Special words from the Lord guide Patti Brunner in this Truth of the Spirit episode “Why Do We Go to Reconciliation?” It is #3 of the Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ series. It’s full of great teaching on Confession. For video and audio or to read the transcript please continue reading.
Before we go through the Stepping Stones of why we go to Reconciliation I want to share something the Lord told me this week. Remember these words are in the category of personal, private revelation and so I invite you to listen with a discerning heart and mind.
He said, “The person to person connection with God is evident in this Sacrament of the Holy Spirit as man ordained as priest sits in the persona of Christ to listen, counsel and forgive thus restoring the heart, mind and soul of the penitent one who confesses before God and man their sins.”
The Lord told me, “All sin causes a degree of separation from God. Lesser sin is easily overcome but causes woundedness that can become more serious if left unattended. Mortal or deadly sin causes a separation from God that can be eternal if there is no repentance and forgiveness. The Light of Christ does not immediately fade, rather it shines the light on the sin convicting the heart with sorrow and encourages repair through reconciliation.”
The Lord said, “Woe to the man in total darkness who rejects every offer of help to climb out of darkness. I leave the 99 and seek the lost one before they run off the cliff into the abyss as they run from my love for them.”
He said, “When my priest opens his heart fully to my grace given by the Holy Spirit his counsel to the sinner builds up the strength to sin no more and to properly confess all that should be confessed. Confession cleanses the soul and thus “makes room” for the dwelling of the Holy Spirit to live within the Church and its members.”
I’ll share a bit more of what the Lord told me a little later in this broadcast.
You are listening to Truth of the Spirit; I’m the host, Patti Brunner. Today’s episode is #3 of the Series Stepping Stones to the Fullness of Christ—Why Do We Go to Reconciliation? We will lean heavily on the teaching of the Catholic Church expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the New Testament of Holy Scripture.
Why do we go to Reconciliation? You may know this sacrament as Confession or Penance. Do you have an opinion about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and why we should go? What are your experiences: new & old? Good or bad? How has Reconciliation changed you? Personally, I have been transformed by this sacrament and have had many great experiences in the confessional. When should you go? Why don’t we go more often? Why do you go or don’t go? What is the advantage of going to confession?
We can find some answers in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It explains and teaches us how Reconciliation is a sacrament of healing, that we need continual conversion away from sin toward Christ and healing from the effects of sin. The Catechism also shares ideas for preparing by an examination of conscience and explains the spiritual effects of Reconciliation.
Catechism Paragraph #1421 explains, “the Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, (in Mark 2:1-12) has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.”
We need healing because of the effects of sin. Paragraph #1440 explains, “Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.”
Healing of the body takes time. Healing of our spirit can take time, too. We need continual conversion away from sin toward Christ after Baptism. One reason is that the closer we get to the Light of Christ the more easily we see our sin. It is like holding an egg up to a bright light and then seeing all the little flaws and weaknesses of the shell. Christ offers us grace at the beginning and along the way.
Paragraph #1428 says,“Christ’s call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, clasping sinners to her bosom, [is] at once holy and always in need of purification, [and] follows constantly the path of penance and renewal.” This endeavor of conversion is not just a human work. It is the movement of a “contrite heart,” drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first. (John 6:44, 1 John 4:10)”
The Catechism helps us to see why reconciliation is needed after Baptism. Paragraph #1425 says, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11) One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has “put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27) But the apostle John also says: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8) And the Lord himself taught us to pray: “Forgive us our trespasses,” (Matthew 6:12) linking our forgiveness of one another’s offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us.
It is a known phenomenon that many new Catholics leave the Church shortly after joining. They jump ship. Perhaps we need to explain to converts that restoration can take time. God in his gentleness does not shove his love but makes himself available even as we fail time after time by sin. Loss of grace is a shipwreck! God throws us a life preserver whether we are new members or cradle Catholics.
Paragraph #1446 says, “Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for allsinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as “the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace.” The Sacrament of Reconciliation is the life boat of the Church! Jesus is the rescue party.
