February 3, 2012
The Bishop's Corner
The Sacrament of Reconciliation
by Bishop Charles C. Thompson
I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners (Mark 2:17)
During a recent channel surfing with the television remote, I came across the movie title, “The Land Time Forgot.” I seemed to recall during this last December a similar title, “The Land Christmas Forgot.” In light of the Lenten Season, it seems that we would do well to reclaim a tremendous efficacy of grace by considering what often seems to be “The Sacrament Catholics Forgot.”
This article is the first of a three-part series. The other two parts will run in consecutive editions of The Message. For those who have access to a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I would encourage you to read through numbers 1420-1498. Much of this three-part series is taken directly from the Catechism.
Throughout time, this sacrament has been known as Confession, Penance and, more recently, Reconciliation. Certainly, all three of these words or titles for the sacrament have merit as each is a part of the sacramental experience itself. It is good for us to remember, however, that while confession and penance are what we do as penitents (e.g. those who seek to turn away from sin and back toward God, through the conversion process), reconciliation is ultimately the divine action of the sacrament. We, of course, must be willing participants in the reconciliation process by our cooperation with divine grace.
For purposes of this series, while not intending to diminish the necessary actions on our part, I will be making reference to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This sacrament is a significant element of Catholic spirituality, and this is the case in my own life. I do not like going more than a month without celebrating the sacrament as a penitent. It serves as a type of check and balance system in my life. While we tend to associate the confession of mortal sins (e.g. those most serious in nature) with the sacrament, regular celebration of the sacrament can be a helpful way to address the lesser sins in our lives before they become more serious. We might think of how important it is to have regular checkups with doctors or dentists rather than merely waiting for some serious disease or pain to manifest itself in its final stage. While it has long been understood that forgiveness of venial sins is made available through one’s participation in the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass, the Church has always taught that grave or mortal sins are forgiven only through the valid celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation; namely, individual confession and obtaining of absolution from a priest. As the Catechism clearly teaches, “Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament.”
Sin, according to the Catechism, n. 1440, “is before all else an offence against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church.” We traditionally make the distinction between venial sin and mortal sin. Venial sins are those of a lesser nature (e.g. everyday faults) while mortal sins are those of a more serious or grave nature (e.g. the deadly sins). The Catechism of the Church makes no bones about the fact that only God forgives sins. Jesus, by virtue of his divine authority, gives this power to men to exercise in his name (cf. The Gospel of John 20:21-23).
Regarding the effects of reconciliation and the sacrament of forgiveness, the Catechism (cf. #1443-1446) provides key insight into the special means of grace that Jesus has left with the Church: “During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin alienated or even excluded them . . . . 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 their task is expressed most notably in Christ’s solemn words to Simon Peter: ‘I will give you the keys of 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 . . . . The words bind and loose mean Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God . . . . Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification.”