“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the Good News.”
This call is addressed firstly to those who do not yet know Christ but also to those of us who though baptised still have to struggle against our human frailty and the tendency of our fallen human nature to sin, for as John says: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us..”
Everyone, even the Pope, needs forgiveness
The call to conversion therefore is a universal and fundamental part of our call to holiness and to eternal life but this process of conversion is not just a human work: it is the movement of a “contrite heart,” drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first.
Sin is before all else an offence against God, a rupture of communion with Him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, both of which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, also known as Confession.
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. The sacrament offers a new possibility for conversion and the recovery of the grace of justification.
During His public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but made plain the effect of this forgiveness reintegrating forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had 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: “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.”
Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably: In the early Church confession, penance, which sometimes lasted many years and was generally of great severity, and finally reconciliation were public liturgical actions, but from the 7th Century onwards inspired by the Irish monastic tradition something more recognisable to us between an individual priest and penitent privately became the norm but the same fundamental structure remains. It comprises two equally essential elements: on the one hand, the acts of the penitent who undergoes conversion through the action of the Holy Spirit: namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction; on the other, God’s action through the intervention of the Church and Her minister who forgives sins in the name of Jesus Christ and determines the manner of satisfaction. The Church also prays for sinners and does penance alongside them.
The formula of absolution expresses the essential elements of the sacrament: the Father is the source of all forgiveness, reconciliation is brought about by the Paschal Mystery of His Son and the gift of His Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church:
God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the 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.
The penitent must undertake a series of actions in order to celebrate the sacrament properly:
1)A careful examination of conscience in order to bring to mind any sins one should confess. All serious or mortal sins not already confessed must be disclosed before one can receive Holy Communion. If we strive to confess all the sins that we can remember, then undoubtedly all of them, even those we have forgotten are held up for pardon but if we knowingly withhold some, which is in any event pointless since God knows all our faults, then our conversion is incomplete and ineffective “for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.” (St. Jerome)
The following might help you in examining your own conscience:
Guide to Sacrament of Reconciliation
Examination For Married Couples
Examination For Religious And Priests
Examination For Teenagers And Young Adults
2) Contrition (or repentance), which is perfect when it is motivated by love of God and imperfect, but sufficient, if it rests on other motives including fear of punishment. This sorrow for our past sin must include a determination not to sin again, also called a purpose of amendment, even if subsequently we do in fact fall into the same sins.
3) Confession, which consists in the telling of one’s sins to the priest. Through this we look squarely at the sins we are guilty of and take responsibility for them, opening ourselves again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible. Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance.All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted. Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church, the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as He is merciful. The priest is bound to absolute secrecy regarding anything he hears in Sacramental Confession and many priests have been martyred rather than break this seal.
4) Satisfaction Many sins wrong our neighbour. We must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation for injuries). Simple justice requires as much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner as well as our relationships with God and neighbour, by doing something to make amends for the sin we seek to repair this damage. This satisfaction, sometimes called a penance, imposed by the priests must take into account the penitent’s personal situation and their spiritual good. It must correspond as far as possible with the gravity and nature of the sins committed. It can consist of prayer, an offering, works of mercy, service of neighbour, voluntary self-denial, sacrifices, and above all the patient acceptance of the cross we must bear. Such penances help configure us to Christ, who alone expiated our sins once for all.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available upon request at any reasonably time, including to those who are housebound. It is also available each week at St. Cuthbert’s from 5.30pm-6.15pm before the Saturday Vigil Mass and on Sunday, during Adoration, from 4-5pm.
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