Sacrament of Forgiveness

Sacrament of Forgiveness has 3 names:

Reconciliation Penance Confession

Instituted by Christ after the resurrection Jesus breathed on the disciples and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:23).

There are three major periods in the history of Sacrament of Forgiveness

Early Christian from the Apostolic times till the 6th-7th century Tariff Penance from the 7th century till the 12th-13th century Individual confessions from the 12th century onwards.

Early Church to the time of Constantine (30 A.D.313 A.D.)

Considered a public affair Because sin is social; repentance should be social and public. Referred to as second Baptism Only for mortal sins Can only be done once in a lifetime (not repeatable)

A penitent at the time is:

Not allowed to return to Christian life unless he/she went through strict course of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving which can last years before forgiven. Excluded from communion and normal Christian life Divided into a separate part of the church during worship Some came to mass wearing sackcloth and ashes in a process known as exomologesis that often involved some form of general confession.

Celtic Period (Europe)

Confession was made privately to a priest, under the seal of secrecy Penance was given privately and ordinarily performed privately as well Handbooks were made, called penitentials, designed as a guide for confessors and as a means of regularising the penance given for each particular sin.

Fourth Lateran Council (1215)

Was introduced to Catholicism by Pope Innocent II Enjoined this method of confession and made it mandatory for Catholics to do at least once a year. The councils of Florence (1431-1439) and Trent (1545-1463) more precisely defined the nature of Reconciliation

Second Vatican Council

The emphasis of the Sacrament was expanded with which emphasized reconciliation and amendment of life Allowed the option of public services of penance Has an option of public services of penance but must always include private confession The basic theology behind the Sacrament has remained the same, namely reconciliation with God.

Sacrament of forgiveness
The priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace

Sacrament of reconciliation
It imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God. "He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call. "Go first be reconciled to your brother.

Sacrament of penance
Consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction

Sacrament of confession
Disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament "Confession" -acknowledgment and praise of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.

Interior penance
A conversion to God with all of our heart. The turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. The desire to change ones life, with hope in Gods mercy and trust in the help of his grace. (CCC-1431)
animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) Compunctio cordis (repentance of heart) (CCC-1431)

The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year.
Lent, and each Friday in the memory of the death of the Lord- are intense moments of the churchs penitential practice. (CCC- 1438) The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son. (CCC-1439) Anyone who returns to GOD and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only heart of Christ who knows the depth of his fathers love reveal to us the abyss of mercy in so simple and beautiful a way. (CCC-1439)

Sin
is an offence against God, rupture of communion with Him. At the same time damages communion with the Church. (CCC- 1440)

Loss of the sense of sin is really loss of the realistic awareness of the actual damage and evil caused by sin. (CFC- 1798) Only God forgives sins. (CCC- 1441) Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of His blood. (CCC-1442) Jesus receives sinners at His table, a gesture expresses in an astonishing way both Gods forgiveness and return to the bosom of people of God. (CCC- 1443) Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God. (CCC-1445)

Notion of Sin
The biblical notion of conversion developed together with the understanding of sin. (CFC-1798)
1. Christian sense of sin. - opposite of a guilt complex. - its source point of reference is God, not ourselves. (CFC 1799) 2. Talking about sin. - can be sinful when we fail utterly to grasp its true evil in our very selves, standing before God and the community, and thus lack all repentance, purpose of amendment, and any desire to share the Good news of conversion in Christ. (CFC- 1800)

Dimension of Sin
1. Reality As a moral reality is an attitude, an action or failure to act, or power or force that leads us into evil. Real sin hurt us and our loved ones. It is not a momentary act that happened unnoticed. 2. Structure

*Personal sin
Is never just private, with no effect on anyone else. Is neither overcome in private.

*Social sin
Refers to negative moral attitudes and acts that are common to a community. Its remedy is to change what is negative into what is positive.

*Structural sin
Refers to existing structures that condition society in a harmful and unjust way. Need to be reformed by a long tedious process of Concerned social moral effort. (CFC-1804)

3. Degree

Mortal sin
When its nature, intension and circumstances involve grave matter, sufficient knowledge, and full consent of the will. (CFC1805) Leads to death, loss of true eternal life, exclude from the Kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10, Gal 5:19-21: Eph 5:5). (CFC1806)

Venial sin
(venia - pardon or forgiveness) Do not involve the persons fundamental freedom nor lead to spiritual death. Pardonable All wrong doing is sin, but not all sin is deadly (1 Jn 5:17) (CFC1807)

Pope John Paul II recognized that the Sacrament of Penance is in crisis.

