Reconciliation
Part 6 Theological and Pastoral Issues
Chapter 67 Teaching About Reconciliation
Preliminary QuestionsBibliography |
Osborne on Reconciliation |
A Parish Mission on ReconciliationTo Think About |
The general information on teaching liturgy can be found in Chapter d38 Evangelization and Catechetics
Preliminary Questions
If you had to present this material to a group of catechumens, how would you go about it? What information would you select?
How does what you have learned during this course compare with the summary of the Church’s teaching on Reconciliation as given in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
Bibliography
"The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation," Catechism of the Catholic Church. Washington D.C.: United States Catholic Conference, 1994. nn 1422-1498. ISBN 1-55586-513-5.
Thomas Richstatter, "Liturgy and Life: Ten Things I Learned About The Mass," Catechist, 27:3 (November/December 1993), pp 42-47.
United States Catholic Conference. Guidelines for Doctrinally Sound Catechetical Materials. Washington, DC: Office for Publishing and Promotion Services USCC, publication No. 419-8. ISBN 1-55586-419-8
Thomas H. Groome. Christian Religious Education: Sharing our Story and Vision. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980. ISBN 0-06-063494-4. $12.95.
Pierre Jounel. "La Liturgie dans le Catéchisme de l’Eglise Catholique," Notitiae 322 (Maio 1993:5) pp 265 - 284.
Michael Johcas. "The Sacraments of Healing in the Catechism of the Catholic Church." Modern Liturgy, Volume 22, Number 6 (October 1995), pp. 8-11.
Osborne on Reconciliation
The following is reprinted under the "Fair Use Act." It is presumed that each of the students reading the following have already purchased "A Companion to the New Catechism for Religious Educators" and therefore paid for the use of this copyrighted material.
The following is a summary of "Chapter 6: The Sacrament of Holy Reconciliation" of Sacramental Guidelines: A Companion to the New Catechism for Religious Educators, by Kenan B. Osborne, O.F.M., (Paulist Press. 1995. $12.95 [Amazon.com – $10.36]), pp 90-108. Rev. Kenan Osborne is Professor of Systematic Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley CA. In this book, Osborne sets out to help the catechist/preacher by listing the sacramental teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church according to the "hierarchy of truths" [e.g. Vatican II, Decree on Ecumenism, # 11: "...there exists an order or a ‘hierarchy’ of truths in Catholic doctrine, since their relationship to the fundamentals of Christian faith is diverse"].
A. Defined teaching
1. Reconciliation is a sacrament instituted by Christ. – Not defined: the integral relation between the sacraments of baptism and reconciliation; the precise historical moment when Jesus instituted this sacrament. 2. In the Church there is a power to forgive sins. – One of the most remarkable aspects we find in the lives of the saints is their personal expression of being sinful. – this teaching asks us to become more sensitive to the presence of a forgiving God throughout the entire fabric of church life... 3. An act of perfect contrition is the occasion when all serious sin is forgiven. Gaudium et Spes, #16: "Deep within one’s conscience, a person discovers a law which one has not laid on oneself, but which one must obey. Its voice, ever calling one to love and do what is good and to avoid evil, tells one inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. ... Conscience is a person’s most secret core and sanctuary. There one is alone with God, whose voice echoes in one’s depth. 4. Confession of one’s sins is a necessary part of reconciliation. – this means that "a sinner acknowledges that he or she is a sinner." There is no defined doctrine of faith that in the Roman Catholic Church that by divine law all serious sins must be confessed privately to a priest in species and number. This is church law only. 5. Acts of satisfaction are part of the process of reconciliation. – Trent is crystal-clear that there is an absolute gratuity to God’s grace. 6. All post-baptismal sins can be forgiven. – Evil is never greater than God. 7. The ordained priest through absolution is part of the process of reconciliation. – Priestly absolution as part of the process of reconciliation is a defined doctrine of the church; how priestly absolution fits into the reconciliation process has never been defined.B. Teachings of the Ordinary Magisterium can be found in (for example)
1. The Rite of Penance.
2. Normae Pastorales Sacramentum Paenitentiae, Sacred Congregation of the Faith, 1972.
3. Letter of the Sacred Congregation of the Faith, to the bishops of the United States on pastoral norms for general absolution, January 14, 1977.
4. Sanctus Pontifex, joint declaration of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy which discusses first reconciliation prior to first eucharist
5. In quisbusdam Ecclesliae partibus, letter of the Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy clarifying Sanctus Pontifex.
6. Omnis utriusque of Lateran IV (annual confession)
7. Code of Canon Law.
A major norm was this: communal celebration of the sacraments is preferred to more private celebrations. This Conciliar norm, however, has been juxtaposed with almost opposing regulation by the ordinary magisterium which time and again stresses "private" confession.
C. Unresolved issues
1. General absolution. – "Even though the official ritual of the Roman Catholic Church has allowed a greater role for general absolution within the framework of church life, there remains a tendency on the part of current church leadership to restrict the use of general absolution.
a. debate over "case of necessity" – 30 days – one day – one minute?
b. when one validly receives general absolution, one has made an "integral confession." Since there cannot be a valid celebration of the sacrament that does not include "integral confession" the meaning of "integral confession" is not the same as "private confession of all serious sins to a priest in species and number." There is no agreement by theologians or by hierarchical leadership on the meaning of "integral."
c. the requirement to "confess" already forgiven serious sins to a priest in private confession is very difficult to substantiate...
