Some
people like it, though. Perhaps it is a
moment of catharsis for them. I can
understand that. The thought of writing
an autobiographical story sounds like something everyone should do, even if it
is not read by anyone or published.
Saint Augustine is credited with writing the first autobiography of any
length or depth. His Confessions is a unique piece of
literature, philosophy and theology. Of
course, the term “confessions” that he uses is not first and foremost a listing
of his faults, though he describes many of his own in almost shocking
detail. He was confessing the Glories of the Lord who had saved him from his life
of error and debauchery, so the primary purpose of that great work was to extol
the goodness and love and mercy of God, the “Beauty ever ancient, ever new”.
There
is though something of the cathartic in speaking one’s failures and faults, of
owning up to them in a verbal way; close friends and especially spouses
understand this, especially when facing trying times in a relationship where
words are in fact necessary. And
oftentimes, the sooner the words admitting of one’s failures are spoken, the
faster any damage done to the relationship can begin to heal. “I was wrong and I’m sorry” are powerful
words when spoken in sincerity and humility.
The hardest heart can often be swayed to mercy by such an honest
admission.
Now the
first reason Catholics go to the Sacrament of Penance is because Jesus gave the
Sacrament, and the power behind it, to the apostles on the night of the
resurrection: “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain
the sins of any, they are retained.” John 20:23. As with the command to baptize and celebrate
the Eucharist, so with the command to forgive sins, the Church does what Jesus
told her to do. Why two sacraments for
the forgiveness of sins? Baptism washes away
whatever sins a person has on their conscience and especially original sin, and
that person is renewed in Christ. But what
of sins committed after baptism? History and common sense, and personal
experience, show that the baptized are not immune to falling again into sins of
one kind or another. Does the sacrament
of baptism work forward, that is, does it effect forgiveness into the future,
so there is no need for future mercy?
That’s an interesting idea, but post-baptismal sins carry with them
their own damage that is distinct from the damage of original sin, which is
washed away only through baptism.
Thus it
was in the early Church that confession of sins and the penances ascribed to them
were for sins of graver consequence; sins that kept one from participating in
the Eucharistic life of the Church.
Heck, there were times in Church history where one was forbidden even to
enter the celebration of the Liturgy for years because of seriously grave
offenses that indubitably harmed not only the individual but the community at
large. Murder and adultery come to mind. Nevertheless, confession of such serious sins
was deemed necessary not only to the spiritual healing of the sinners, but for
the overall health of the Church community.
A breach of justice and charity occurs with every sin, but some are
worse than others. These mortal sins
require a more serious response on the part of the Church. The public penances that used to be imposed (and
still are in the rare occurrences of excommunication or interdict) were
designed as deterrents to others who might be likewise tempted. Other lesser penances for less grave sins grew
up in the practice of the Church even to the point of rule books being used by
confessors to assign different penances for the different types of sins
committed. The goal was always the
restoration of justice through some form of restitution, where required, and
the conversion of the sinner back to a shared communion with the Church
community.
And
speaking to that last point, here we see how what the Church has been doing for
centuries is being discovered in a different way by the television shows
mentioned above as well as in the growth of the use of counselors,
psychiatrists and psychologists. Human
beings have a need to speak what is within them, especially when their
consciences have made the determination that a thought, word of deed was so bad
that something harmful now dwells within the soul and must be expunged. There has been a rift in relationship that
must be restored somehow. How does the
saying go? A burden shared is half as
heavy?
And
this is precisely what grave sin is: it is of such a nature that the loving
relationship that God initiated through bestowing the grace of adoption via
baptism is scorned by a deliberate, willful act of sin on the part of a
Christian. Sanctifying grace, given by
baptism, is lost, even though the Christian continues to have the everlasting
character of being sealed as a child of God in Christ. In simpler terms, a grave sin is like
choosing to leave the castle of the King and live in the swamp outside the moat. All sin weakens one’s connection with God;
grave, mortal sin disrupts that connection.
Since it is of its nature an offense directly against God’s love, only
God can restore the relationship. He has
given the authority to restore that relationship to His Church in the ministry
of priests: If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. As Jesus gave the authority to teach in His
name to the apostles, so they could carry on His mission of preaching the Gospel,
so also He gave them the authority to forgive sins, thus continuing His mission
of bring mercy to sinners. Incidentally,
those who objected to a man forgiving sins were the enemies of Jesus. Those who received His pardon didn’t
object. They knew and felt that mercy.
Now,
some sins are obvious to the world; most are not. Indeed, there are sins which are known only
to the sinner himself, and to God. Sadly
these can be the most damaging for it is possible to keep up a front of piety
while on the inside one is filled with the consequences of chosen evil. Why not just confess them to God, and be done
with it? Not a bad idea and Scripture is
filled with prayers composed precisely as ways of appealing to God for
mercy. Yet sin does more than damage the
individual. If I commit a sin that only
God and I know about, there is still damage to the community of the Church, for
I have become less of a man and have voluntarily deprived myself of the grace I
need to be a faithful member of the Church.
It has to come out of me, and the Sacrament of penance is the way to get
it off my conscience and into the open, so to speak, without at the same time
causing further harm through scandal, such as happens when people flagrantly
confess their sins to the world on television or facebook. As a representative of the Church, the priest
has received the authority from Christ to forgive sins and to welcome the
sinner back to the communion of the Church.
Since confessions take place in the privacy of the confessional, only
the priest hears those sins, so the person can feel at ease in being honest and
open about his faults and failures of virtue.
He is morally bound to keep what he hears secret, even to the point of
never revealing that a particular person went to confession. Sweeter words have rarely been heard than “I
absolve you from your sins. Go in peace!” Grace is restored; the chance to begin anew
is received.
Having
been on both sides of the confessional, I can speak to the power of the
sacrament in restoring hope. When one
comes to the point where God is real in the existential situations of life, sin
shows itself for what it is: a turning away from the Love of a Merciful
God. Hearing the words of absolution is
a relief that knows no equal. For
priests, granting that absolution is beyond description especially when the
penitent has been putting him or herself through the ringer over sins that were
real, but never so big that God cannot pardon them. I have met great saints and terrible sinners
in the confessional, and everything in between.
One of my favorite confessions ever heard was. . . .
Of
course I’m not going there.
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