The sacrament of
Reconciliation draws perhaps the widest scope of differing opinions out of the
seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The way I see it, there are typically
two polarized views taken:
Reconciliation
Definition One: one of the most intimidating,
uncomfortable elements of the
Catholic Church. It’s hard enough to admit our sins to ourselves, and harder
still to confess them to someone else.
Reconciliation
Definition Two: a healing, peaceful encounter with God, necessary to
living a full Christian life.
Both are real. Both are
reasonable. But this week, I’ve been thinking about why Reconciliation
Definition Two renders Reconciliation Definition One devoid of mattering.
On the hike out of
Kalaupapa on the Hawaii Pilgrimage over spring break last week (see my post on our trip),
I experienced a particularly profound moment of grace. In reflecting upon it, I
journaled that one of the most rewarding elements of our trip was “taking my
sinful self down the cliffs into Kalaupapa, receiving Reconciliation after
5:45am Mass, and hiking back out [from Kalaupapa] with a still-heavy backpack
but a light burden and heart.” This
is because no matter how terrifying it was to sit down with the priest to
confess my deepest regrets and most painful mistakes to another human, I was really confiding in my Creator,
who desires a relationship with me untarnished by sin.
As Christians, we believe
– basically – in a loving God who forgives our sins when we repent for them. So
why go to Reconciliation? A sacrament is an external sign instituted by
Christ to give grace. Let’s break it down in the context of Reconciliation to
unpack this important question.
Reconciliation is…
An external sign: The sacrament of
Reconciliation does not consist of simply
praying to God and asking for forgiveness in a solitary
setting. It involves
something outside of the self, something witnessed by the
Church. See this page
for the format of the sacrament.
The
fact that Reconciliation is an external sign is significant because it provides healing both for this world and for
eternal life. In Matthew 9, Jesus heals a paralytic, saying “Take heart,
son; your sins are forgiven.” The scribes standing by accuse him of
blaspheming, so Jesus then asks, “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are
forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk?’.” The physical healing leads to a spiritual
healing, whereby humanity can come to believe in Jesus’ power to forgive sins. This
ministry of healing has not stopped, but has been carried down in the form of
Reconciliation.
Instituted
by Christ: In Matthew 16,
Jesus breathes on his disciples,
extending the power to forgive sins to Peter and then to
all of his apostles. This
power to forgive sins has been passed down from Christ to
the priests with whom
we
participate in the sacrament of Reconciliation today.
The priests’ role in the sacrament is twofold: they
represent Christ (they operate
in
persona Christi, or “in the person
of Christ”), and they represent the wider
Church. When we sin, we commit that sin not only against
God but also against
our neighbors. Individual sins weaken us as a body of
believers, because it’s
harder
for us to be our best selves in community with others when we are
dwelling
in a sin-saturated state. Think
about a friendship – if you’ve done
something to hurt a friend, talking about it with them,
repenting and saying “I’m
sorry,” and then coming up with a plan of action will
always lead to a degree of
healing in the relationship. So by confessing our sins to
a priest in Reconciliation
– both in persona Christi and representing our community
– we rebuild right
relationships
with ourselves, with others, and with God…all in one event. Now
that
sounds like a worthwhile activity.
To
give grace: God constantly
pours his grace out to us, wooing us into perfect
relationship with Him. His love is a love that is
incomprehensible to the human
mind, but in receiving Reconciliation we humble our
hearts before our God and
before our community to admit that we are imperfect
beings in need of
forgiveness. In doing so we acknowledge God’s grace,
which has already been
there, but which we have not put a priority on receiving
in our state of sin. The
forgiveness experienced in Reconciliation when the priest
says, “Through the
ministry of the Church I absolve you from your sins”
allows us to see and accept
God’s grace in a renewed way.
God’s grace in a renewed way.
In high school, my parish
pastor told me that Reconciliation is important to us humans because hearing the words of forgiveness that are spoken is extremely important.
God forgives unceasingly, so the Sacrament of Reconciliation isn’t necessary to
attain His forgiveness, but it is
necessary to restore right relationship between us and Him and between us and
our neighbors.
Lent is a wonderful time
to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation, whether it has been forty days or
forty years since we last confessed our sins. There are lots of opportunities
to do so on campus – see the Basilica schedule here – or you can ask a priest to meet with you privately. Let’s
prepare for Christ’s arrival as a community by accepting the forgiveness
offered in the gift of the sacrament that Christ instituted in our world.
No comments:
Post a Comment