Does the Bible Really Say That?: Discovering Catholic Teaching in Scripture by Patrick Madrid Read Free Book Online Page B

Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” This passage links the forgiveness of sins with the prayers and ministry of the priests [i.e., elders, presbyters] and with the act of confessing one’s sins. And while the phrase “confess your sins to one another” could reasonably be understood to refer to Christians in general, the emphasis on the ministry of the priests here offers an implicit indication of their unique role in forgiving sins.
    Mark 1:40–44 tells about a leper who approached Christ and asked to be healed of his illness:
     
And a leper came to him beseeching him,... “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And he sternly charged him, and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to any one; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to the people.” (see also Matthew 8:1–4; Luke 5:12–14).
     
    There’s a parallel between what happened to this leper and confession to a priest.
    Sin, especially mortal sin, is like leprosy—a contagious and horribly disfiguring disease that causes one’s flesh to literally rot away. The leper is like the sinner. He asked Christ for healing, as Catholics do by repenting and turning away from sin. Christ healed the leper just as he forgives the repentant sinner. But notice that Christ didn’t simply heal the leper and send him on his way. He instructed him to go into the city and present himself to the priest so that the priest could examine him and verify the cure; upon that determination, the priest would formally declare the man to be healed and permit him to reenter society. Similarly, in the sacrament of confession, the priest absolves the penitent. He then imposes a penance on the penitent; the cured leper likewise performed a sacrifice of ritual expiation (Leviticus 14). From this passage we can see why Christ instituted the great sacrament of confession.
    As 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (emphasis added).
     
    Further Reading: Leviticus 5:5; Numbers 5:5–7; Job 31:33, 40; Proverbs 28:13; Psalm 38:18; Sirach 4:26; Matthew 3:6; 16:19; 18:18; Mark 2:7; Acts 19:18; 1 John 1:9–10
    CCC , 1424–1497

CHAPTER 14
    Defending the Faith
     
    Some people are puzzled by the word “apologetics.” It’s not a commonly heard term, and it also seems to imply that one regrets or feels remorse for having done something wrong. To say, “I apologize” is the same as saying, “I’m sorry for what I did.” But “apologetics” has exactly the opposite meaning.
    The classic term for defending the faith is “apologetics.” This English word derives from the Greek word apología and its Latin cognate apológia . Both mean “to give a defense” or an explanation for something. It’s in this sense that we encounter apologetics in the Bible.
    For example, in 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to “Always be prepared to make a defense [Greek: apologían ] to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence.” It’s worth noting that this exhortation from the first pope to be ready always to do apologetics applies to all baptized Catholics, whether laymen or priests, young or old, married or single.
    Saint Paul echoes this universal call to all Christians when he says in Philippians 1:7, “[Y]ou are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense [ apología ] and confirmation of the gospel.” Each of us has a role to play in defending the faith.
    Philippians 1:15–16 tells us, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am