Sacraments - Reconciliation

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The Sacrament of Reconciliation

What is this Sacrament?

1. Penance? Confession? Reconciliation? 
What do you we call it?

All three are correct. The Sacrament of Penance has existed since the early days of the Church. In the letter of James, it speaks of the early Christians confessing their sins to one another. When Jesus did not return (his second coming) as quickly as they had expected, the early Church developed the penitential rite at Mass as the means to welcome back to the Eucharistic table those who had not lived up to their baptismal commitment. As time went on, the ritual that came to be called ‘Penance’ began. It consisted of a public confession and penance to be completed before the ‘penitent’ was reconciled to the Eucharistic Table. Thus penance, confession and reconciliation are all three word that have become part of our vocabulary in referencing the sacrament of celebrating God’s forgiveness of our sins.

2. How often is the sacrament of reconciliation (penance) to be celebrated?

In the early church, penance was celebrated only once in a person’s life. Therefore, serious sinners would often postpone celebrating the sacrament until old age or near death. As this public form of penance was rather unpopular, private confession began to develop. People were encouraged to celebrated confession at least three times a year. By 1215, confessing sins at least once a year was joined to the Easter duty of receiving Communion. Probably no sacrament had undergone more change than the sacrament of penance.

3. What are the essential elements of the sacrament of Penance?

a. Contrition or sorrow is at the heart of this sacrament. A person of any age that approaches the sacrament needs to have genuine sorrow for their sins and a real desire to change – thus leading to ongoing conversion to Jesus Christ and the living out of one’s baptismal commitment to live as a follower of Christ.

b. Confession – that is ‘saying out loud’ to the priest one’s personal sin(s) is a second essential element. The actual manner of doing this has changed from public saying of one’s sins to complete anonymity (behind the screen) to the present options of either behind the screen or face-to-face with the priest.

c. Acts of Penance in the early church, this may have been a very harsh, public form of penance. Today, it is much more of a symbolic penance that the priest gives to the penitent. Its purpose has not changed – an external action to indicate the interior change of heart of the penitent worked by God’s grace. The ‘penance’ may be prayers, readings or actions that the priest (confessor) gives to the penitent.

d. Absolution is the fourth element of the sacrament and one that most are familiar with – that is the words of absolution that the priest speaks to the penitent. These words convey God’s forgiveness for our sins and formally reconcile us to the Church (the community).