03-13-2022 - THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE OR CONFESSION

 03-13-2022

03-13-2022 - THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE OR CONFESSION

“If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.”

1^st Letter of Saint John – Chapter 1, Verse 9

 

God calls each of us to receive new life in Him, the life of sanctifying grace.

We receive this life of grace for the first time in the sacred waters of Baptism that removes original sin and makes us temples of the Holy Spirit

And what about sins committed after Baptism?

How do we clean ourselves again?

This is done thanks to the wonderful sacrament of CONFESSION, which we also call PENANCE or RECONCILIATION.

This sacrament is the gift of God's love and mercy to his people.

Jesus appeared to his apostles on the night of the Resurrection Day and gave them the priestly power to celebrate this sacrament.

We are going to read what Saint John, who witnessed this event, tells us:

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20: 19-23)

 

With these words Jesus gave the apostles the power to forgive sins, something that only GOD can do!

How can this be?

Because Our Lord shared with them his mission as Savior.

They had to go through the world forgiving sins just as He had done.

Just as he had shared with the apostles his authority to teach and, at the Last Supper, the power to transform bread and wine into his Body and Blood, so at that time he gave them the power to forgive sins.

 

TO UNDERSTAND THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE

We can better understand this sacrament if we examine the words that Jesus used when he gave it to the Church.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” 

Gospel of Saint John - Chapter 20, Verses 21-23

 

THE SIGN AND EFFECTS OF PENANCE

Like all sacraments, Penance has its own sign or matter.

The signs or matters of Penance are

-       CONFESSION OF SINS (the act of telling the sins to the priest)

-       the WORDS OF ABSOLUTION or FORGIVENESS that the priest says as he makes the Sign of the Cross over us.

 

The sign or matter tells us what effects that sacrament has on our souls.

The sign of our private confession: it shows that we are going to be freed from the sins that we have confessed.

The sign of absolution indicates that we have truly freed ourselves from confessed sins.

The sign of the cross that the priest makes reminds us that sins can only be forgiven because Christ died for them on the Cross.

If we have prepared ourselves well for this sacrament, God works wonders for us.

He takes away from us the sins we have committed and restores to our souls the life of grace, which we had lost through mortal sin. If we have only venial sins to confess, God increases sanctifying grace in us and strengthens our friendship with Him. That is why it is beneficial to confess even when we have no mortal sin.

When Christ forgives our sins through absolution, some of the deserved temporal punishments for our sins are paid. Temporal punishment is the necessary purification that we must undergo in order to be freed from disordered attachments that remain even after our sins are forgiven.

Through the sacrament of Penance part of the temporal punishment is satisfied. What remains of the punishment can be completed either on earth with the acceptance of suffering and penance, or in purgatory.

Finally, in the sacrament of Penance, God offers us the graces we need to do good and avoid evil in the future.

  

 

THE RITE OF PENANCE

HOW TO MAKE A GOOD CONFESSION

To make a good confession you need to do these five steps:

5 STEPS FOR A GOOD CONFESSION

1 - Examination of conscience

2 - Sorrow for your sins

3 - Purpose of amendment (we promise not to sin again).

4 - Confess your sins to the priest

5 - Receive absolution and fulfill the penance that the priest gives you.

 

THE ACT OF CONTRITION

MY GOD, I AM SORRY FOR MY SINS WITH ALL MY HEART.

IN CHOOSING TO DO WRONG AND FAILING TO DO GOOD, I HAVE SINNED AGAINST YOU WHOM I SHOULD LOVE ABOVE ALL THINGS.

I FIRMLY INTEND, WITH YOUR HELP, TO DO PENANCE, TO SIN NO MORE, AND TO AVOID WHATEVER LEADS ME TO SIN.

OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED AND DIED FOR US. IN HIS NAME, MY GOD, HAVE MERCY.