In the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Pænitencia published in 1984, Pope Saint John Paul II proposed that in our time, “to speak of reconciliation and penance is an invitation to rediscover the meaning of Jesus’ very words as he began his preaching: Repent and Believe in the Gospel”. And so during this season of Lent it is timely to do penance and work for reconciliation and most importantly to receive the Sacrament itself as our concrete response to the Lenten call “Repent and Believe in the Gospel.
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Sacrament is called the sacrament of conversion because through it we respond to Jesus’ call for conversion which is the first step in returning to the Father from whom we have strayed by sin. It is called the sacrament of confession because the disclosure of our sins to a priest is an essential element. It is called the sacrament of forgiveness because by the priest’s absolution, God grants us pardon and peace. It is called the sacrament of Penance because by our satisfaction of the imposed penance through prayer and good works, we make reparation or atonement for our sins. It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation because it heals the wound of division and restores us to God and to the Church. Formally however, as one of the Seven Sacraments of the Church, it is called the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Christ instituted this sacrament for “those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion”. And the Code of Canon Law explicitly states that “individual and integral confession and absolution constitute the only ordinary means by which a member of the faithful conscious of grave sin is reconciled with God and the Church. Only physical or moral impossibility excuses from confession of this type; in such a case reconciliation can be obtained by other means”.
For the Sacrament to be valid and truly efficacious, there are two essential elements that must be present: Matter and Form. The Matter is the confession of sins where the penitent after diligent examination of conscience, discloses all the grave sins committed after baptism or previous good confession; the Form is the Absolution given by the Minister of the Sacrament, a priest or bishop but never a deacon.
Pope Francis suggests why many contemporary Catholics find it difficult to go to confession: laziness, embarassment, loss of the sense of sin and making oneself the measure of right and wrong. Some would resort to “short cuts”. But as the Catechism reminds us “if a sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know”.
Pope Francis makes a warm and lively appeal to all of us to receive the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. He tells us: “Be courageous and go to Confession.”
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