Confession: Not for the Guilty

"To those who have been far away from the sacrament of Reconciliation and forgiving love, I make this appeal: come back to this source of grace, do not be afraid! Christ himself is waiting for you. He will heal you, and you will be at peace with God!" (Pope John Paul II). Research is not necessary to demonstrate that the majority of Catholics have either stopped going to confession altogether or they go only rarely.

Empirically, we have found that many Catholics don't have a pleasant experience or they presume they will have a less than a pleasant experience participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for which "confession" is a part.

If you are one of the many who feel anxiety about this important Sacrament is perhaps that you may be missing the real point: that you are loved by God…that we should be open to truly hear the voice of Christ saying: "Go in peace, your sins are forgiven".

Pope Paul VI preferred the name "reconciliation" over "confession" because of its richer meaning of receiving the gift of God’s forgiveness, which helps us bridge or rebridge the gap between God and us and between ourselves and others.

The basic requirement for a good "confession" is to have the intention of returning to God like the "prodigal son" and to acknowledge our sins with true sorrow before the priest. And there is also the dimension of sharing our sins with another individual (the priest), and this has connections with the Scriptures.

The sacrament of Reconciliation is intended to uncover the deep peace that comes from being brought back into harmony with God, family and fellow Christians. It is not intended to uncover and dwell on guilt.

Guilt is not the same as sin. Guilt is how we feel from breaking "rules'' either intentionally or not. Sin, in a Christian perspective goes beyond "breaking the rules" to establish its relationship to love. God has loved us so much, and we have so often failed to return that love.

Sin is our failure to grow in our faith:

• Sin is not recognizing, assimilating and living the Word of God.
• Sin is the failure to respond to the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus
• Sin is not recognizing that Jesus came so that we might have life abundantly

RCIA Reflection

It is the proclamation of the Word of God that gives us guidelines as to whether we have committed sin and invites us to a continued conversion. We are a people set aside, redeemed and called to become faithful and holy.

The proclamation of the Word allows us to reflect on our lives, examining our values and lifestyle in comparison with the values imparted by the Readings and the Gospel.

Paul reminded the Christian community at Corinth: "We are ambassadors for Christ" to help us turn our lives around as an evidence of the grace of God within us. How do we do this? By following Jesus' message to live a life in simplicity and placing God first, making Him a priority in our lives. Recognizing that the Father sees what is in our hearts, renewing frequently our covenant with God, and by strengthening our commitment to live as His redeemed and chosen people.

A walk-through of the Sacrament of Reconciliation

There are three acts within the Sacrament: contrition, confession and absolution.

There can be no forgiveness of sin if we do not have contrition or a sincere sorrow and a firm resolves not to repeat our sin. True sorrow for sin means considering sin as it really is: not merely the breaking of some impersonal law in a book or a guilt feeling, or as something we cannot avoid; but rather a moral attitude, power, action, or refusal to act that leads us into evil, and alienates or separates us from our true selves, our neighbor, the community, and God.

The awareness of having committed sin results from an examination of conscience. We should ask ourselves what we have done with full knowledge and full consent against God's and the Church’s Commandments. See some examples of sin.

Through the act of confession we confront our sins in a profound way to God, by speaking about them aloud to the priest. He will help you make a good confession. If you are unsure about how to confess or you feel uneasy, just ask him to help you. Answer his questions without hiding anything out of fear or shame. Place your trust in God, a merciful Father who wants to forgive you.

The mechanics of the Individual Rite of Reconciliation

1. Examine your conscience
2. The priest will welcome you and invite you to pray the Sign of the Cross. You would say: “"Bless me father, for I have sinned."
3. The priest may read from Scripture or invite you to read the Scripture
4. Confession. You may say: "My last confession was..." (how many weeks, months or years) or tell the priest this is your first reconciliation. Tell your sins to the priest. Don't be afraid to ask the priest for assistance.
5. Following your confession of sins, say: "I am sorry for these and all of my sins." The priest will talk with you about how to be a better Christian and might give you a penance.
6. Pray an act of contrition: Here is an example: "O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because I have offended you, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of your grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen."
7. The priest, acting in the person of Christ, will then absolve you from your sins. The absolution could be like this: "God, Father of mercy, through the death and resurrection of His Son has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the church, may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Listen to the words of absolution attentively and at the end answer: "Amen."

In closing: we must celebrate and rejoice

Just as in the passage, the father, however, cannot treat the prodigal son at his return like a servant, so too in the Sacrament of Reconciliation the Lord, filled with compassion, rushes in the person of the priest to meet our confession of sins with the loving gift of absolution, the declaration that our sins are taken away: "Bring the finest robe ... Put a ring on his finger". "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." (Luke 15).

