SACRAMENTS

RECONCILIATION

THE NATURE AND MEANING OF THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

Penance is the sacrament whereby Jesus Christ imparts through the Church pardon and forgiveness to the repentant sinner and reconciles him to God and to the Community of the people of God.

Sin is the free and willful rejection of God’s love extended to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. It destroys the love relationship between man and man as well as between man and God. Our sins have a social aspect. Since we are all members of one body in Christ, the sickness of one member causes a malaise throughout the body. If one member suffers, all members suffer together, if one member is honoured, all members rejoice together” (1 Cor. 12,26).

All the sins are at one and the same time offenses against God and against our neighbour,in the sense that they can have extensive consequences either directly or indirectly within the community. This is true also of all forms of social injustice. In fact today’s world is marked by grave sins of injustice in the form of unjust domination and oppression of nations in the political, economical and intellectual fields .

The sacrament of Reconciliation is meant to repair the bonds of love towards God and towards our neighbour, which were broken by sin. It is a matter of joy for God, for His angels and for man. “I tell you, there will be more jay in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just men who do not need to repent” (Lk. 15, 7).

The social dimension of sin requires also a social dimension in the sacrament of reconciliation. Indeed a public ritual of reconciliation made this clear in the early Church. The sacrament of Reconciliation sets the sinner at peace with himself, with his fellow beings and with God.

When to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation: The suitable age for the first reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation is the age of reason or of discretion, that is more or less around the seventh year. From that time on, the Church requires the reception of the sacrament at least once a year. However, one who has committed grave sin is obliged to seek forgiveness through this sacrament as promptly as possible. Strictly speaking, only when one is in grave sin, one is obliged to go for confession, All the same, frequent and worthy reception of the sacrament is an effective remedy against venial sins.

INSTITUTION OF THE SACRAMENT

In the gospels Jesus teaches us God’s infinite mercy and love for the repentant sinner. This is evident from the parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15,ll-32). There are two main actors in this drama: the prodigal son and his father. The son recognizes that he has sinned and humbly begs forgiveness; and the father gladly forgives and welcomes him home with great love.

Jesus invites everyone to repentance so that everyone can partake of God’s mercy and forgiveness. Besides we see Jesus in the gospels very often forgiving sinners. To the paralytic (Mk.2, 5) and to the sinful woman (Lk. 7,48) and to the dying thief (Lk. 23,43) Jesus says: ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The very mission of Jesus is to seek and save the lost: ‘For, the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost’ (Lk. 19, 10).

The power to forgive sins is God’s alone. But in His infinite goodness the Lord deigned to transmit this power to His Church. To this end, Jesus instituted the sacrament of Reconciliation; ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any they are retained’ (Jn. 20. 23). With these words, the Lord handed over His power of forgiving sins to His apostles and through them to the Church.

The Role of the Penitent in the Sacrament: The worthy reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation requires certain acts and dispositions on the part of the penitent.

Awareness of sin: The basic requisite on the part of the penitent is the awareness of his sins and of his utter spiritual poverty before God. Our model in this case is the publican in the gospel (Lk. 18, 9-14). He is so conscious of his nothingness and sinfulness that he dares not even to raise his head before God’s infinite holiness; but rather he strikes his breast and humbly begs forgiveness: ‘God be merciful to me, a sinner. When we approach God’s holiness in this spirit of humility we are very near to obtaining His forgiveness.

Sincere contrition: Contrition consists of sorrow for our sins and the resolution not to offend God again. Both these dispositions are needed to have God’s forgiveness. However, we do not have to be absolutely certain that we shall not sin again; it is enough if only we are determined to do our best to avoid sin. Contrition is of two kinds:

(a) Perfect contrition: We have perfect contrition if we detest our sins out of genuine love for God, that is, because our sins offend God who is infinitely good and is to be loved above all things.

(b) Imperfect contrition: We have imperfect contrition when we are sorry for our sins because we know that God is just and that He will punish us.

Except in very extraordinary circumstances, one who has separated oneself from Christ and the family of faith by grave sin is seriously obliged to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before receiving the Eucharist. The motive behind contrition must be supernatural and not merely a human sorrow based on regret for some natural bad consequences of one’s deeds. Contrition must be interior, coming from the heart and not merely expressed on the lips. It must be universal; It must be for all sins, grave as well as venial. In short, our repentance and contrition must mean a complete change of mind, a turning away from sin and a turning towards God.

Confession of sins: The sinner has offended God. He has done wrong to himself and to the entire Mystical Body of which he is a member. It is only fitting, therefore, that he should humbly acknowledge his sins before the Lord and before the Church.

The sinner is obliged to confess all mortal sins, He is not obliged to confess venial sins, though it is a good thing to do so. If he has ever concealed a mortal sin in a confession he must accuse himself of that grave offence in the next confession.

The Will to make reparation: The best example of a sinner’s will to amend his life and to make good the wrongs he has done is Zachaeus (Lk. 19,l-10). ‘Zachaeus stood up and said to the Lord: Behold, Lord I will give half my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much (Lk. 19, 8).

The acceptance of penance at the confessional is a symbolic expression of our willingness to amend our lives. The will to amend our lives must lead us to compensate, as far as it is in our power, for the wrongs we have done to our neighbour.

We must forgive others: Another very important condition for our own forgiveness is that we must be ready to forgive our brothers. Jesus Himself has made it absolutely clear in the following words: ‘If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done’ (Mt. 16, 14-15). The same truth is taught very forcefully by Jesus in the parable of the unforgiving servant (Mt. 18, 21-35; also Mt. 7, 1-2; Lk.6, 37-38. 41-42).