Sacrament of Reconciliation: Social Transformation Through Christ's Healing

When was the last time you went to confession? Why is it important to go to confession? With the Church, we are aware that in recent times, many of the faithful have shied away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or confession as we usually call it. Some try to convince themselves that they can do away with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. "Why go to confession? I will be committing the same sins anyway." "I can confess directly to God." "I'm not that bad." These statements and other justification of one's sins put the Sacrament of Reconciliation in question. Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical Reconciliation et Paenitentia (RP), explains the possible causes of this tendency.

For the Sacrament of Reconciliation is indeed being undermined, on the

one hand by the obscuring of the moral and religious conscience, the lessening

of a sense of sin, the distortion of the concept of repentance, and the lack of

effort to live an authentically Christian life. (RP 28)

For our country which is in great need of reconciliation and healing, renewing and affirming our faith in this Sacrament will contribute significantly to our desire and ability to do our bit to transform our society for the better. Personal and social sins have to be brought to this sacrament so individuals and communities may be healed and transformed. "If my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Reconciliation as a Gift

On the evening of that first day of the week, even though the disciples

had locked the doors of the place where they were for fear of the Jews, Jesus

came and stood before them, "Peace be with you," he said. (Jn. 20:19)

The disciples of Jesus were hiding for fear that they might be arrested, too. There was a guilty feeling among them for running away and leaving Jesus alone to be captured. It was in this context of fear and guilt that the Risen Christ appeared to them and offered his gift of peace as he said "Peace be with you." Their hearts were set free of guilt and fear and they felt the incredible joy of meeting the Risen Christ who brought them reconciliation before God and among one another. They were freed now to live empowered and sharing in his Risen Spirit.

We who also feel that way when we sin -- guilty, afraid, unworthy -- are offered the same peace by Christ through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Even during his earthly ministry, Jesus often forgave the sins of those who came to him. He came to save us from our sins, not to condemn us. Jesus continues to call all of us who are hurting and burdened by our misgivings to the peace and freedom that only his reconciliation can bring. By entrusting to his disciples this ministry of reconciliation, Jesus - the Risen Christ - continues to bring us the experience of reconciliation, a grace received in the very encounter with the Reconciler himself.

By our sins, we are alienated from God, from others and even from our own authentic selves. It is a great gift, therefore, to have a sacramental act in which we can confess our sins, and through the absolution of the priest, receive the Lord's forgiveness, and be accepted again in God's fold. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we experience Christ the Risen Lord's deep love and healing mercy, coming within us through the Holy Spirit.

Transformation through Christ's Healing

Mary Magdalene, the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, Peter, Thomas and the other apostles encountered first hand the transforming power of Christ's resurrection. They could not remain the same after experiencing the power of the Risen Christ. St. Paul, who had not known the historical Jesus, but experienced Christ the Risen One, spoke of the power of Christ's resurrection. "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his suffering by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead." (Phil. 3:10-11)

But let us take a look at Peter's experience of the process of grace-filled actions of the Risen Christ in reconciliation.

When they had eaten their meal, Jesus said to Simon Peter

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."

At which Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." A second time he put his question,

"Simon, son of John, do you love me?"

"Yes, Lord," Peter said, "you know that I love you."

Jesus replied, "Tend my sheep." A third time Jesus asked him,

"Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because he had

asked a third time, "Do you love me?" So he said to him:

"Lord, you know everything. You know well that I love you." Jesus said to him,

"Feed my sheep." (Jn. 21:15-17)

What's in a ritual? Peter's experience of the merciful compassion of Jesus was an experience of deep spiritual conversion and resurrection. Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loves him, each time referring to a higher type of love. Three times Peter professed his love for Jesus but with a major change in the process. Because this encounter with the Risen Christ changed Peter bragging about his own fidelity (Jn. 13:37, Lk. 22:33, Mk. 14:29-31) to acknowledging his complete dependence on Jesus even in his very love for Jesus. So with this new grace of the Holy Spirit from the Risen Christ, Peter boldly proclaimed the Good News and led the other apostles in testifying to the Risen Christ.

