SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION

THE JOY OF CONFESSION

Many different names in the CCC for this sacrament … Confession, penance, reconciliation, forgiveness, conversion

Confessing your sins is not about telling what you did wrong ... It is about receiving the forgiveness of God ... About receiving Sanctifying Grace ... About receiving His love. Remember we hear in the Gospel.. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son ... So that we might have eternal life” and the surest path to Eternal life is through the sacraments that the church has given us ... the church that “His only Son” started 2,000 years ago.

First off … we need to understand what St. John said in his 1st letter “If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”. I have met many people who actually believe this … and that is very sad …. We all need to admit that we are sinners …. Myself, Fr. Anthony, Fr. Ignatius, the Bishop and even the Pope need to be able to admit this … without this admission that we are sinners … there can be no forgiveness of Sin!

Sin does many things to us ….

Venial sin or should I say sin that is not grave matter … and I will explain the difference in a minute. Venial sin

• Creates an unhealth attachment to creatures and objects

• It increases our struggle between the spirit and the flesh

• It Increases our inclination to vice

• It weakens the life of a Christian

Sin that is Grave matter … or Mortal sin

• Deprives us of our communion with God …. Which causes us to lose eternal life. Think about that for a minute …. Unrepentant grave sin causes us to lose communion with God … and eternal life …. No one wants that.

So, why do we go to a man for our confession? First off, we need to realize that the Sacrament of Confession is not something that the church just made up …. It was … Instituted by Christ himself. In the Gospel of John Chapter 20 verse 21 to 23 says

“Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

And also, in the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 16 verse 13 – 19

Jesus said “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

If the Apostles are to forgive or retain sins … they must know what they are … and the only way for that to happen is for the sinner to tell them.

But this was not a personal prerogative that was to erase at the death of the Apostles … if it was supposed to die with them what would have been the point of it at all …. it was granted to them in their official capacity and hence …. as a permanent institution in the Church — no less permanent than the mission to teach and baptize all nations that he gave the Apostles, that mission certainly did not die with them. Christ foresaw that even those who received faith and baptism, whether during the lifetime of the Apostles or later, would fall into sin and therefore would need forgiveness in order to be saved. He must, then, have intended that the power to forgive should be transmitted from the Apostles to their successors and be used as long as there would be sinners in the Church, and that means to the end of time.

What are the five things that it takes to make a good confession?

1) Examination of Conscience – Think of your sins, and not just for 1 minute before you go in the confessional.

a) 10 Commandments

i) Go Deeper

b) Beatitudes

c) Omission and Commission

2) Contrition / Sorrow – Not necessarily crying

a) Perfect

b) Imperfect

3) Purpose of Amendment – Very Important

a) Frequently forgotten.

b) Example, Let’s say there is a particular bar … that if you go there you end up drinking too much. Your purpose of amendment could easily be to not go to that bar.

c) Fool yourself – Fool Priest – Cannot fool God!

d) What if after confession you go to that bar? Are your sins still forgiven?

4) Tell your sins to the priest, and we heard in the Gospels why we do that

a) Biggest obstacle

i) Go to Priest for all of the other sacraments!

ii) Common objection of married couples … Father is not married he will not understand.

iii) Must tell you Mortal sins

(1) Grave Matter

(a) Gossip John tells Sally that Susan has an ugly dress.

(b) John tells Sally that Susan is having Sex with someone.

(c) All 10 commandments are Grave Matter

(i) Is missing mass on Sunday Grave Matter?

(ii) CCC 2181 The Sunday Eucharist is the foundation and confirmation of all Christian practice. For this reason the faithful are obliged to participate in the Eucharist on days of obligation, unless excused for a serious reason (for example, illness, the care of infants) or dispensed by their own pastor. Those who deliberately fail in this obligation commit a grave sin.

(2) Consent of will

(a) Maybe the hardest part to figure out.

(b) Getting drunk, where you lose control is grave matter.

(c) If you get drunk, and then get in an accident and kill someone are you guilty of the Mortal Sin of Murder?

(3) Full Knowledge

(a) Missing Mass on Sunday is a Mortal Sin

iv) Tell Circumstances of Sin

(1) Example for children

(a) I hit my little brother – Not grave matter.

(b) I hit my Mother – Grave matter.

v) Confession Math - In with 3 confess 2 out with ??

vi) 4 because you made a sacrilegious confession.

(1) Oh, I can’t say that to Father

(2) He has heard it all before and much worse.

(3) He cannot do anything with the information.

(a) He cannot ask you later how you are doing dealing with it.

(b) Example of stealing from the collection

(c) It is not his information … it is God’s.

(d) He can even be thrown out of the priesthood for telling.

5) Accept your penance!

a) Tell if you cannot.

b) Give example of Chaplet of Divine Mercy

c) What if you fail to do your penance? Are your sins still forgiven?

i) Give Examples

So, five things it takes to make a good confession.

1) Think of your sins

2) Contrition for sins

3) Purpose of Amendment

4) Tell to a priest

5) Accept Penance

In the unofficial theology of Deacon Frank,

Some people ask if God loves us in spite of our sins. I would say that No God does not love us in spite of our sins .. and I think you can go as far as to say that God loves us even because of our sins. Who did Jesus come for the Righteous or the sinner? And for whom did Jesus die on the cross? And was not his coming and dying on the cross his greatest act of love?? So, if His greatest act of love was for us sinners you can see how I can say He loves us because of our sins.

I particularly enjoy the psychological aspect of saying the words and hearing the words of absolution. If I just go into my room, close the door, and confess my sins to God … how do I know that my sins are forgiven? Plus, I have not had the psychological aspect of actually saying the words “I am sorry” and then hearing what I think are the best words in the whole world. “through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.” When I hear those words, my spirit feels as if it were lifted 10 feet off the ground …. As I walk out of the confessional, I feel 10 pounds lighter. I know that my sins have been forgiven.

I feel that way because when the priest celebrates the sacrament of Penance, he is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up wounds, of the Father who awaits the prodigal son and welcomes him on his return.

The priest is standing in persona Christi for us …. At that moment he IS Christ for us.

And that is why I call it the Joy of confession!!