The forgiveness of sins

The Catholic Church has seven sacraments—Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Communion, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Anointing of the Sick. These form the life of the Catholic Church, with each sacrament being what is called an outward sign of an inward grace.

"Catholic confession demands a rigorous examination of conscience and real as opposed to exhibitionist contrition. " (CNS photo/Vasily Fedosenko, Reuters)

When we participate in the sacraments worthily, they provide us with graces—the life of God in our soul. In worship, we give to God that which we owe God; in the sacraments, God gives us the graces necessary to live a truly human life.

Confession is one of the least understood of the sacraments of the Catholic Church. Even worse, it is one of the under-utilised sacraments. Confession—or the sacrament of reconciliation, as it’s officially known—has become the one sacrament casual Catholics feel free to skip, mostly from lack of proper understanding about what seeking absolution actually entails.

The strange thing is that at the time when so many lay Catholics abandon the confessional, the secular culture is increasingly awash in confession, apology, and acts of contrition of every sort, from books to Internet to movies and to the confessional style of journalism.

It may be Catholics feel uneasy being part of this narcissist culture that fuels mawkish exhibitionism of our “me-me” generation. But confession has always been private and confidential, even when it is not done through the confessional, an innovation introduced since 1973. So that can’t be the explanation.

Early 20th-century Catholics preferred taking Communion only once a year—some referred to it as their Easter duty—but they generally confessed their sins far more regularly. A few years ago, many Catholics would not have thought of accepting the Eucharist until after cleansing one’s soul through confession. Today the situation is almost exactly the reverse: Entire congregations receive Communion while the confessionals remain mostly empty. Why?

The roots for that, in my opinion, are in the programme of renewal that emerged from the Second Vatican Council.

It said almost nothing about penance and reconciliation. The Church’s emphasis after Vatican II was less on guilt and damnation and more on love and forgiveness. Post-Vatican II, the Church entered the efforts of our age to empower the people. This left some Catholics figuring that they could confess their sins directly to God in prayer, as Protestants do.

I am not saying the move from the arcane legalisms of Catholic transgression was a bad thing, but it has had ramifications. It has inspired people to see themselves as adults thinking less about whether they are breaking the rules and more about their attitudes, intentions, and ideas about how to live a Christian life. But truth be told, the sacrament of reconciliation took a knock from this attitude and widened the growing gap between Church teachings and the daily practices.

As Catholic adults we now need to cultivate the humility needed for us to come face to face before God and confess our failings. Confession is not an external cleanser whereby after you are done confessing your sins everything is good. Catholic confession demands a rigorous examination of conscience and real as opposed to exhibitionist contrition.

Most Catholics are more comfortable with the Mass, which fits better with the consumerist mental attitude of our times, of accepting something for nothing.

We want grace without contrition. Unfortunately for us, God’s justice is restorative; it demands that we first understand what we have done wrong, and then, as an act of contrition, we do something to right what we have wronged, and do everything in our power with a sincere and contrite heart not to repeat the same mistakes.

As the psalmist saw long ago, God will not spurn contrition, but God cannot be hogwashed either. The sooner we learn the humility of subjecting ourselves to proper confession, the sooner we will grow closer to God.

In this Year of Faith the sacrament of reconciliation can also be an added indulgence to renew our faith.