When we go to confession, we confess our sins to the priest, who has been ordained, commissioned by Christ, to bring us Christ's forgiveness of our sins. By the power of the Risen Christ present thru the Holy Spirit, the priest absolves us from our sins and declares the Lord's forgiveness to us. Confessing our sins creates an action, an event in which the sins which had afflicted us can be brought to light and dealt with objectively. The sacrament effects a certain closure to our past sinful experience. Such sacramental action is needed because we are embodied spirits and we need material signs to grasp and experience the spiritual reality of being forgiven. God uses rituals to speak to us and offer us healing.

When we come to Jesus Christ in humility and sincerity, he takes away our humiliation and restores to us the dignity he always intends us to have - the honor of being, through him and the Spirit, the adopted sons and daughters of God our Father.

An actual life-giving transformation happens as we are brought back to the life of grace with God through this Sacrament. The Holy Spirit's healing and transforming grace is experienced by the penitent. It is not only forgiveness that we receive in confession, we are also moved to strive harder to become better persons and Christians. We cannot remain the same person after each experience of God's gift of peace and healing.

What follows after this experience of reconciliation is a call to mission - "Feed my sheep."

Father, Heal our Land

Let us heed the call of the Church to rekindle our faith in the grace of healing of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We surely can cooperate with Christ's call to repentance and to be "reconciled to God." Here are some actions we can do to collaborate with the grace we receive in the Sacrament of Reconciliation and bring Christ's healing power to transform our society.

1. Encourage your family to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Prepare the members of the family by having a penitential rite at home before going to Church for confession. Ask for forgiveness from each member of the family and forgive those who have offended you. Ask the Holy Spirit in prayer to help all forgive one another. Remember, Jesus taught us to pray "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sinned against us."

2. Practice the virtue of humility. Accept the Christian truth that you have done wrong, rather than defend or try to justify your sins. As the Psalmist prays: Harden not your hearts and turn back to God.

3. Engage your social conscience. Though Pope John Paul II reminds us that the root of social sin is always in personal sin, we are also called to look at how our individual sins and inactions contribute to the formation of sinful social structures. We, Filipinos are sometimes to timid to speak up when something wrong is being done. The grace of the indwelling Spirit will help us to defend those who are oppressed, stand up for what is right, resist temptations and witness to a simple lifestyle.

4. Help organize a celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the Catholic Christians in your barangay, in public schools - both for students and the teachers. The Church has entrusted to the whole community of believers the task of doing everything possible to witness to reconciliation and to bring it about in the world (RP 8). Communities who celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation together are signs of conversion to the world.

5. For your penance, do some Corporal Works of Mercy. The Introduction to the New Rite of Reconciliation assets:

In order that this sacrament of healing may truly achieve its purpose

among Christ's faithful, it must take root in their entire life and move them to

more fervent service of God and neighbor. (No. 7)

How we can serve and love our neighbor is presented to us in the Corporal Works of Mercy. St. Matthew's account of the Last Judgment (cf. Mt. 25:35f; 42f) lists the corporal works of mercy as follows: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit those in prison, visit the sick and bury the dead." Look for institutions, organizations through which you can volunteer to help serve those in need. Be living signs of the work of the Kingdom of God through the corporal works of mercy. Pray for the grace and strength to help make other people's lives better and more human. These merciful acts are rooted in, and empowered by God's merciful love received in the Sacrament of Reconciliation -- not just on our good intentions. The merciful grace of God moves us to go beyond ourselves.

6. End your day with a few minutes of silence and recite the Jesus' Prayer: Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.

Let us work towards renewing the desire of Catholics to receive Christ's gift of peace and healing in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Encourage those who have shied away from confession to return to the Sacrament. Seek ways to enable people to encounter the Reconciler and the peace that flows from his merciful compassion. With a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we can imagine the "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents," and much more the joy in heaven and on earth for a community of repentant sinners.

THE WINDHOVER

The Philippine Jesuit Magazine

Fourth Quarter 2003