The Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) for Adults.

The Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation) for Adults.                  [5-30-2023]

We are initiated into the Christian community by Baptism-Confirmation and the Eucharist, but initiation is only the beginning of a process.  We are not fully mature Christians by the mere fact of having been baptized, anointed, and invited to share the Lord's Supper. We are human. Hence we are prone to sin. Yet the call to living as a Christian is a call to perfection: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). It is God's will that we be sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:3; Ephesians 1:4), that we become as saints (Ephesians 5:3). We are to love God with all our mind and all our strength, and our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30). Jesus' proclamation of the Kingdom of God, which shaped his own ministry as well as the mission of the Church, is a constant call to conversion: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news" (Mark 1:15).

How do we deal with our need for healing from sin after we have been initiated into the Church? 

Jesus is the one who heals and forgives and reconciles, and the Church is the healing and forgiving and reconciling community. The Church is also the penitent Church, ever remembering Jesus’ words, "Neither do I condemn you" (John 8:11). Because of its unshakable confidence in God's mercy, the Church is the community which gives up on no one, no matter how seemingly hopeless his/her situation.

The heart of Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness & reconciliation is found in his response to his disciples’ request: “Teach us how to pray.”  Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer we repeat Jesus’ words: “…forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us….” (Matt 6:12).  Jesus is always reminding us of our need to “forgive” and “be forgiven” and “be reconciled” to those we have harmed by our sins. 

Jesus even tells us that forgiveness & reconciliation are requirements for taking part in worship: "You have heard the commandment imposed on your forefathers, 'You shall not commit murder; every murderer will be liable to judgment.' What I say to you is: everyone who grows angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; any man who uses abusive language toward his brother shall be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and if he holds him in contempt he risks the fires of Gehenna. If you bring your gift to the altar and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift at the altar, go first to be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”  (Matthew 5:21-24)

As children we are not only taught the Lord’s Prayer, we are also taught to take ownership of our faults and failures in loving family members and those beyond our immediate family.  We are taught to take initiative in saying: I am sorry for …….  And as we grow a little older we are taught to grow beyond merely saying: “I am sorry” to “asking forgiveness” for how we have hurt others.  Asking forgiveness is a willingness to take the vulnerable risk of the other person saying: I am not ready to forgive you at this time.

Every time we celebrate Eucharist, we begin with the priest leading us in a rite of asking forgiveness for our sins and failings: “Brothers and sisters, let us prepare to celebrate the sacred mysteries by acknowledging our sins…..”  and the priest concludes this rite by saying: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  And we all say: Amen (which means I agree with that!!!).

The examination of conscience is a practice the Apostle Paul directed us to perform each time before we receive Holy Communion: A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgment on himself… (1 Corinthians 11:28+)

Since early Christians received Holy Communion each time they celebrated Eucharist, this examination of conscience was a familiar exercise. It was a daily practice of members of the clergy, and religious orders made the examination of conscience a daily exercise of their followers. Lay members of religious orders were encouraged to take up this practice as a salutary measure to advance in virtue. St. Bernard taught: "As a searching investigator of the integrity of your own conduct, submit your life to a daily examination. Consider carefully what progress you have made or what ground you have lost. Strive to know yourself. Place all your faults before your eyes. Come face to face with yourself, as though you were another person, and then weep for your faults."

This daily examination of conscience is focused on both our strengths and weaknesses.  The content of this daily examination is primarily for personal reflection and is not usually shared with others, but it can be shared in private meetings with a spiritual director or confessor where we talk about strengths and weaknesses and sins.

Note that there is no mention of the Sacrament of Penance to this point.  All of what has been said above is about “forgiving” and “being forgiven” and “reconciliation” from the earliest days of the Church without any need for confession to a priest!  The assumption is that “forgiving” and “being forgiven” and “reconciliation” took place within Christian communities that were small enough that most everybody knew everybody.  Christian communities functioned as extended families even if not everybody was related by blood. The “rituals of forgiving and being forgiven and reconciliation” were family rituals that took place within the daily life of the family.

However, as the Christian communities multiplied and members grew more numerous, not everyone knew everyone, and dealing with “forgiving” and “being forgiven” and “reconciliation” became more complicated.  The first challenge the Church had to deal with was serious sin that was known to the larger community, such as, individuals who denied the Faith when persecuted for the Faith.  Dealing with this kind of sin was beyond the ability of the community to deal with effectively and this was the need that resulted in the Sacrament of Penance.

