The Reconciliation of Penitents
Part Two:  Story Telling

Chapter 6 Our Response to the Word of God

Historical Survey

Jesus appeared in Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: Time is fulfilled. The reign of God is at hand! Do penance and believe the good news. The Gospel according to Mark (1:14-15) places these words at the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus as a summary of his preaching. The Gospel, the preaching of the good news that the kingdom is at hand, calls us to repent, to do penance, to convert, to change our lives.

The sacrament of penance is a liturgical (symbolic and ritualized) expression and celebration of that continual conversion. After we hear the proclamation of the kingdom and are touched by the presence of God's word, we respond to God's invitation to penance. The elements of our response to the word of God are: the examination of conscience, contrition and its expression, confession, and satisfaction.

During the historical periods of the tariff penance and the modern system of confession, the proclamation of Scripture was not an essential element of the rite. It is only with the new Rite of Penance and the restoration of the liturgy of the word as an integral part of the sacramental rites that this inner dynamic of the sacrament is apparent.

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Documentation

Rite of Penance

5. Since every sin is an offense against God which disrupts our friendship with him, "the ultimate purpose of penance is that we should love God deeply and commit ourselves completely to him." Therefore, the sinner who by the grace of a merciful God embraces the way of penance comes back to the Father who "first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19), to Christ who gave himself up for us, and to the Holy Spirit who has been poured out on us abundantly.

"The hidden and gracious mystery of God unites us all through a supernatural bond: on this basis one person's sin harms the rest even as one person's goodness enriches them." Penance always therefore entails reconciliation with our brothers and sisters who remain harmed by our sins.

In fact, people frequently join together to commit injustice. But it is also true that they help each other in doing penance; freed from sin by the grace of Christ, they become, with all persons of good will, agents of justice and peace in the world.

22. When a number of penitents assemble at the same time to receive sacramental reconciliation, it is fitting that they be prepared for the sacrament by a celebration of the word of God.

Those who will receive the sacrament at another time may also take part in the service.

Communal celebration shows more clearly the ecclesial nature of penance. The faithful listen together to the word of God, which as it proclaims his mercy invites them to conversion; at the same time they examine the conformity of their lives with that word of God and help each other through common prayer.

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Pastoral Reflection

One of the most radical reforms of the Second Vatican Council was the return of the sacrament of penance to its biblical, liturgical, and community context.

Many Catholics who are reading this book recall the reign of Pope Pius XII (1939-1958) as the heyday of confession. There were long lines of people waiting to enter the confessional each Saturday afternoon. As one parishioner explained to me recently, "We went every two weeks whether we needed it or not." Yet in those days frequent confession was generally regarded as an ascetical practice, a way to attack sins one by one and remove them. It was a time for spiritual direction from the priest and sometimes even something akin to psychological counseling. While penance was listed among the seven sacraments, it was more often thought of as a devotional exercise rather than a public act of liturgical worship. In his encyclical on the liturgy, Mediator Dei, November 20, 1947, Pius XII speaks of frequent confession in part four of the document which is entitled "Other Devotions Not Strictly Liturgical Warmly Recommended".

The new rite is not an ascetical or psychological exercise with a view to the correction of faults. It is centered on the proclamation of the paschal victory of Jesus Christ; its goal is the worship of God by the ongoing perfecting of the grace of our baptism. It is not an exercise to correct our faults or sins but is directed to the eradication of the state of sin. It is not directed to a particular sin but to sinfulness itself.

The Constitution on the Liturgy tell us that in the liturgy we express in our lives and manifest to others the mystery of Christ and the real nature of the true Church. The sacrament of reconciliation is our ritual proclamation that we are a redeemed and repentant Church. As we come together to celebrate this sacrament we say to ourselves, to those gathering with us, and to the whole community that we wish to be open to the progressive work of the Spirit transforming us into that image of Christ proclaimed in the Gospel. It is the collective expression of our willingness to express that conversion in ever greater service to our brothers and sisters.

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Suggested Questions for Discussion

1. What is the difference between liturgical prayer and private devotion?

2. Do you think most Catholics think of the sacrament of penance as a parish action or as an individual action?

3. Can a devotion be collective and personal at the same time or are personal devotions necessarily individual actions?

4. "One person's sin harms the rest even as one person's goodness enriches them." How do you understand this statement?

5. "Communal celebration shows more clearly the ecclesial nature of penance." In what way does the "Rite for Reconciliation of Individual Penitents" show the ecclesial nature of the sacrament?

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© Copyright: Tom Richstatter, Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, Cincinnati Ohio, Order of Friars Minor. All Rights Reserved.  This page was created by Fr. Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M.  Every effort has been, and is being made, to acknowledge sources when the ideas are not my own.  Any failure to comply with the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) will be corrected immediately should I become aware of it.  This site was updated on 10/07/08 .  Your comments on this site are welcome at tomrichs@psci.net.