NAME: MUOGBO MICHAEL
MATRIC NO.: SSPP/THEO/18/0734
COURSE: SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Question 4
INTRODUCTION
By acknowledging his sin in the privacy of his own mind and being sorry for them, the
sinner is said to be penitent and repentant, and out of contrition desires to
acquire remission for them through the sacrament. Penance, therefore, is not an
institution the use of which was left to the option of each sinner so that he
might, if he preferred, hold aloof from the Church and secure forgiveness by some
other means, rather it fully requires the actual reception of absolution in the
sacrament itself. Thus all sins committed must be confessed at the sacrament of
penance. The Church therefore condemns all teachings that say that it is not
necessary to confess all sins.
WHAT SHOULD BE CONFESSED IN THE
CONFESSIONAL
The penitent is expected to confess
all mortal sins, to the confessor in the confessional, which he is conscious
of. Thus no sin is remitted until all are remitted. Remission is the
restoration of the soul and reconciling of the relationship with God that was
severed by sin. This is however not achieved if any mortal sin is not confessed
and thus not forgiven. Therefore no benefit of the sacrament is gained if a
penitent intentionally conceals a mortal sin; on the contrary he makes void the
sacrament and thereby incurs the guilt of sacrilege. If, however, the sin be omitted, not through any fault
of the penitent, but through forgetfulness, it is forgiven indirectly; but it
must be declared at the next confession. In fact, deciding not
to confess a particular mortal sin renders the whole confession ineffective. To
determine this more clearly, the Council teaches that the circumstances of sin
should also be explained in confessions as a way of completely revealing sins
on the part of the penitent.
Though it is not necessary to confess the same sins over again, nevertheless we regard
it as salutary to repeat the confession, because of the shame it involves,
which is a great part of penance. St.
Thomas however,
teaches that: the oftener one confesses the more is the (temporal) penalty
reduced; hence one might confess over and over again until the whole penalty is
cancelled, it would not offer any injury to the sacrament.
Some other more heinous sins, such as those that attract the penalty of
excommunication are absolved not by priests of any rank, but are reserved to
priests of highest rank, such as the Pope and bishops. In danger of death,
however, every priest validly absolves all classes of sin.
CONCLUSION
Confession
is necessary, according to divine law, for all who have fallen after their
baptism. Priests stand for Christ as overseers and judges. All mortal sins of
which the faithful is aware of having committed after baptism have to be
related in the confession, no matter how private they are. In fact, deciding
not to confess a particular mortal sin renders the whole confession
ineffective. To determine this more clearly, the Council teaches that the
circumstances of sin should also be explained in confessions as a way of
completely revealing sins on the part of the penitent.
Question
3
INTRODUCTION
God
is always at home, it is we who have gone astray. However, the father
constantly, with loving longing-ness, awaits our return back to the embrace of
divine love. Thus Christ instituted the sacrament of reconciliation to enable
us find our way back to the father when sin and unfaithfulness take us away
from God. Thus the sacrament of penance is a road map back to the father when
we err as a result of our sins and our human frailty. However, the sacramental
validity always depends on the abiding presence of the matter and the form of
the sacrament. Without
sorrow for sin there is no forgiveness. Sorrow for sin can come in two
ways; either as a contrition or as an attrition.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN CONTRITION AND
ATTRITION
Contrition is sorrow for sin because
a penitent wishes to return to God and is sorry for severing his relationship
with God through his sins and thus is repentant because he wishes to rebuild
and reconcile himself to God as His child and wishes not to sin again. In
contrition, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but
also the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature,
and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to
such as are penitent; so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them
all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all ways of his
commandments. Attrition is sorrow for sin arising from fear of
damnation. It is a fact of incomplete repentance because it is not animated by a
wish for repentance, rather animated by ones fear of going to hell. Remorse,
self-reproach, and sorrow for sin generated by fear of punishment, without any
wish or resolve to forsake sinning is insufficient.
The major difference between
attrition and contrition is that contrition can obtain for one remission for
sin before the actual reception of the sacrament. However this is not to say
that it is a substitute for the actual confession. It should be noted, however,
that the contrition of which the Council speaks is perfect in the sense that it
includes the desire to receive the sacrament. Whoever in fact repents of his sin out of love for God must be willing to comply with the
Divine ordinance regarding penance, i.e., he would confess if a confessor were
accessible, and he realizes that he is obliged to confess when he has the
opportunity. But it does not follow that the penitent is at liberty to choose
between two modes of obtaining forgiveness, one by an act of contrition independently of the sacrament, the other by confession and absolution. Thus contrition can suffice for
remission of sin in case of martyrdom but attrition is not sufficient to bring
about remission of sin. Contrition is a necessity to obtain pardon, but
attrition is not.