When and why did the Sacrament of Penance begin in the early Church?[1]

The Sacrament of Penance began as a ritual for helping us deal with sin that is especially difficult for the Christian community to deal with.  Usually because the sin has serious negative consequences affecting other people (so it is not just a private/personal matter).  

The Sacrament of Penance began as the Church’s effort to help members who had committed apostacy (i.e. denied the Faith when persecuted for their Faith) or murder or adultery or other serious sins that were public knowledge in their small communities.  In the early Church, the process of reconciliation had to be PUBLIC and absolution was granted by the bishop because the sins were PUBLIC and only the bishop of the community would have the authority to assure the community that the sinner was forgiven by God and should be fully accepted back into the Christian community by receiving Holy Communion again after the Bishop had made a public statement removing the excommunication.

The Shepherd of Hermas (ca. 150), an important para-scriptural document, takes for granted this practice of postbaptismal forgiveness, but only once in a lifetime. The community would pray at the deathbed of one who fell into a publicly known serious sin a second time, but the sinner would be denied the sacraments.

Through the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth centuries, Penance continued as a public ritual and came to be known as "Canonical Penance." It could be administered only once in a lifetime.  This explains why Baptism was normally received late in life and was seen as a decision to make radical life-style changes that would not be easily nor frequently set aside. The Church demanded proof of reconversion before restoring the grace of Baptism through Penance.   Canonical Penance was always reserved for serious sins, e.g., apostasy, murder, heresy, adultery that were matters of common, public knowledge. The offender would receive a form of liturgical excommunication and was forced to leave the celebration of the Eucharist at the Offertory, along with the catechumens.  In the West, more often than in the East, an additional penance was sometimes imposed, namely, lifelong celibacy. This led to the breakup of marriages and provoked intense resistance from the laity, who began to postpone the sacrament until they were near death. Canonical Penance became effectively the sacrament of the dying.  NOTE: For less serious offenses there were the other forms of penance: almsgiving, fasts, charity to the poor and the sick, and prayers just as was done is the earliest days of the Church.

From the Seventh to Eleventh centuries, private penance to a priest began in monasteries in the British Isles and gradually became the norm in Europe.  The once-in-a-lifetime, public rite of Canonical Penance officially ended in the West with the Fourth Lateran Council's decree in 1215 that all the baptized must confess their sins and receive Holy Communion at least once a year.   Note – this rule of the Church assumed that everyone knew that it meant that only “mortal sins” had to be confessed at least once a year….it was never meant to require the confession of “venial sins.”  Of course, not everyone agreed or taught an “official list” of mortal vs. venial sins.  It was especially confusing to children when they were actually too young to fully understand the difference!  (Everyone Catholic who was baptized as an infant has their own story about trying to make sense of “mortal vs. venial sin”.)

Today, more than 50 years after Vatican Council II, I am aware of three realities in regard to the Sacrament of Penance:

• A significant change introduced by Vatican Council II was to allow “face to face” confession to the priest (rather than only allow for confessionals with a screen to keep the priest and the penitent from seeing each other).  Actually, this was not a new option because it had always been a practice of monks and priests to go to confession “face to face”.  But Vatican Council II recommended this option be made available to everyone who wanted to use it.
   
• Another change introduced by Vatican Council II was parish Penance services for large groups of people.  In these services people continue to receive personal absolution from a priest, but a number of priests present at these services make it possible for a whole church full of people to receive the Sacrament of Penance within a reasonably short amount of time.
   
• The Catechism of the Catholic that was prepared as a follow-up to Vatican Council II was published in 1994 is the “official” presentation of the teachings of the Catholic Church.  It contains important information about the “acts of the penitent” that many Catholics are not familiar with.  So, I am including this teaching here.

Today, as a result of Vatican Council II, most Catholics have returned to the practice of the early Church and receive Holy Communion each time they celebrate Eucharist.  The only exception to receiving Holy Communion each time they celebrate Eucharist is if a person judges he/she has committed mortal sin and has not yet received the Sacrament of Penance. 