Some examples of Sin

• Do I pray to God every day? Have I thanked God for His gifts to me?
• Did I put my faith in danger through readings hostile to Catholic teachings or involvement in non-Catholic sects? Did I engage in superstitious practices: palm reading or fortune telling?
• Did I take the name of God in vain? Did I curse, or take a false oath?
• Did I miss Mass on Sundays or holy days or obligation through my own fault? Am I attentive at Mass? Did I keep fast and abstinence on the prescribed days?
• Did I disobey my parents and lawful superiors in important matters?
• Did I hate or quarrel with anyone, or desire revenge? Did I refuse to forgive? Was I disrespectful?
• Did I get drunk? Did I take illicit drugs? Did I consent to, recommend, advise or actively take part in an abortion?
• Did I steal or damage another’s property? Have I been honest in my business relations?
• Did I tell lies? Did I sin by calumny or detraction of others? Did I judge others rashly in serious matters?
• Have I envied other people?

Are all sins equal?

In dealing with sin, Catholics observe and recognize differences among sins and call serious sins "mortal" and trifling sins "venial". Scripture, of course, approves this distinction and makes use of it, clearly teaching that some sins are worse than others. Refer to Jeremiah 7:26, Lamentations 4:6, Ezechiel 16:44-58, 1 John 5:16-17, Matthew 11:22, John 19:11.

Some sins are so great that they exclude the sinner from God's Kingdom (1st Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21); others are less serious, deserving temporal but not eternal fire (1st Corinthians 3:11,15). Daily small faults are found even in holy people (Ecclesiastes 7:21; James 3:2; 1st John 1:8).

Other forms of the Sacrament of Reconciliation

There are four rites of reconciliation or penance in the official ritual books of the Church. The first rite is the traditional one known to most Catholics, which is officially called "Rite 1: Rite of Reconciliation of Individual Penitents." The others are "Rite 2: Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution"; "Rite 3: Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with General Confession and Absolution'; and finally the rite for an emergency when someone is dying.

They are all valid and opportunities for the person to see that they are part of a community, the Church, in need of God's forgiveness. Each one is an opportunity for forgiveness. This is a powerful symbol of our being in community again with each other and God.

About sharing our sins with a priest

The New Testament contains many stories of Jesus forgiving the sins of men and women. First, two patterns are revealed throughout all of the passages of forgiveness: healing and forgiveness being granted to an individual. Jesus forgives and heals particular people, not generic classes of gathered crowds. Each of these encounters is personal and intimate: a real encounter, which took place between TWO PEOPLE. In each instance there is an admission of sin. There is always a change effected by the forgiveness. And there is always and audible proclamation of the forgiveness by Jesus.

Second, Jesus who offered forgiveness was a man, present, real, frequently touching and speaking to the sinner. What was radically different about Jesus' encounter with sinners was that it was FLESH AND BLOOD offering forgiveness to FLESH AND BLOOD.

The pattern and experience of flesh and blood forgiveness demonstrated by Jesus was continued by Him in His extension to the Church of the power to forgive sins. In Matthew 16:13- 23, Jesus gives to Peter and the Church the "Power of the Keys"; the power and responsibility to forgive sins. Also in Luke 24:36-49 the Risen Jesus commands the disciples to preach the repentance and forgiveness of sins.

The Seal of Confession

The seal or secrecy of the sacrament is absolute: It can never be violated for any reason except with the express permission of the one confessing. Any violation of the seal incurs the penalty of excommunication.

This means that anything the priest hears in confession, and anything an interpreter hears or a bystander hears by accident, can never be repeated or acted upon. To break the seal of confession is so serious that it is only one of seven sins that automatically result in excommunication, and can only be forgiven by appeal to the Pope.

Other Considerations

Catholics are obliged to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation at least once a year during Easter Season, anytime they judge themselves to be in serious sin, and whenever they feel called to make use of the sacrament.

The effects of Reconciliation are to absolve one from the penalty of sin (separation from God and spiritual death), and to restore one to full life with God and the Church. This means that the sacrament allows the Trinity to dwell within one's soul, the fullness of God's grace to operate in one's life, and to heal the Mystical Body of Christ, which is: all the brothers and sisters of the Lord together as one. It also heals the wounds caused by sin in the sinner and in those offended by the sinner.

The following passages could be used for the Sacrament of Reconciliation:

Sources:

“Ten tips for better confession”: Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M.
“ Celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation: 61”
“ THE POWER OF HEALING IN THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION”: Albert A. Caprio, O.P.
“ What is the sacrament of penance”: Fr. Jerome Esper, C.S.C
FAQ: Father Mateo