HOME             SHEPHERD'S VOICE              BISHOP'S PROGRAMME           SILVER BELLS               OUR SHEPHERD

SHEPHERD'S VOICE

                                       Penance and Reconciliation

          At the Lenten Days come to an end, and the Holy Week approaches, the thoughts of every Christian turn towards the sacrament of reconciliation and penance. It is therefore appropriate to recall the principal aspects of this great Sacrament. The books of the old and New Testament provide us with the first and fundamental fact concerning the Lord’s mercy and forgiveness. The New Testament clearly tells us that in the fullness of time, the Son of God, coming as the Lambw-ho takes away and bears upon himself the sin of the world appears as the one who has the power both to judge and to forgive sins, and who has come not to condemn but to forgive and save. Now the power to “forgive sins” Jesus confers, through the Holy Spirit, upon ordinary men, themselves subject to the snare of sin, namely, his apostles: “Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” (Jn 20; 22 Mt. 18 : 18). Jesus, who has the power to forgive sins passes on this power to the apostles and to their successors namely to the confessors.

     1.The Sacrament of penance (Confession) forgives sins: 

For a Christian the Sacrament of penance is the ordinary way of obtaining forgiveness and the remission of serious  sins committed after baptism. This sacrament is linked with a healing of a medical character. And this is linked to the fact that the Gospel frequently presents Christ as healer, while his redemptive work is often called frequently presents Christ as healer, while his redemptive work is often called” medicine of salvation”. St. Augustine said, “I wish to heal, not accuse.”

2. It cleanses our conscience and attitudes

An indispensable condition of this sacrament that cleanses the penitents conscience. Christians can not come to true and genuine repentance until they realize that sin is contrary to the ethical norm written in their being, until they admit that they have had a personal and responsible experience, namely “sin exists” but also “I had sinned”.

        3. Contrition

          In third essential act of penance, on the part of penitent, is contrition a clear and decisive rejection of sin committed, together with a resolution not to commit it again. Understood in this way contrition a clear and decisive rejection of sin committed, together with a resolution not to commit it again. Understood in this way contrition is the beginning and the heart of conversion - Prodigal Son returning to the Father. Contrition and conversion, in fact, draw Christians to the holiness of God, which is their identity in the world.

  4. Actual confession

The fourth requirement is to approach the confessor and personally confess the sins that are committed. This is required because the state of the sinner is to be judged by another person in the person of Christ and that is the confessor. He has to evaluate both the seriousness of the sins and the repentance of the penitent. He also exercises the role of healer, and must acquaint himself with the condition of the sick person inorder to treat and heal him.

5. Reconciliation

Finally, it must be emphasized that the most precious result of the forgiveness obtained in the sacrament of penance consists in reconciliation with God, which takes place in the inmost heart of the son who was lost and found again, which every penitent is. But it has to be added that reconciliation, with God, leads to other reconciliations, namely his brethren whom he had attacked and wounded. He is reconciled with the church. He is reconciled with all creation.

           In my earlier article, in the beginning of Lent, I had said that Lent is a Journey. This journey ends with a good confession during the Holy Week and makes us shares of the life of the Risen Lord which is the Ester, which is symbolised with the Easter Egg.