However, as far back as the Council of Trent in 1551, it has been the teaching of the Church that no one need abstain from receiving Holy Communion if the only reason he/she is doing that is because it is not possible to receive the Sacrament of Penance before the celebration of the Eucharist.  In fact, it is usually not possible to receive the Sacrament of Penance before Eucharist begins on Saturday or Sunday because there may not be time for the priest to “hear confessions” at that time or not possible to hear the confessions of numerous people.  In addition, if the person who needs the Sacrament of Penance is well known to the only priest available (so that even going to confession behind a screen would not allow the person to remain anonymous because the priest would surely recognize his/her voice), the person is not required to confess to that priest and thus the reception of the Sacrament of Penance is not available to the person.  To further complicate the situation, if the person is with his/her family, and they normally go to Holy Communion together, the family members will be aware of the person deciding to not receive Holy Communion, and “everyone knows” that the only real reason to not receive Holy Communion is because a person has committed mortal sin and has not received absolution in the sacrament of Penance!

FORTUNATELY, the Church officially dealt with this kind of situation as far back as the Council of Trent (400 years before Vatican Council II). What the person in this situation needs to know is that he/she needs to be truly repentant of any/all mortal sin, make an act of “perfect contrition”, and be firmly resolved to receive the Sacrament of Penance as soon as possible.The teaching is in the: Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994):

VII. THE ACTS OF THE PENITENT (from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994)

para 1450    "Penance requires ... the sinner to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction.”[2]

para 1451 Among the penitent's acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again."[3]

para 1452    When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramen­tal confession as soon as possible.[4]

para 1453 The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be brought to completion by sacra­mental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance.[5]

para 1454 The reception of this sacrament ought to be prepared for by an examination of conscience made in the light of the Word of God. The passages best suited to this can be found in the moral catechesis of the Gospels and the apostolic Letters, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the apostolic teachings.[6]

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Fortunately, we can learn a great deal from the book: Forgiving What You’ll Never Forget by David Stoop which is all about forgiveness and reconciliation.

Forgiving What You’ll Never Forget.

The Sacrament of Penance has served the needs of faithful Catholics for thousands of years.  However, as our world continues to evolve we are dealing with new challenges and new insights and questions about “Forgiveness” and “Reconciliation.” 

While it continues to make sense to confess my sins to the priest and receive absolution and then do penance for my sins, What if my sin is that I have done terrible ~ maybe irreparable ~ damage to another person or the environment?  Can I be truly sorry for my sin, go to confession, receive absolution from the priest and say my “Our Fathers and Hail Marys”, and then get on with my life as if nothing else needs to be done?

The sacrament of Penance may serve me well in getting myself right with God.  But what about the damage my sin has done to another person or the environment or the safety of the community?  In the early centuries of the Church, public penance for public sins was a strategy for addressing these issues.  But as the sacrament of penance evolved into private confession and private penance, the issue of tending to the residual damage of my sins gradually receded.  It was not that the Church cared less about this reality, it was the simple fact that the number of Catholics grew to the point that most people did not have access to appropriate spiritual direction.  Today ~ a half century beyond Vatican Council II ~ many Catholics who are faithful to the regular reception of the sacrament of Penance seem to be unaware of their responsibility to adequately address the residual damage their sins have caused.

Finally, I am including this Examination of Conscience for the Sacrament of Penance by married adults.  I hope it can be useful……   

The examination of conscience done in preparation for the Sacrament of Penance is different from the practice of the examination prior to receiving Holy Communion because it is focused on identifying sins that I know I need to confess in the Sacrament of Penance because they are “mortal sins”.  

“The sacrament of marriage is the specific source and original means of sanctification for Christian married couples and families” (Familiaris Consortio, John Paul II, Nov. 22, 2981, Role of the Christian Family, para. 56). As married couples, we are to examine our lives in light of the responsibilities we have to God’s call to holiness. These responsibilities are fourfold in nature: 1) to God; 2) to our spouse; 3) to our children; 4) to society at large. By rooting out sin through the healing and empowering effects of the Sacrament of Penance, we strive to live the holiness to which we are called.

1 - Responsibilities to God:

I have left these spaces blank so that you and your spouse can write in the responsibilities that you are aware of at this point in time.  You will notice how these responsibilities change as you continue the journey of your marriage and family life!!!

 

2 - Responsibilities to my spouse:

 

3 - Responsibilities to children:

 

4 - Responsibilities to society: