Second Sunday after Pascha. Thomas Sunday; the Holy Priest-Martyr Antipas, Bishop of Pergamos in Asia (81-96)
Acts 5:12-20; John 20:19-31
Read John 20:19-31
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” This is the verse that has been quoted by the Council of Trent as the time when Jesus established the Sacrament or Mystery of Confession. The apostles are given the authority to forgive sins and the authority not to forgive sins. How does the apostle or the future priest decide whether to forgive or not to forgive? He decides based on what he hears from the penitent. Any kind of Confession be it General Absolution or a Confession where the penitent expresses sorrow for sins but does not confess his sins does not satisfy the condition of the confessor hearing the penitent confessing. That is why the Catholic Church teaches that after having received General Absolution, a penitent must go at the nearest occasion possible to make an individual Confession.
It should be mentioned that when a man is ordained to the priesthood, he does not automatically have the authority to administer the Sacrament of Penance. The priest must receive faculties, that is, authority, from his bishop to be able to hear Confessions. The bishop does what Jesus did on Easter Sunday night.