2. Private confession to a priest.
a. The private confession of serious sins in species and number to a priest is not of divine law but only of church law.
b. Since perfect contrition by itself takes away all sin, what is the connection between perfect contrition and the absolution given by a priest?
3. The age for first reconciliation. – Lateran IV Council in 1215: A Roman Catholic, aware of serious sin, must confess to a priest if this is physically and morally possible. – There is no other time when a Roman Catholic, of any age, must confess to a priest. Consequently, on the one hand there is a rule that children must confess before first Eucharist and on the other hand there is neither a rule nor can there be such a rule.
4. The issue of frequent confession. – The primary task of the priest is to proclaim the gospel. Rite one takes about five minutes. Multiply by number of parishioners. Has hearing confessions replaced proclaiming the gospel?
5. Justification and the sacrament of reconciliation. – This is an enormously complex theological problem. Trent’s decree on justification made no effort to resolve this issue. How are we justified: Faith? Works?
A Parish Mission on Reconciliation
Evening 1: March 22, 2006 -- Reconciliation: A Style of Life -- St. Mary Catholic Church, Evansville IN
Lent
1. Old: Penance. New: Baptism
2. Baptism Old: water, baby, original sin. New: Paschal Victory.
3. Metanoia = Death to Life. Sarx to Pneuma. "Me first" to "Spirit-filled life
of the Trinity"
Sin
1. Old: broke the law. New: failure to grow (think marriage)
2. Mortal Sin Old: 1) serious matter; 2) full knowledge; 3) full consent.
3. New: [think marriage] 1) little things mean a lot; 2) mostly unaware; 3) how
free am I?
4. Story: Goldbrunner. Prodigal Son. Which boy had the more interesting stories?
"You use even our failings as raw material for our holiness." (Opening Prayer)
Death
1. Old: Death is the end. New: Death is moving through to a new stage. – "Lord,
for your faithful people life is
changed, not ended." (Preface, Christian Death I)
2. "Christ emptied himself, becoming obedient unto death on a cross"
3. What do we leave behind? resentments, prejudices, hatreds, grudges, vengeful
memories.
4. Story: "You are the one who has been carrying her these past five miles."
Forgiveness
1. Progress in "forgiveness studies.
2. Maria Jaeger story. Susie (age 7) taken from tent.
3. Stages. Anger; hatred; (time); reframing; high road; forgiveness; (no
reconciliation)
4. Take the high road; don’t let him continue hurting me; get on with other
responsibilities.
5. We can control our thoughts. What do we keep thinking about?
6. Story: Navajo grandfather and the two wolves. Which one wins? The one I feed.
7. Reframing: look at the situation from a different perspective.
8. Story: Ralph and his GED. Dumb/Smart? All is GOD’S GIFT.
God
1. Story: "What is the most important thing about confession? What Jesus does!"
2. What has Jesus done? Paschal Victory. All sins have been forgiven.
3. Opening Reading: 2 Cor 5:17-21 "The old has passed away, everything has
become new! God has
reconciled the world through Christ. God did not count our trespasses against
us. And now, we are the Body of Christ and therefore, ministers of forgiveness,
ambassadors of reconciliation."
Celebration
1. How do we celebrate this Wonder, this Forgiving God? Come next week.
2. Old: Confession. New: Reconciliation – And the following week we’ll do it:
Celebrate Reconciliation.
Closing Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
To Think About
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church find Five areas where the emphasis of the Catechism is the same as the emphasis in this course and find five areas where the emphasis of the Catechism is different from the emphasis in this course:
Have you learned anything new about teaching the sacrament of Reconciliation? Would you be able to critique a traditional presentation? Regarding the treatment of the sacrament, how does the Catechism of the Catholic Church differ from the Catechism of Trent? From the Baltimore Catechism? What do you think will be changed in the next Universal Catholic Catechism?
1. Outline a one hour presentation on the Reconciliation for a group of catechumens.
3. Read the appropriate sections in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Examine the sources (footnotes) of the presentation and answer the following four sets of questions in the light of your study of Reconciliation:
a. Scripture references: What theology of reconciliation emerges from these sources? Which passages of Scripture are quoted? Is Scripture used to "prove" the text of the Catechism? Are the passages used in harmony with what you have learned of their meaning in your Scripture courses?
b. Citations from the Early Church Writings: What theology of reconciliation emerges from these sources? Are the sources used in harmony with the author’s meaning or are they cited to solve problems the author had not envisioned?
c. Citations from the Council of Trent and Canon Law: What theology of reconciliation emerges from these sources? Which liturgical and theological topics are most supported by these citations? Which sections of the Catechism uses these sources less frequently? Compare/contrast these sections of the Catechism with those which rely more heavily on the Second Vatican Council.
d. Citations from the Documents of the Second Vatican Council: What theology of reconciliation emerges from these sources? Which liturgical and theological topics are most supported by these citations? Which sections of the Catechism uses these sources less frequently? Compare/contrast these sections of the Catechism with those which rely more heavily on the Council of Trent. Is the emphasis in the quotation the same as in the original text?
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