Lesson Eighteen - The Sacrament of Penance, Contrition and Confession

Text by Pat Austin, St. Patrick's Cathedral RCIA Instructor.

Sacrament of Penance -- Penance is a Sacrament in which the priest, as the agent of God, forgives sins committed after baptism, when the sinner is heartily sorry for them, sincerely confesses them, and is willing to make satisfaction for them.

Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Penance Easter Sunday evening when Jesus appeared to the Apostles -- Jn. 20:19-23 ... Peace be with you.

Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to His Apostles not for just that time in history but for all time -- until the end of the world. Jesus didn't come just to save the people on Earth at His time, He came to save all souls.

This power is passed on to priests through the Sacrament of Holy Orders. A priest never loses this power, even if he is not a good priest. A priest can never reveal a person's confession -- not even a hint or a clue. A priest must give his life if necessary to maintain this secrecy. This secrecy is called the "seal of confession." Also, the priest needs "jurisdiction" to hear confessions. Just as a civil judge cannot sit on the bench in another state without an appointment, neither can the priest spiritually judge without the permission of the bishop of the diocese.

Sacrament of Penance:

• Forgives sins -- wipes away sin, both mortal and venial forever.

  There are two parts to every sin:

  • The Action -- the sin itself - God forgives the action (sin).
  • The Result/Effect of the sin - we must take care of the result/effect ourselves. This is what makes us less than what God knows we can be. We are personally responsible so therefore we have to repair the damage we have caused in our relationship with God, self or neighbor. On Earth we repair this damage by saying or doing the penance assigned by the priest in the confessional: prayer, self-denial or good works. If we do not repair all of this damage here on Earth, we will repair it in purgatory, provided we deserve Heaven.
• Restores Sanctifying Grace to the soul that had lost Sanctifying Grace through Mortal sin.
• Increases Sanctifying Grace to the soul that has only venial sin and has not lost Sanctifying Grace.
• Wipes away eternal punishment due to mortal sin.
• Takes away at least part of temporal punishment due to mortal or venial sin
• Restores all meritorious works lost through mortal sin. Every good work that a person performs in the state of grace and does it out of love of God is a meritorious work. A meritorious work entitles us to an increase in grace in this life, and an increase in the glory of Heaven.
• Gives a "sacramental grace" to help us to conquer temptation. Sacramental grace fortifies against a relapse into sin. It strengthens us. Sacramental grace is only received through the sacraments.

Sin and punishment go together -- the justice of God demands this. Good and evil cannot have the same reward. Every sin has punishment -- either eternal or temporal (for a time).

• ETERNAL - is the loss of a soul into Hell for all eternity. This loss is the result of dying with unforgiven mortal sin. Why? The soul does not have God's life in it.
• Temporal - Does not cause the loss of a soul for all eternity but it detours the direct route into Heaven. Why? Sin has caused me to damage my spiritual relationship with God and the Mystical Body of Christ. I'm less than what I could be. I am not whole, complete, perfect because of the effects/results of my sins. This damage or debt is referred to as temporal punishment. Forgiven mortal sin and forgiven/unforgiven venial sin have temporal punishment.

The Sacrament of Penance removes eternal punishment and reduced temporal punishment (debt, damage). How much? Only God makes that judgement but the person's intention, sincerity, contrition effects the lessening of the debt.

How much Temporal punishment for each sin? Only God knows but it certainly would depend on the sin.

All this through the Sacrament of Penance is possible because of the infinite merits gained for all by Jesus' Death and Resurrection. Through the Sacrament of Penance God shares with us the infinite merits of His Son.

Five requirements for the worthy reception of the Sacrament of Penance:

1. You must examine your conscience -- This is done before you enter the confessional. Say a prayer (your own) asking God to help you take your time -- this is a sacrament. As guides to help you, use the 10 commandments, Laws of the Church spiritual (page 166) and corporal (164) works of mercy duties of your state in life.
2. You must have true, sincere contrition for all of your sins. What is contrition? The council of Trent (1500's) gives this definition for contrition -- "A sorrow of heart and hatred for sin committed, with the resolve to sin no more." Sorrow for sin is absolutely necessary for a good confession. God cannot forgive any sin without sincere contrition. There are two kinds of contrition, both sufficient for the forgiveness of sin. The difference between the kinds of contrition is the motive behind the contrition, why you are sorry.
   • Perfect contrition -- we are sorry because we have offended God. This contrition will take care of the forgiveness of mortal sin as long as we have the intention to confess the sin as soon as possible. However, one cannot receive the Eucharist until one has been to confession.
   • Imperfect contrition -- we are sorry because we fear Hell or because sin is evil and you hate it for itself.

