dysfunctional family?
"not one time did the Priest ever confess his sins to me!" is just immaturity. You are not ordained and have no concept of the seal of the confessional. Lines like this is one of many reasons why I have serious doubts of your claim to have been a Catholic "for many years". People use "I used to be a Catholic" to give credibility to a phony testimony.
The Catholics love to quote Scriptures but hate putting those Scriptures into their daily living.
You declare yourself God to know the state of the souls of Catholics. Catholics, even the Pope, doesn't make such infallible judgments on anybody. Only God can judge souls and you need to stop making yourself equal to God.
You don't confess your sins "one to another" one single bit, yet here you are accusing Catholics of
"hate putting those Scriptures into their daily living". The scriptural basis to obtain forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation are numerous and compelling. Anti-Catholics, if they want to object, can only dance around them and trip over their feet.
If the Catholic Church really did believe James 5:16, then all the Priests would confess their sins to us also!
TEXT without CONTEXT is a PRETEXT.
As it stands, Catholics love to play at being a Christian but hate following what God says.
Does that include your less than perfect parents?
Given the bullying nature of your posts, are you socially functional enough to even belong to a church?