sacrament of penance

“I have been evil from the day I was born and from the time I was conceived, I have been sinful” Psalm 51:5

Our today’s talk will be like a question and answer format and this will be based on the Golden circle concept i.e the what, how and why the sacrament of penance? And our first question is:

What is the Sacrament of penance?

Sacrament of Penance also known and referred to as Sacrament of reconciliation or confession  and according to Wikipedia The Sacrament of Penance is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church  in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after Baptism and they are reconciled with the Christian community.

According to the catechism of the Catholic Church article 4, it explains this sacrament to what I call the sacrament of “CPCFR” and thus:

C stands for conversion telling us we are all call to Christ, and thus the first step to returning to Him

P stands for penance telling us that it is a sacrament where sins committed after baptism are absorbed by the priest

C stands for confession hence explaining the acknowledgement and praise of God’s holiness and his perfect mercy for we sinners

F stands for forgiveness, meaning a sacrament where after we are been absorbed of our sins and offences, God grants us complete Pardon and Peace

And finally R stands for reconciliation calling us to be reconciled with God and our neighbors

From the above we can say in summary that, baptism is the initial sacrament that cleanses us from original sin as well as washes away all of our sins, that is venial and actual sins but After baptism, the nature of the flesh is so prone to sin as such there is the need for further atonement and that calls for the sacrament of Penance.

How to make a confession:

When we were little and learning the catechism, we were been thought on how to go to confession, and I remember vividly, my catechism teacher always repeating times without number that, if you want your confession to be a good one, you must, put your hands together and look sober and then, immediately you get to the confessional, kneel down, make the sign of the cross, and say the words of “bless me father for I have sinned etc we know the rest of it and boom, we have made a good confession. Well some of us have been told that too, when we were little, and I feel those good teachers told us that because they feel as children we may not understand what it really takes to make a very good confession, and that is why I have made it very important to remind us and to teach those of us who don’t know

the how part of making a good confession. Hence, to make a good confession 3 major things are involved and they are are:

Contrition: psalm 51:16-17 says; “for thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”. Until when I started preparing for this talk, no one has ever explained the in debt meaning of contrition. Hence,  contrition can be explained to mean a part of the sacrament of penance that requires a person to be sorry deep down to their soul, that is for a person to say he has or wants to make a good confession, they must be sorrowful and feel extremely bad  about that sin within them, also such person is expected to hate that sin and not just hating the sin, but we must hate the sin so much that we must be determined to change and after all of this, comes the going for the disclosure of our sins before a priest, i.e confession which is the no. 2 of the 3 major things, and finally is the absolution or taking away of our sins and the giving of penance by the priest. In other words before any person could say they have made a good confession, he or she must be really sorry they have committed a sin, deeply hate such sin, be determined never to go back to committing such sin and then go to a priest for confession, where they will be absorbed of their sin and made free.

Why the sacrament of penance?

Like I said earlier on that; baptism is the initial sacrament that cleanses us from original sin as well as wash away all of our sins both venial and mortal sins,  but after baptism, the nature of the flesh, is so prone to sin as such there is the need for further atonement and that calls for the sacrament of Penance

Also, sin separates us from God and the community of God’s people and just like the Catena which is been said to be like a chain that binds all legionaries together and not saying the catena daily by any legionary breaks that chain, so also, every time a person sins it breaks such person from the love of God as well as the community of God’s people or the church and of cause, the church is me and you or that your neighbor that you and I must have offended, sinned against whether he knows or not this is been explained in Leviticus 7:20, Exodus 32:32-33, john 15:6 etc. That talk about those whom are not ritually unclean or are sinners or those who do not abide in God , and are no longer part of God’s people and are treated as out cast. 

In other words the sacrament of penance is aimed at allowing for the reconciliation of a sinner with the church and God which our sins has wounded through the sins we commit

Furthermore we shouldn’t take God’s mercy for granted by keep on telling ourselves that after all our God is a merciful God, and so let me sin, when I’m ready I will go for confession and I will ask God for his  forgiveness, for he will surely show me mercy; bad news!!!! Sirach 5:4-7 tells us that we should not be presumptuous or impertinent or act and do things like we have authority over ourselves because the Lord does not mind waiting to punish you, and just as he shows his mercy, he also does shows his furious anger to unrepentant sinners

Finally, nobody is perfect and St. Paul tells us in Romans 3:23 “ that all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God” but to the letters to St. James 3 vs 16, the bible tells us that its only in confessing our sins to one another and praying for each other that we will be healed, for a prayer of a righteous person has good effect. And this brings us to the next question

Why do we have to make our confession before a priest and not any other person as stated in James 3:16 or better still why can’t I just make my confession before God at the comfort of my home, since God is everywhere or since by my baptism I am a royal priesthood?

In the book of Leviticus chapter 5 we were given litanies of sins, but in verses 5-6, the bible tells us that “when anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.  As a penalty for the sin they have committed, they must bring to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock as a sin offering and the priest shall make atonement for them for their sin. Hence, in any confession of sin there must be an involvement of a priest as he is the one to make atonement thus removing any obstacle to reconciliation and this can be seen in Leviticus chapter 5:10

Well, when my husband and I discussed this topic I said, well we should not be jealous of the priest for being given this authority by arguing about what has been practiced right from time immemorial or the old testament, and since in the new testament Jesus made it so clear when he said to his apostles in John 20: 21-23, "Following his resurrection, Jesus said to his apostles, "Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I sending you, After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive the Holy Spirit If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained", this definitely points to their authority to forgive sins and can only decides which is to be forgiven or retained only if it has to be heard by the priest.

Furthermore, Christ did wants all of his works to continue or carried out by his apostles and should never stop or till the end of time and that is why he charged, commissioned, anointed, and empowered his apostles with his divine authority to continue his work of salvation such as that we see in Matt 9:6. ( but I want you to know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins….), while such authorities he commissioned to his apostles viz a viz priest can be seen in Matt 16:19 , 28:18-19,

Finally, Confession must be made in physical presence and before a priest. Making a confession on your knees in the comfort of your home can not draw down the power of absolution upon you. It comes through the ordained minister who acts in the person of Christ and an instrument of God's grace and so yes a person is allowed to talk to God directly and at the comfort of their homes, even when it is a mortal sin, but he or she can only be absorbed or receive a sacramental pardon of their sins by a validly ordained priest for their confession to be complete. This brings us to the next question

What if I cannot get a priest to make a physical confession like during the period of a pandemic we just experienced, can I use any communication gadget, say a phone?

The communication gadgets are not allowed in confession because it passes through different channels and does not make it a secret since it is and could be recorded in that process, so it’s a no go area. And during a pandemic like this, I was made to understand that the priest are like essential personalities allowed to go out for giving of different sacraments, for example, I was able to get information from some priest friends of mine, who made me to understand that they had to be in their car and the person coming for confession stays outside though with no one hearing or close enough to hear their communication while they administer the sacrament of penance. And the last but not the least

Where a priest is not available, and a person is in dire need to make a confession, maybe on their deathbed, who is to listen?

Nobody can listen to the confession except a priest. And that is why the church encourages us to always call the attention of a priest whenever anyone is sick. Not only at the time of death.

In conclusion, the sacrament of penance is one of the free gifts given to us by God, to access his mercy so why don’t we say yes to Victory over sin and the devil, swallow our pride, say no to ego and ignorance and focus on Jesus Christ in whose name the Church and her priests ministers and Go to confession today!!!

Praise the Lord!!!!

sacrament of penance