Hello, and welcome to the
Tiber River Café. My name is Dean
Humphreys, and today’s topic is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Any sin that we commit after our Baptism can
be forgiven, if we ask. We can say we
are sorry, we repent, and we then return to our friendship with God and be
reconciled to the Church. This is what
we call the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
The Catholic Church recognizes seven Sacraments: Baptism,
Eucharist, Confirmation, Matrimony (marriage), Holy Orders, Anointing of the
Sick, and Reconciliation (also known as confession). We believe that there is a sacred reality to
each of the Sacraments and that each Sacrament points us towards Jesus. Catholics believe that each of the Sacraments
was instituted by Jesus himself, pointing to Biblical events in the life and
ministry, as well as the stories and teachings, of Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord
and Savior.
Each of the Sacraments also points to the Christian life, as
we participate as a faith community, in the celebration of the Sacraments. The Sacraments are signs and a means to
God’s graces, the graces that are needed to live a truly Christian life. The Church teaches that we cannot earn grace,
for God’s grace is a free gift of Himself as the controlling influence in our
lives. Sacraments are the life of the
Church for they help to make us more holy people, they help to build up the
Body of Christ, and they point us towards God.
Reconciliation, confession, is the Sacrament of forgiveness,
to heal broken relationships, both with God as well as with others. We say we are sorry for our sins and we
intend to avoid sin in the future, we try to do better. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also a
Sacrament of healing, it is not a place of judgment or punishment. In the Book of James, chapter 5 verses 15-16,
we read, “If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven, therefore, confess
your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be
healed.”
In the Sacrament of Reconciliation the priest represents both
the Lord Jesus and the community of the Church. The priest is not acting on his own, he is
acting in the name of God and on the behalf of the Church. Jesus gave the Sacrament of Reconciliation to
the Church, and Jesus gave to the priest the power to forgive. We read in the Gospel of John, chapter 20
verses 22-23, that Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation when he
said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. For
those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you
retain, they are retained.”
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is often misunderstood, which
is truly unfortunate as it is a great source of God’s grace. In the Sacrament we find what has always been
present and that is God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. We are forgiven and we are then called to
forgive others; to forgive our family, our friends, and our neighbors. Jesus gave his disciples the power to forgive
sins. This power, this ability to
forgive sins in the name of Jesus, has been handed down from the Apostles to
the present day in the person of the priest.
The priest is the minister of the Sacrament, providing God’s promised
forgiveness in the name of Jesus.
At times we unfortunately turn away from God, at times we
fail in loving God and our neighbor, and we sin. We are called to repentance, to turn away
from sin and towards our heavenly Father.
We acknowledge our sins, we say we are sorry, and we try to seek
authentic change. We receive God’s unconditional and endless forgiveness and
mercy. And then we are called to forgive
others. We read in the Second Letter to
the Corinthians, chapter 5 verses 17-20, “So whoever is in Christ is a new
creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself
through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was
reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses
(which means sins) against them and entrusting to us the message of
reconciliation.” This is the Sacrament
of Reconciliation.
Each of the seven Sacraments has an outward sign of an inward
grace. The outward sign of Reconciliation
is absolution for we are absolved or forgiven of our sins. The inward sign of Reconciliation is the
reconciling ourselves to God, which is why we call it reconciliation, we return
to a balance. We reconcile ourselves to
God and his purpose. We move away from
our patterns of sin and we move more closely to a life of holiness.
Reconciliation is a time of healing, and not a place of
punishment or judgment. We sit or kneel
in the confessional and reveal our most embarrassing faults and failures, in
complete confidentiality to a priest, and when we leave the confessional we are
healed and liberated from this bondage of sin.
We yearn to hear those words of absolution, that we are forgiven. We are pardoned from our sins and are filled
with God’s abundant mercy. By confessing
our sins to a priest we are freed of our sin and guilt, and we are better able
to be reconciled with others.
We often regret things that we have done, things that we
should do but we fail to do them. We
sometimes will say words that are hurtful or have thoughts that are
harmful. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation
we are encouraged to express our sorrows and our sins, we are encouraged to
heal broken relationships, not only forgiving ourselves but also forgiving our
neighbor. By following this sacred path
of reconciliation we are better able to communicate with God. We achieve peace of mind and we have the certainty
that we are forgiven.
Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation on the day
of his Resurrection, for by his death on the Cross he redeemed man from sin,
and the Sacrament is the means by which our sins can be forgiven. God’s mercy and forgiveness is infinite, and
reconciliation is our second chance. The
power to forgive sins, which Jesus gave to his Apostles 2000 years ago, is
passed on in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, bishop to bishop, generation after
generation. Jesus gave his apostles the
power to forgive sins as we read in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16 verse 19,
“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Once we sin it becomes easier to sin again and again. In order to break this cycle of sin we must
first recognize and acknowledge our sins.
We then try to repent and change our ways so as to avoid sin in the
future, and we ask God to forgive us.
This pattern follows that of the elements of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. First we actively seek
conversion, to recognize our sins and to move away from our sinful habits. Next we seek confession, we acknowledge our
sins to God and seek God’s never-ending mercy and forgiveness. And last we celebrate, for we are forgiven
our sins and we feel God’s unconditional love.
God’s grace is restored and we have the strength to resist sin in the
future.
There are three elements that are required to properly receive
the Sacrament of Reconciliation. First,
we must be contrite, we must be truly sorry for our sins. Second, we must confess our sins to a priest. Jesus gave the Sacrament of Reconciliation to
the Church and to the priest Jesus gave the power to forgive sins. And third, we must make amends for our sins,
we must do penance as satisfaction for our sins, for we read in the Gospel of
Matthew, chapter 3 verse 8, when Jesus says, “Produce good fruit as evidence of
your repentance.” By confessing our sins
we are freed from our sins, and then we are obligated to offer the same
forgiveness to others who have sinned against us. We are released from our sins and we are to
live a renewed life in Christ, we live in the truth.
So there you have it, a brief overview of the Catholic
Sacrament of Reconciliation. Well,
thanks again for stopping by the Tiber River Café, where there is always plenty
of room at the banquet table. I hope to
see you next time. Peace be with you.
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