Forgiveness of Sins...

I attended a friends viewing last night. He was Catholic and the viewing was listed in his obituary as a "viewing with prayers." I wasn't sure what that meant, so, when I took a ham to his wife and children yesterday, I asked. And I was told that near the end of the viewing time, a priest would come and lead the group in a short prayer service.

I arrived at the halfway point last night and it happened to be in the midst of the prayer service, so, I stood in the lobby and waited for it to be over. It was fascinating, though, for me a non-catholic to listen in. Near the end of the service, the reader (not a priest, no priest was there!) read a prayer out of the liturgy asking God to forgive my friend's sins. Now that got me thinking... can we ask for forgiveness for someone else? Or do each of us need to ask for forgiveness for ourselves?

I believe that the Bible speaks of the need to seek and extend forgiveness... but I can't recall a place where it encourages us to seek forgiveness of sins for another person. The only way we can experience forgiveness of sins is to confess our sins and ask for God's forgiveness ourselves.