constitutes a “proclamation” of God’s mercy (“Rite of Penance”, 45). At this moment, it is Christ himself who is speaking a word of life to the penitent. The title of the third part, the “Liturgy of Reconciliation”, helps us to understand the central mystery of the sacrament: God is restoring us to full communion with himself and his Church. Our solemn responsibility is to receive the great gift of his forgiveness. If we continue to associate ourselves with our former sins in our minds and hearts we are impeding the work of the Holy Spirit in the new creation (2 Co 5:17). In the concluding part, the confessor is charged with two tasks. He is to praise God for the fact that God has renewed one of the members of his Church with sacramental grace. Then the confessor is to dismiss the penitent: this emphasises both the reality of God’s forgiveness - there is no reason for the absolved person to remain - and the fact that this person has now been sent out once more to contribute to the building up God’s Kingdom in society.
Some practical guidance
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o get the most out of Confession we should spend some time in the church beforehand to recollect ourselves. We should thank God for
bringing us to this moment and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us about our sins. Then we should examine our conscience. The companion CTS leaflet How do I examine my conscience? may be of help here (see below). Often we may quickly become aware of ways in which we have offended God, hurt others and let ourselves down. If not, we may wish to read through a list of sins and identify which ones we have committed. Another method is to consider a virtue or a gift or fruit of the Holy Spirit and perceive how we are lacking in its regard. Another is to read a passage from Scripture and consider how that grants us a new perspective on our life. Having examined our conscience, it is good to memorise a short list of sins. Once the priest has greeted us and we have perhaps listened to a passage from scripture (or else read one out ourselves) we can begin our confession with a formula, such as: “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It is (so long) since my last confession.” After receiving absolution, it is good to spend some more time in church, thanking God for his mercy and saying the penance, if it is a prayer.
Preparing for Confession
For More Information Catechism of the Catholic Church, paras: 1422-24; 1430-1440; 1456-58. Code of Canon Law, no. 929
Key Books to Read Confession - Advice & Encouragement from Pope Benedict XVI, CTS (Do857) Credo - The Catholic Faith Explained, CTS (EV 4) Examination of Conscience, CTS Essentials Leaflet (LF 9) How do I Examine my Conscience?, CTS (LF 71) A New Penance Book, CTS (D660) Reconciliation - The Mercy of Christ, CTS (Do716) A Simple Prayer Book, CTS (D665) What Catholics Believe, CTS (Do531) A Way of Life for Young Catholics, CTS (Do774) Why go to Confession, CTS (D716)
Visit: www.CTSbooks.org.uk A wide range of inexpensive publications is available from CTS to help nurture your faith and keep you informed about a wide range of issues. If you would like to receive further information please contact us: CTS, 40-46 Harleyford Road, London SE11 5AY Or visit www.CTSbooks.org Tel: 020 7640 0042 Fax: 020 7640 0046
ISBN 978 1 86082 904 8
LF 72
All rights reserved. © 2014 The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society. Images: Young woman praying in a church © shutterstock; Holy Trinity © shutterstock; The return of the Prodigal Son © magno/getty images. Reconciliation © Marcin Mazur.
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A new awareness of God’s mercy
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he rediscovery of the Sacrament of Reconciliation by many young people, as evidenced by World Youth Days, provides Catholics who have ceased to go to Confession with an opportunity to reappraise the way they live their faith. Many are reluctant to access God’s mercy in this sacrament because of a sense of embarrassment. They fear disclosing sins of a personal nature to a priest; they have forgotten what to say; they are anxious about acknowledging that they have not been to Confession for many years. Some are unconvinced of the necessity and value of Confession
due to a poor understanding of Church teaching. They have not sufficiently grasped how God intervenes in our lives through the person of the confessor and how the grace of the sacrament helps us to emerge from even the most entrenched sinful patterns of behaviour.
Why go to Confession?
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he key reason why all Catholics should go to Confession is that God desires we should do so. The Holy Spirit urges us from within to acknowledge that we are sinners (Jn 16:8) so that we may receive God’s forgiveness (1 Jn 1:9; Ac 5:31-2). The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a gift from God the Father to us (Mt 18:14; Lk 15:24) which was instituted by Christ (Jn 20:22-23) and which has been shaped in the unfolding history of the Church by the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:13). It speaks to our human need to acknowledge specific sins in the presence of another person rather than just to express our sorrow to God within our minds (Mt 18:15-17). It is a means not only of restoring us to life in Christ if we have experienced the deadness of serious sin but also of rescuing us from the moral numbness and spiritual indifference which venial (i.e. less serious) sin induces. (CCC 1446-47; 1 Jn 5:17). Through going to Confession, we experience salvation here and now (Lk 19:9). Christ, in the person of the confessor, frees us from the
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prison of our selfishness (Lk 4:18), tenderly binds our self-inflicted wounds (Lk 10:34), relieves us of our psychological paralysis (Mk 2:12) and helps us to understand that through grace we can avoid sin in the future (Jn 8:11). Moreover, the confessor reconciles us with our brothers and sisters in the Church, leading us from the isolation caused by sin to fellowship within the Body of Christ (Ep 2:13-16; CCC 1462; 1469).
The consequences of avoiding Confession
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f, by contrast, we try to lead good lives without going to Confession, we are in effect seeking to help others without being sufficiently humble to allow God our Father to help us. The result is inevitable: we feel conflicted within ourselves. As a consequence a lot of the energy that we might have expended in loving our neighbour is wasted through anxiety. We may also start to slip morally precisely because we are failing to confront the truth about ourselves. Moreover, our faith can suffer. Faith is not merely an intellectual apprehension of eternal truths but a living relationship with God nurtured by sacramental grace. If we do not regularly entrust ourselves to God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation our imagination becomes less and less capable of conceiving the reality of his closeness. We can even begin to think that taking responsibility for our lives involves sorting ourselves out by ourselves which, practically speaking, means shutting God out.
The new life which we thus receive (Jn 10:10) is expressed through the virtues, which are dispositions of character which help us to live well. The grace of the sacrament helps us to become more just, more self-controlled, stronger in overcoming our anxieties, and more prudent in knowing when and how to act. When we are able to see the connection between Confession and personal development in this way, the question, “How often should I go?” more or less answers itself. Why should I refrain from participating frequently in an encounter with Christ which is intrinsically ordered to helping me become the person I want to be?
What happens at Confession?
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good way of overcoming any reluctance we may feel in going to Confession is to reflect a little on the Rite of the Sacrament, which comprises four parts. The title of the first, “Reception of the Penitent”, indicates the Church’s desire that her sons and daughters should be properly respected: the sacrament does not resemble a court appearance; it is an interpersonal encounter. The second part, the “Liturgy of the Word”, is quite often omitted for reasons of time. It would be good to recover it precisely because the short reading from Scripture
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