   Four essential qualities necessary for true contrition:

   1. Our sorrow must be interior -- mean what we say - sorrow is an act of the will, not an upsurge of emotion. You don't have to have tears or external emotion.
   2. Our sorrow must be supernatural - must spring from supernatural motives. Our "reason why" must stem from God/Truths. Our sorrow must rise above natural sorrow.
   3. Our sorrow must be supreme - must see that sin is greatest moral evil and we are determined with the help of God's grace, not to sin again no matter what.
   4. Our sorrow must be universal. We must be sorry for all our sins, especially all of our mortal sins.

3. You must have a firm purpose of not sinning again. You must have a firm and honest resolve to avoid sin in the future and to avoid, as far as possible, the near occasions of sin (any circumstance which might lead us into sin). It is the present moment and the present intention that counts in the confessional.
   
   Without sorrow, there is no forgiveness of sins; without a firm purpose of amendment, there is no true sorrow.
   
4. You must confess your sins to a priest. Why? Requiring the penitent to confess their sins:
   1. Keeps a person from deceiving themselves. To make a good confession, we have to face the facts/sins about ourselves.
   2. It allows the person to obtain spiritual advice so we can grow in holiness.
   3. It gives the person psychological help - interior peace/comfort knowing that your sins are forgiven.

   Sometimes people say "I tell God my sins. I don't have to confess to a man." The question is not how we want our sins forgiven but how does God want it done. God, through His only Son, Jesus, made it known and clear on Easter Sunday night how we are to confess our sins. Jesus appeared to the Apostles and priests in the Upper Room saying, "Whose sin you forgive, they are forgiven; whose sins you retain, they are retained." These words spoken by Jesus do not make sense unless they presuppose the confessing of sin to the Apostles and their successors, the bishops and priests. How would the Apostles and priests know what sins to forgive unless the sinner told their sins. In the early Church it was very obvious that the penitent told their sins because forgiveness was given only after the confession of their sins. Remember, not all directives/word of Jesus were written down. St. Jn. (Jn 21:25) tells us this. In fact, of the three years of Jesus' teaching and preaching, very little is written down. Therefore it makes sense that the Apostles on Easter Sunday evening (other occasions also) asked/listened/talked further to what Jesus meant. All that was spoken on Easter night is not just "Whose sins ...." It doesn't make sense to think that these few words were all that was spoken by Jesus at that time.

   Another untrue statement - "priests invented confession to keep the people in line." If that is true, the priests weren't very smart because priests have to go to confession as well as anyone else, including the Pope.

   Sins that must be confessed:

   • All post baptismal mortal sins. If already confessed, no need to confess again. If you sincerely forget a mortal sin in confession, then confess this sin in your next confession. Sin is indirectly forgiven because of your sorrow for all of your sin (universal). God does not hold us accountable for a "bad" memory. A bad confession is deliberate.
   • If you have no mortal sin/s, then you have to confess at least one venial sin or the Sacrament/Penance cannot be received. The Sacrament was instituted to forgive sin/s. We really should confess all of our venial sin/s. Isn't our objective to be "perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." You can't work toward this Holiness unless you dig out your sins, no matter how small.
   • If you have no deliberate venial sins, then confess a sin already forgiven in a previous confession. A past sin plus your present sorrow allows you to receive absolution and graces of the Sacrament.

   When in the confessional speak in a whisper. If you should hear another's confession, you may never reveal it. That would be a very serious sin. If you have a hearing problem, arrangements can be made for you so you can go to confession without having others hear it.

5. You must willingly perform the penance that the priest gives you. The penance assigned by the priest in the confessional has special effect in paying the debt of our temporal punishment because penance is part of the Sacrament. To deliberately neglect to say your penance would be a sin; if imposed for a mortal sin, it would be a mortal sin; if imposed for a venial sin, it would be a venial sin. True, you can do other acts to satisfy toward your temporal punishment - prayer, self-denial, good works, alms giving etc. but they do not take the place of the assigned penance. These extras add to the assigned penance. If you forget to say/do your penance the temporal punishment the penance was intended to absolve remains.
   
   The only reason that any penance alleviates temporal punishment is because Jesus already atoned (made-up for) all of mans' sins. Reference: page 387.

How to go to Confession:

1. Examine your conscience.
2. Say your Act of Contrition before entering the confessional. Reference: Catechism page 294, small yellow Catechism, page 66.
3. Have sincere sorrow and a firm purpose of amendment.
4. Enter the confessional - choose face to face (sit) or behind the screen (kneel).
5. Confess your sin/s. Begin by saying: "Bless me Father, I have sinned." It is my first confession or it has been six years, a month etc. These are my sins _______________ For these and all the sins of my past life, especially my sin of (mention a past sin), I am sorry. Reference: Catechism page 189.
6. Priest will talk to you.
7. Priest will assign you to your penance.
8. Priest will give you absolution.
9. When he is finished, you respond, "Thank you Father" or something similar.

General Absolution is given only on special occasions, it is not the norm.

Assignment: Text: Chapters 26, 27 and 28; Catechism: Sections 23, 24 and 25