The Reconciliation of Penitents
Part Three:  Reconciling

Chapter 16 Praise and Thanksgiving for God's Mercy

Historical Survey

"I tell you, there will likewise be more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent. What woman, if she has ten silver pieces and loses one, does not light a lamp and sweep the house in a diligent search until she has retrieved what she lost? And when she finds it, she calls in her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me! I have found the silver piece I lost.’ I tell you, there will be the same kind of joy before the angels of God over one repentant sinner" (Lk 15:7-10).

In the system of canonical penance, this praise of God and joy in the community at the reconciliation of the sinner was expressed in the eucharistic banquet. After the pastor/bishop imposed hands on the one to be reconciled and embraced the penitent back into the order of the faithful, bread and wine were brought forward for the eucharist: the joyful community celebration of reconciliation and communion. The joy felt in heaven when a sinner repents was expressed in the rites of the community on earth.

One of the deficiencies of the tariff system of penance was that it lacked this expression of joy and celebration of forgiveness. The sinner went to the holy one who assigned the penance given in the penitential book, and then went away and did the penance. This continued to be the case as the tariff system evolved into the modern system of confession. Following the absolution, there was no ritual celebration of God’s forgiveness. The penitent left the confessional, usually knelt for a little while in church to say the penance, and then went home.

The new Rite of Penance restores to the sacrament this element of ritual, communal celebration of God’s mercy and love. After confessing and being absolved individually, all join together in praise for God’s wonderful deeds.

This joy is expressed by the whole community because just as one person’s sin harms the rest, so one person’s goodness and repentance enriches the whole community. Reconciliation with God is at the same time reconciliation with the Church. This reconciliation is directed toward the eucharist, the ultimate sign of our reconciliation and communion.

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Documentation

Rite of Penance

2. In the sacrifice of the Mass the passion of Christ is again made present; his body given for us and his blood shed for the forgiveness of sins are offered to God again by the Church for the salvation of the world. For in the eucharist Christ is present and is offered as "the sacrifice which has made our peace" (Eucharistic Prayer III) with God and in order that "we may be brought together in unity " (Eucharistic Prayer II) by his Holy Spirit.

4. The people of God accomplish and perfect this continual repentance in many different ways. They share in the sufferings of Christ by enduring their own difficulties, carry out works of mercy and charity, and adopt ever more fully the outlook of the Gospel message. Thus the people of God become in the world a sign of conversion to God. All this the Church expresses in its life and celebrates in the liturgy when the faithful confess that they are sinners and ask pardon of God and of their brothers and sisters. . . . In the sacrament of penance the faithful "obtain from God’s mercy pardon for having offended him and at the same reconciliation with the Church, which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, example, and prayer seeks their conversion."

7. Just as the wounds of sin are varied and multiple in the life of individuals and of the community, so too the healing that penance provides is varied. Those who by grave sin have withdrawn from communion with God in love are called back in the sacrament of penance to the life they have lost. And those who, experiencing their weakness daily, fall into venial sins draw strength from a repeated celebration of penance to reach the full freedom of the children of God.

11. The parts that penitents themselves have in the celebration of the sacrament are of the greatest importance.

When with proper dispositions they approach this saving remedy instituted by Christ and confess their sins, their own acts become part of the sacrament itself, which is completed when the words of absolution are spoken by the minister in the name of Christ.

In this way the faithful, even as they experience and proclaim the mercy of God in their own life, are with the priest celebrating the liturgy of the Church’s continual self-renewal.

22 cont. After confessing and being absolved individually, all join in praising God together for his wonderful deeds on behalf of the people he has gained for himself through the blood of his Son.

29. When the confessions are over, the priests return to the sanctuary. The priest who presides invites all to make an act of Thanksgiving to praise God for his mercy. This may be done in a psalm or a hymn or litany. Finally, the priest concludes the celebration with one of the prayers in praise of God for this great love.

56. When the individual confessions have been completed, the other priests stand near the one who is presiding over the celebration. The latter invites all present to offer thanks and encourages them to do good works which will proclaim the grace of repentance in the life of the entire community and each of its members. It is fitting for all to sing a psalm or hymn or to say a litany in acknowledgment of God’s power and mercy, for example, the canticle of Mary (Lk 1:46-55), or Psalm 136:1-9, 13-14,16, 25-26, or one of the psalms as given in no. 206.

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Pastoral Reflection

There seemed to be a felt need for this element of praise and Thanksgiving to be restored to the rite. It has been my experience that parishes find that this gathering around the altar (or the baptismal pool, or the paschal candle) after the individual confessions is for many the high point of the celebration. It is this joy and Thanksgiving that draws a person back to the sacrament.

Human nature wants an experience to end on a positive chord. When this does not happen, the experience can leave us with a negative feeling or the feeling that something has not been resolved. For example, when I am sick and I go to see my medical doctor and receive the medicine for my illness, I come home, take the medicine, and if I get better that is the end of it. I seldom return to the doctor when I am well and celebrate together the healing effects of his help and advice! I only see the doctor when I am sick! I want to go back and say "thank you" but it seems that we are all so busy, and anyway, it just isn’t part of the American ritual of going to the doctor. Consequently, I associate "going to the doctor" with the negative feelings of sickness and pain rather than with the positive feelings of recovery and health.

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Suggested Questions for Discussion

In your parish, do the celebrations of the "Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with Individual Confession and Absolution" conclude with the people present going to confession individually and then leaving one by one, or does the service give the people who go to confession the opportunity to come together and to give thanks and praise?

How is this rite carried out in your parish? Where does the community gather? Around the altar or at another place?

Does the one presiding give an exhortation at this point of the rite? What is the content of this exhortation?

What symbols could be effectively used to express this common act of praise and Thanksgiving? Is the sign of peace ever given at this part of the rite in your parish?

What hymns that your parish knows would be effective at this point of the rite? Would it be appropriate to sing the "Glory to God in the highest" at this time?

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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.