Like a doctor Jesus can restart our heart or give us a new one. The Catechism makes this clear in Paragraph #1432. It quotes the prophet Ezekiel who says, “The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27) Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him: (Lamentations 5:21 says) “Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored!” God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God’s love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him. The human heart is converted by looking upon him whom our sins have pierced.”
The Lord told me this week, “In preparation the heart is conditioned toward understanding. Knowledge—for the sake of knowledge—means little. Knowledge—for the sake of God’s wisdom—is important in the relationship with God and your fellow man. This is the gift of understanding. Spend a little time on identifying sin. This is found in examination of the heart and action.
Paragraph #1454 tells us, “The reception of this sacrament [of the sacrament of Reconciliation] ought to be prepared for by an examination of conscience made in the light of the Word of God. The passages best suited to this can be found in the moral catechesis of the Gospels and the apostolic Letters, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the apostolic teachings.”
We can’t just rely on our own thoughts of good and bad but we need a well-formed conscience. We have a tendency to justify our sin. We have a tendency to forget what has been identified as things that pull us away from God. In the Sermon on the Mount in Chapters 5-7 of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives us the Beatitudes as a positive way to act, then Jesus talks about anger, lust, divorce, and the call to love your enemies. In Chapter 5 Jesus discusses hypocrites, forgiveness, generosity, attitude, and worry. In Matthew Chapter 7 Jesus explains judgment, the narrow gate, and the type of fruit that comes from our actions. In Romans Chapters 12 Paul brings up how to live with love for others even enemies. In Romans Chapter 13 Paul talks about obedience to authority and the commandments. In Verse 12 Paul says, “Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; 13 let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
When you have a close relationship with the Holy Spirit, you can ask the Spirit to help you identify your sins as you prepare to confess them. I’m guessing that the hard part for most is the confessing! But it’s really the best part!
Catechism Paragraph #1455 says, “The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.” That kind of makes confession sound like a free therapy session! It’s a win/win—healing of the soul and the mind! And it is so simple! The Lord wanted me to tell you that it’s simple! The ritual proceeds as following: the priest greets the penitent; they pray together—perhaps with the Sign of the Cross and, if there is time, a passage of scripture is read; the penitent confesses his sins, and the priest offers encouragement and advice; the penitent expresses his sorrow—usually the Act of Contrition—, absolution is then given. That’s how simple it is to do!
The Lord told me this week, “The only difficulty lies in honesty with self and the priest.” The Lord told me, “I am aware of all sin—there is none hidden from Me. As man admits to himself his sin then he is able to reconcile with Me. The man who refuses to admit his acts are sinful cannot.” Let me say that again, “The man who refuses to admit his acts are sinful cannot” reconcile with the Lord.
Catechism Paragraph #1456 points out, “Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: “All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; [of the Ten Commandments] for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly.” When Christ’s faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, “for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.”
Paragraph #1457 “According to the Church’s command, “… each of the faithful is bound by an obligation faithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year.” Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion … without having first received sacramental absolution…”
Going to Holy Communion can repair our hearts from venial sins. But going to Communion in a state of mortal sin is really bad; it causes us to be worse off. When we do not quickly confess our serious sins and receive reconciliation we can fall deeper into sin and away from God until we totally reject Him and blame Him for our distance instead of our own deadly choices. There is a great number of Catholics who have left the Church. Could this be the reason?
Catechism Paragraph #1458 tells us, “Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament [of Reconciliation] the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful.”
There are many saints who give witness of frequent confession such as Mother Theresa of Calcutta and Pope John Paul II. St. Augustine has said, “Whoever confesses his sins…is already working with God. God indicts your sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear ‘man’ – this is what God has made; when you hear ‘sinner’ – this is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made…” That’s a good word from Saint Augustine! “When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You do the truth and come to the light.”
Let’s take a moment and look at the key spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance. First and foremost is our reconciliation with God and the recovery of his grace. We also are reconciled with the Church. We receive remission of the eternal punishment in hell that was incurred by mortal sins; we also receive remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin. We receive peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation. And we receive an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle. This sacrament is a win/win!
