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A sacrament
that continues the healing ministry of Christ
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
The Rite for the Christian Initiation of Adults is the process by which
unbaptized individuals become Catholic. It is rich in ceremonies focused
on the Easter Vigil. But, it does not end there. There is a catechetical
period that extends from Easter to Pentecost. Called a time of
mystagogia, it beckons new converts to reflect on the sacraments of
the Church.
This year, via this weekly column, I’ve invited the Catholics of
Northcentral Indiana to join me in reviewing what many of us learned or
were supposed to have learned about the sacraments years ago, but may
not have thought about in recent times. To date, then, these Easter
Season columns have focused on baptism, confirmation and holy Communion.
This week the focus shifts to the sacrament of penance (confession).
It is often said that the sacrament of penance is the “forgotten
sacrament.” It would appear that many Catholics rarely, if ever, avail
themselves of this powerful sacrament. That is not what Christ had in
mind when he gave this sacrament to the Church. Its importance in the
mind of Christ is evident from the fact that the institution of the
sacrament of penance was one of the first actions taken by Jesus Christ
after his resurrection. On Easter night when Jesus appeared to his
apostles, he gave them the power to forgive sins. The Scriptures say
that Jesus breathed on the apostles and said: “As the Father has sent
me, so I send you … Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn. 20:21-23).
That night Jesus gave the Church the ministry of the forgiveness of sins
through the apostles. By the sacrament of holy orders, bishops and
priests continue this ministry “in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” In the sacrament of penance, the priest
acts in the person of Christ, the head of the Church, to reconcile the
sinner both to God and the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic
Church teaches: “When he celebrates the sacrament of penance, the
priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the
lost sheep … The priest is the sign and instrument of God’s merciful
love for the sinner” (No. 1465).
Jesus knew sin would be part of our lives. Through the sacraments of
Christian initiation, we receive the new life of Christ. But, that “new
life” is carried in earthen vessels. It can be weakened and even lost by
sin. Jesus knew that sin would harm our relationship with God and damage
our communion with the Church which he established to distribute to us
the effects of his redemptive life, death and resurrection (the paschal
mystery). Conversion of heart is the beginning of our journey back to
God after serious sin. Liturgically this is celebrated in the sacrament
of penance.
To understand the sacrament of penance, we have to understand sin. We
relate to God as members of a faith community. As members of that
community, when we do good it strengthens that community, which the
Scriptures refer to as the Body of Christ. On the other hand, when we
sin, we weaken the Body of Christ. Sin can be compared to a cancer that
eats away at a body. In dealing with sin, then, it is not just a
question of forgiveness. Serious sin ruptures our unity with the Body of
Christ. In addition to forgiveness, then, there is a need for
reconciliation and healing. That is why the sacrament of penance is so
crucially important. Those who celebrate the sacrament of penance obtain
pardon for the offense committed against God and neighbor, and are, at
the same time, reconciled with the Church and the neighbor whom they
have wounded by their sins.
The catechesis I received as a child stressed the fact that “confession”
celebrated the forgiveness of sin. I don’t recall stress on healing and
reconciliation. That was an unfortunate gap in my catechesis.
This “gap” has been filled by the Catechism of the Catholic Church,
which stresses the healing and reconciliation functions of the sacrament
of penance.
It does this by listing it as one of two sacraments which extend the
healing ministry of Jesus Christ to our own time: the sacrament of
penance and the anointing of the sick.
It is obvious in the New Testament that the primary concern of Jesus for
the sick and infirm who were brought to him was their souls. Prior to
working a miracle affecting a cure, he would proclaim: Your sins are
forgiven you. In the sacrament of penance, that same Lord Jesus
extends that same healing of soul to the penitent. It is a most
important part of the sacrament of penance.
Next, the catechism refers to the sacrament not only as “penance,” but
as the sacrament of reconciliation with the Church as well.
During his public ministry, Jesus forgave sin. But, he did more. He also
made plain the effect of this forgiveness. It reintegrated forgiven
sinners into the community of the people of God from which sin had
alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact
that Jesus received sinners at his table, a gesture that expressed in an
astonishing way both God’s forgiveness and the return of the sinner to
the bosom (as the catechism puts it) of the people of God. In No. 1444,
the catechism states: “In imparting to his apostles his own power to
forgive sins, the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile
sinners with the Church.”
This ecclesial dimension of the sacrament of penance/reconciliation is
expressed most notably in Christ’s solemn words to Simon Peter: “I will
give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on
earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:19). The office of binding and loosing given
to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles (Matt. 18:18). The
words bind and loose mean whoever you exclude from your
communion, will be excluded from God; whoever you receive anew into your
communion, God will welcome back into his. The catechism proclaims: “Reconciliation
with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God” (No.
1445).
Does God forgive sin apart from the sacrament of penance/reconciliation?
I do not doubt it. However, a worthy reception of the sacrament is the
ordinary way of obtaining forgiveness and the omission of sins
committed after baptism. Moreover, the sacrament of
penance/reconciliation adds two additional elements: healing and
reconciliation. When a person understands this, the sacrament takes on
immense importance.
The parable of the Prodigal Son (also known as the parable of the
forgiving father) is found in St. Luke’s Gospel, chapter 15, verses
11-22. Through this parable, Jesus gives us a beautiful insight into the
sacrament of penance/reconciliation as understood from God’s point of
view. The forgiving father has a heart of sheer generosity and spends
his love lavishly on forgiving and welcoming his son back home. In
scriptural terms, “home” is the faith community. The son represents a
sinner in need of forgiveness and healing who is moved to repent,
confess his sin, and humble himself before God. The father in the story
represents God’s immense compassion, rich in mercy and ever willing to
search out sinners and offer them the forgiveness that brings them home.
The story urges us to trust in God the Father’s love and forgiveness,
which we receive in the sacrament of penance, a sacrament that continues
the healing ministry of our Savior, Jesus Christ. |