Why?
Loss of sense of sin and personal guilt Confusion of what is right and wrong Deep dissatisfaction with impersonal confessions (CFC- 1766)

Function/Purpose of the Sacrament

According to Vatican II: Obtain forgiveness and absolution from Gods mercy Reconciled with the church

It Stresses 3 basic realities in confession: 1. God grants forgiveness and reconciles people to himself in the context of his word in Scripture 2. the CHURCH as continuing Christs ministry of forgiveness 3. continued personal conversion and heartfelt repentance for sins against God

Importance of the Sacrament

Reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace Reconciliation with the church Remission of the external punishment incurred by mortal sins Remission of temporal punishments Peace and serenity of conscience;spiritual consolation increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle

In Confession our sins in this sacrament, we give witness to two important things:
A. We proclaim our Catholic Faith and our Faith convictions that : We are sinners We need Gods mercy Gods mercy comes to us through be sincerely sorry for our sins anJesus Christ (primary sign of Gods mercy and forgiveness) The Church (the fundamental sacrament of Jesus) The Priest (representative of both Christ and the Church) God calls us to make amends for the wrong doing we have done. B. We regard confession as an action of the Christian community or the Church

Biblical Foundations for Reconciliation

Jesus' mission Mk 2.16-17 "1 have come to call sinners. . . Lk 7.47-50 Mary Magdalen Lk 19.7-10 Zacchcus Christ's continued ministry in the Church Jn 16.1-8 Coming to the Paraclete Mt 16.13-19 Keys of the Kingdom Jn 20.19-23 Commissioning the Church Acts 9.1-5 Saul's conversion Early Church ministry to post-baptismal sin Mt 18.15-18 Fraternal connection/Church authority 2 Thes. 2.6, 14-15 Excommunication I Tim 1.19-20 Ostracization Reconciliation before Holy Communion Mk 11.25 "When you pray, forgive. . . Mk 5.23-24 "If you bring your gift.. .

There are three Rites of Reconciliation

The first Rite of Reconciliation is for individual penitents The person can choose to go to confession either anonymously behind a screen or face-to-face in a room designed for that purpose.
The four parts of the rite are same for all three: (1) Introductory Rite; (2) Liturgy of the Word, (3) Sacramental Celebration, and (4) Proclamation of Praise and Dismissal

The second Rite of Reconciliation is for Several Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution.
To bring out even more clearly that penance is not merely the action of one individual seeking personal forgiveness the Church has drawn up a second Rite of Reconciliation that involves communal penance. This rite follows the same order as the Rite of Individual Confession. except that most of the ceremony is performed together with others. Only the actual confession and absolution of each penitent is individual.

The third Rite of Reconciliation involves general confession and absolution.

It does not replace individual confession but maybe used in cases involving danger of death or in places where confessions would be overheard. It may also be used if there are large numbers of penitents and an insufficient number of confessors or if people would otherwise be deprived of reconciliation or reception of the Eucharist for a long time. The common absolution does not relieve the penitent of the obligation to observe the precept of the Church that requires individual confession to a priest of all grave sins at least once a year.

Doctrine
DS 1323
The material, as we may say, consists in the acts of penitence, which are divided into three parts. The first of these is contrition of the heart, wherein the sinner must grieve for the sins he has committed, with the resolve to commit no further sins. Second comes confession with the mouth, to which it pertains that the sinner should make confession to his priest of all the sins he holds in his memory. The third is satisfaction for sins according to the judgment of the priest, and this is made chiefly by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The form of this sacrament consists in the words of absolution which the priest speaks when be says, "I absolve thee," etc. ; and the minister of this sacrament is the priest, who has authority to absolve either regularly or by the commission of a superior. The benefit of this sacrament is absolution from sins.

Practice in the Philippines

Superstitious beliefs
You should not have injury or wound. You should not be noisy You should not take a bath after 3pm You should not eat meat You should start praying at 6pm

Thank You!