The Lord is with us...always!
By bhimbhim
@bhimbhim (13)
Philippines
November 9, 2011 8:38am CST
Part of our job is to attend a religious seminar given once in every middle of the year. The purpose is to renew our faith and all those things related to our religious aspect. During that seminar given last year, the organizers invited a religious group that included a priest who would conduct a confession for us,the participants of the said seminar. To facilitate the smooth flow of the confession, since their were a hundred of us who attended, they distributed a checklist of sins that we usually committed so we could only check those that we had done. Number 3 in the list was: NOT MARRIED IN THE CHURCH, so I checked it first of all the sins that I committed because I needed to be honest that we were only married through civil rights. When the priest looked at my checklist, his attention was caught in the check I made with number 3. He immediately folded my checklist and told me "you don't have the right to make this confession because the Lord had denied you already. you don't have the right also to receive the holy communion because you have not confessed to the priest.you are not blessed by the Lord because you were not married in the church." I didn't know how to react at that time. With tears on my eyes I told the priest: "who are you to tell me that we are not blessed with the Lord? Our family won't reach this 16 years of togetherness if God is not with us. We offered everything to Him and we have the great faith in Him and we had already accepted to ourselves that we sinned by not offering our marriage in the church for blessing." But still the priest denied my request for confession...I just walked away crying...
4 responses
@MRconrad01 (148)
• United States
9 Nov 11
Like the first replier said, this is a good example of how the priest is judging you when he doesn't have the right to judge you. Only God has that right.
James 4:12 - There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your number?
There are many quotes in the Bible regarding judgement. I wouldn't get so discouraged by one overly-zealous priest's scolding.
@pahak627 (4558)
• Philippines
9 Nov 11
I'm sorry to hear that. Yes I heard that catholic churches denied unmarried couples/couples not married in church/whatever to receive communion. Even illegitimate children are not baptized due to their parents' lack of marriage. I really don't like that idea. Your only remedy is to get married in church. For me it's not good to comment against a church but what is that kind of policy they have?
@bhimbhim (13)
• Philippines
10 Nov 11
My husband and I now plans to have our church wedding by the time he will be home since he's working away from us... We do really admit that we miss the sacrament of matrimony of our church...and with this we are very much thankful to God that He continuously blesses us despite our shortcomings...
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
9 Nov 11
This is a good example of how unChristian some so-called Christians can be.
That priest had NO right to refuse you confession or to judge you in that way. He clearly has NO idea of what 'sin' really is.
If that had been my experience, I would have said "Brother, if you are an example of Christian compassion as practised by this Church, then I do not want any part of it. You have absolutely no right or authority to tell me what God thinks. I wash the dust of this Church from my feet!"
@bhimbhim (13)
• Philippines
10 Nov 11
Thanks for that, owlwings. You are right with the term - being unChristian of SOME so-called Christians. You know, I was greatly affected with that incident at that time and even thought to myself "is this how sinful I am to be denied with the right to confess? then where will I go when we are taught by our religion not to confess directly to God because it should be done through the priests...what if I will be denied again by other priests? that would just add to the burden I felt." But then, I offered my feelings to the Lord again, as I keep on doing always, so I could move on unaffected. God never neglect sinners like me, right owlwings?
@Bluedoll (16773)
• Canada
9 Nov 11
Confessions of sins? I myself went somewhere once where I knew I was not suppose to go. I enter into something I knew I should not and I did things I shouldn't have. Later in reflection, I thought back to that time in my life and thought surely "the lord" was not with me for "the lord" would surely would not enter into something that was wrong - but I had. I felt without. But "the lord" was there to pick me up.
I believe when God says this one is mine! That person belongs to God. I think the priest perhaps wants you to marry into the church? Maybe you could do this but if you choose not to, you can always confess your sins to "the lord" directly. If the priest says you can not or it doesn't count read him Matthew 18:1 through 7.
It may be true bhimbhim that the church is strict and wants things a certain way and so you must accept this but do not feel the lord is not with you, or does not hear you or does not understand or does not love you with tenderness. If the priest has hurt you or he actually comes between you and "the lord" then it is the priest that will answer for that hurting with God.
Do not worry about these things too much, only about having a relationship with God. 