Contrition, the Council teaches, is the
first among the other acts of the penitent. It is “a grief
and detestation of the mind at the sin committed, together with
the resolution not to sin in the future.” Contrition is necessary for
obtaining pardon; and these include not only dissociating oneself from sin and
resolving to start a new life, but also hatred for sin. When contrition is done
with perfect love, remission of sin is obtained even before the sacramental
confession, but an aspect of contrition which brings about reconciliation with
God is a desire for sacramental confession. Imperfect contrition (attrition)
cannot of itself, without the sacrament of penance lead the sinner to
justification, disposes him to beg and obtain pardon through the sacrament of
baptism. Though it is conceived not out of the love of God, but out of
consideration of the baseness of sin or out of the fear of going to hell, it is
still a sign of the impulse of the Holy Spirit moving the sinner to repentance.
CONCLUSION
True
repentance is “contrition,” as modeled by David in Psalm 51, having at its
heart a serious purpose of sinning no more but of living henceforth a life that
will show one’s repentance to be full and real (Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20).
Repenting of any vice means going in the opposite direction, to practice the
virtues most directly opposed to it. Attrition and contrition differ from each
other because the former is not formed or perfected and motivated by charity,
the third theological virtue, whilst the latter is.
Question
1
INTRODUCTION
If in all those regenerated such gratitude
were given to God that they constantly safeguarded the justice received in
baptism by His bounty and grace, there would have been no need for another
sacrament besides that of baptism to be instituted for the remission of sins.
But since God, rich in mercy, know our frame, He has a remedy of life even to
those who may after baptism have delivered themselves up to the servitude of
sin and the power of the devil, namely, the sacrament of penance, by which the
benefit of Christ’s death is applied to those who have fallen after baptism. Nothing
unclean would enter heaven. Sin makes us unclean and keeps us away from God’s
presence. Thus to reconcile with God, we take the first step of contrition and
obtaining pardon for our sins committed after the sacrament of baptism. The
forgiveness of sin is obtained with the sacrament of penance. Therefore the
sacrament of penance is very necessary for our salvation. This is not optional
because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Therefore we all need
to be reconciled with God to be able to call him Father and for him to accept
us as sons.
THE NECESSITY OF THE
SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Penance is indeed necessary at all times
for all men who had stained themselves by mortal sin, even for those who
desired to be cleansed by the sacrament of baptism, in order to obtain grace
and justice; so that their wickedness being renounced and amended, they might
with a hatred of sin and a sincere sorrow of heart detest so great an offense
against God. The Prophet says: be converted and do penance for all your
iniquities, and iniquity shall not be your ruin. The Lord also said: Except you
do penance, you shall all likewise perish.
The
Sacrament of Penance is indispensably necessary for those who have fallen into
sin after Baptism, for without this sacrament they are unable to recover the
justice they have lost. In this Sacrament, the penitent
receives the merciful judgment of God and is engaged on the journey of
conversion that leads to future life with God. The Church also recommends that
a person go regularly to confession, even if only for venial sins. This is
because “the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our
consciences, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and
progress in the life of the Spirit” (CCC, no. 1458).
In confession we have the opportunity to
repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in
which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins,
especially mortal sins. With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the
Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live
without God. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). While
all the Sacraments bring us an experience of the mercy that comes from Christ’s
dying and rising, it is the Sacrament of Reconciliation that is the unique
Sacrament of mercy. Every Christian embraces the
Resurrection as the source of our Faith and trust in God’s love and mercy.
Confession is the Sacrament of the Resurrection in that it raises us up from
our fall to sin and gives us new life and direction.
CONCLUSION
For those who after baptism have fallen into sin, the Sacrament of Penance is as necessary for salvation as is baptism itself for those who have not yet
been regenerated. Sin harms our relationship with God and
damages our communion with the Church. Conversion of heart is the beginning of
our journey back to God. Liturgically this happens in the Sacrament of Penance.
In the history of the Church, this Sacrament has been celebrated in different ways.
Beneath the changes, there have always been two essentials: the acts of the
penitent and the acts of Christ through the ministry of the Church. Both go
hand in hand. Conversion must involve a change of heart as well as a change of
actions. Neither is possible without God’s grace.
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