At the same time, Confession permits sinners to reconcile with the Church, which also is wounded by our sins. The sacrament, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, is known by many names. Finally, it is also called the sacrament of Reconciliation because it reconciles sinners to God and then to each other In this text, we will refer to the sacrament as the sacrament of Penance.
Through this sacrament, we meet Christ in his Church ready and eager to absolve and restore us to new life. The graces of Christ are conferred in the sacraments by means of visible signs — signs that are acts of worship, symbols of the grace given and recognizable gestures through which the Lord bestows his gifts.
Each of the faithful who has reached the age of discretion is bound to confess his or her mortal sins at least once a year and always before receiving Holy Communion. The confession of venial sins is strongly recommended by the Church, even if this is not strictly necessary, because it helps us to form a correct conscience and to fight against evil tendencies.
It allows us to be healed by Christ and to progress in the life of the Spirit. Christ has entrusted the ministry of Reconciliation to his apostles, to the bishops who are their successors and to the priests who are the collaborators of the bishops, all of whom become thereby instruments of the mercy and justice of God. They exercise their power of forgiving sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The absolution of certain particularly grave sins like those punished by excommunication is reserved to the Apostolic See or to the local bishop or to priests who are authorized by them. Any priest, however, can absolve a person who is in danger of death from any sin and excommunication. The effects of the sacrament of Penance are: reconciliation with God and therefore the forgiveness of sins; reconciliation with the Church; recovery, if it has been lost, of the state of grace; remission of the eternal punishment merited by mortal sins, and remission, at least in part, of the temporal punishment which is the consequence of sin; peace, serenity of conscience and spiritual consolation; and an increase of spiritual strength for the struggle of Christian living.
Indulgences are the remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. The faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains the indulgence under prescribed conditions for either himself or the departed. In fact, there is a virtue of penance. This is a supernatural virtue by which we are moved to detest our sins from a motive made known by faith, and with an accompanying purpose of offending God no more and of making satisfaction for our sins.
Even today, for those outside the Church in good faith, not possessing the sacrament of Penance, it is the only means for forgiveness of sins. The sacrament of Reconciliation is a sacrament in which the priest, as the agent of God, forgives sins committed after Baptism, when the sinner is heartily sorry for them, sincerely confesses them, and is willing to make satisfaction for them.
As they gaped and shrank back in a mixture of fear and dawning hope, Jesus spoke to them reassuringly. Jesus knew well that many of us would forget our brave baptismal promises and commit grave sins after our Baptism.
This power to forgive sin which Jesus conferred upon his Apostles was not, of course, to die with them; no more so than the power to change bread and wine into his Body and Blood, which he conferred upon his Apostles at the Last Supper.
Jesus did not come upon earth just to save a few chosen souls, or just the people who lived on earth during the lifetime of his Apostles. Jesus came to save everybody who was willing to be saved, down to the end of time.
He had you and me in mind, as well as Timothy and Titus, when he died on the Cross. It is evident then that the power to forgive sins is a part of the power of the priesthood , to be passed on in the sacrament of Holy Orders from generation to generation. It may be that at one time or another we have found the sacrament of Reconciliation a burden.
The Purpose of Confession:. That reconciling of man to God is the purpose of Confession. And by doing so, we make it even easier to sin some more. Then, in the Sacrament of Confession, grace can be restored to our souls, and we can once again resist sin. Why Is Confession Necessary? Non-Catholics, and even many Catholics, often ask whether they can confess their sins directly to God, and whether God can forgive them without going through a priest. But the question misses the point of the Sacrament of Confession.
The sacrament, by its very nature, confers graces that help us to live a Christian life, which is why the Church requires us to receive it at least once per year.
Moreover, it was instituted by Christ as the proper form for the forgiveness of our sins.
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