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More on the
key elements of the sacrament of penance
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
During Lent, we are called to reflect in a special way on the sacrament
of penance. This week and next, I invite you to focus on three Gospel
accounts. They provide insight into contrition, confession, acts of
penance, and absolution, the four key elements that make up the
sacrament of penance. It is hoped that the Holy Spirit will instruct you
on the magnificence of this sacrament.
When a maid saw Peter seated in the light, she looked intently at him
and said, “This man too was with him.” But Peter denied it saying,
“Woman, I do not know him.”
A short while later someone else saw him and said, “You too are one of
them”; but Peter answered, “My friend, I am not.”
About an hour later, still another insisted, “Assuredly, this man too
was with him, for he also is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “My friend, I
do not know what you are talking about.”
Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and
looked at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had
said to him, “Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three
times.” He went out and began to weep bitterly. (Lk. 22:56-62).
Each of us is constantly being called to a deeper relationship with God.
Contrition is the positive response to that call. It is sorrow for sins
and the desire to draw closer to God who loves me unconditionally, in
spite of my sins. Contrition is coming face to face with Christ after I
have failed to live up to his expectations of me.
It is important to look honestly at ourselves in light of the Gospel in
order to recognize and be sorry for those things in our lives that
distance us from God and others. Each of us was created in God’s image,
an image impaired by the selfishness which is sin. Contrition is owning
up to and being sorry for the attitude, actions and priorities in life
that are contrary to the Gospel and selfishly more important to me than
living a love relationship with God and my brothers and sisters.
I experience contrition as moments of sorrow in my lifelong process of
conversion. Conversion is responding to God’s grace after sin. It is a
change of heart that affects how I choose to think, to act and to live.
It is a graced move from selfishness to selflessness. It is recognizing
my need for God in every aspect of life and turning from the habits,
attitudes and actions that take my eyes off God and focus them on
myself.
Ongoing conversion disposes me to experience contrition as I prepare
myself for the sacrament of penance. In the quiet of daily prayer and in
the celebration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, God’s voice
is heard and I learn to discern the will of God in my life. Prompted by
the Holy Spirit, I recognize my need to turn from sin to grace.
Sorrowful like Peter, I come face to face with Christ; my sinfulness is
exposed for what it really is. Like Peter, I experience contrition as I
remember the word of the Lord. I am sorry for my sins. Coming face to
face with Christ, contrition is the first element of the four that make
up the sacrament of penance.
While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him,
and was filled with compassion.
He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him,
“Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer
deserve to be called your son.”
But his father ordered his servants, “Quickly, bring the finest robe and
put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take
the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast,
because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was
lost, and has been found.”
Then the celebration began. (Lk. 15:20-24)
The parable of the Prodigal Son highlights the second step in the
process of reconciliation: confession.
Confession is evidence of contrition. It is the outward display of what
is in my heart, shown as I reveal my sins to the Church through a
priest. The story of the Prodigal Son and his father is very powerful.
After realizing his sinfulness, the son returns home. Upon meeting his
father, he makes his confession: “I have sinned against heaven and
against you.” He does not list the times and ways in which he wasted
money, or go on about the many aspects of his wild lifestyle, even
though the title “Prodigal” refers to one who is lavish and recklessly
extravagant. Instead he recognizes that he has distanced himself from
God and his father. He has been selfish. He has sinned.
Our sinfulness is the same. My sins affect not only me, they affect my
relationship with God, family and friends, and others as well. My sins
violate the community to which I committed myself in baptism and
confirmation, a commitment repeated each time I receive Holy Communion.
Confession of sins stems from belief that a relationship with God and
with one another is at the heart of our faith.
We come to the sacrament of penance not to read off a list, but to
confess. This means examining, evaluating and revealing my life in light
of the Gospel. In so doing I confess, that is, I acknowledge God’s
power to forgive, and I recognize my need of that forgiveness.
The sacrament of penance celebrates God’s forgiveness of sinners, not
merely of the sins we confess. In the Gospel account of the Prodigal
Son, we find an image of the forgiveness and love of God. Here is a
twist in the story, the surprise ending that is common in the parables
of Jesus. In the end, the father is the Prodigal. He is recklessly
extravagant with his forgiveness and lavishly gives his love to his
unfaithful son.
In the sacrament of penance, the priest confessor represents Christ and
the Church. Though I make my confession in private, I experience the
sacrament as a member of the faith community, the Church. Confession
helps us experience the bonds that connect us with God and with one
another. We recognize that though we are sinners, we are members of a
community of faith that welcomes us back home.
In emphasizing utilization of the sacrament of penance, I am urging my
readers to run confidently into the arms of our extravagant God who,
seeing the contrite while still a long way off, runs passionately toward
us in the sacrament of penance.
These two Scripture passages underscore two of the key elements of the
sacrament of penance: contrition and confession.
Focus next week will be on the last two elements of the sacrament: acts
of penance and absolution. |