We can see in the Gospels that the sacrament of Reconciliation was instituted by Christ. In the Gospel of Luke 15 Jesus tells the parable of leaving the 99 sheep to find the lost one. Then He says in Chapter 15:7, “I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.” The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the center of which is the merciful Father. (Luke 15:11-24) Jesus points out the draw of false freedom, the rejection of the father and the rejection of the father’s house. This led the son into extreme misery after he squanders the immense gifts from the father by turning to sinful pleasures. The son then experiences shame at what he has done. He begins to long for what the father had available and makes the choice to repent and declare himself guilty to the father. As he journeys back he discovers the father’s generous welcome and joy. The Catechism Paragraph #1439 tells us, “all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life – pure, worthy, and joyful – of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father’s love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful way.”
Catechism #1443 points out that“During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God’s forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God. (Luke 19:9)
Let’s see what other Scripture might help us understand the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In John 8: 1-11 Jesus says to the adulteress: “Go now and sin no more.” In Matthew 6:9-15 Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In Mark 2: 9-12 Jesus tells the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven, get up and walk.” In the Gospel of Mark 1:15 Jesus proclaimed the good news by saying, “Repent and believe – the kingdom of God is near!” Jesus spoke again of the joy felt when something lost was found in Luke 15: 8-10 with the Parable of the Lost Coin. Do these scripture stories sound familiar?
Jesus provides us an example of the Sacrament of Reconciliation with the story of Zacchaeus who was known to be a sinner. Zacchaeus is drawn to God and chooses to go to him. He admits his sin, repents, and offers to provide restitution. Jesus forgives and grants salvation. The Gospel of Luke 19:1-10 says, “2A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. 3He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. 5When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ 6So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. 7All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ 8Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ 9Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’” Zacchaeus had a conversion of heart. The Greek word for conversion is “metanoia” which means: “change your mind” or “change your heart” the Gospel translates the word as “repent”.
As we examine our conscience our heart can be changed by listening to the commands of Jesus. Jesus repeated the commandments of love in the Gospel of Mathew Chapter 22 verses 37-39. In Matthew Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself.” Love is key! I’ll share with you an examination of conscience based on the explanation of love in 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 verses 4-7. These scriptures should be familiar to you.
1. Love is patient. Have I been impatient? Intolerant? Abrupt? Irritable?
2. Love is kind. Have I avoided being helpful and kind? Have I been mean? Demanding? Harsh? Cruel?
3. It is not jealous. Have I been jealous of the prosperity of others? Resentful? Suspicious? Grudging?
4. Love is not pompous. Have I been condescending? Arrogant? Disrespectful? Contemptuous?
5. It is not inflated. Have I been full of myself? Full of pride? Controlling?
6. It is not rude. Have I been impolite? Discourteous? Contemptuous?
7. It does not seek its own interests. What ways have I been selfish?
8. It is not quick-tempered. Did I lose my temper? Speak or act in rage?
9. It does not brood over injury. Have I held a grudge? Tried to get even?
10. It does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Did I compliment wrongdoers who “got away with it”? Gossiped? Denied the truth of a witness?
11. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Have I refused to trust God? Have I avoided commitment to Jesus? Have I refused to use God’s gifts?
Pray with me: Lord, we have been called to make a decision to examine our conscience, repent, and to receive your sacrament of healing, Reconciliation. Forgive us for the effect of our sin upon the world. This week we reach out to You. We choose to accept your Grace. You have taught us that sin is an abomination to You and it destroys the relationship between the Heavenly Father and His children. But You, sweet Jesus, mend the tear, the rift. Jesus, You are the bridge to the Father over the chasm formed by sin. We choose to cross over to the Father’s Love. We long to cross over to peace and happiness. We throw off the bondage of the world and set our eyes on You. Your Spirit dwells among us always seeking the open heart – the heart that releases the anger and bitterness and embraces love for God and fellow man. Change us to accept our part in Your Body. Show us this week that You are real. Show us that You care about us so that we may soon be able to hand our lives over to You. –Amen!
Our next Stepping Stone episode will be “How do I learn the Good News?” You have been listening to Truth of the Spirit and “Why Do We Go to Reconciliation?” I hope you listened to our previous episode, “What is the Church?” It also had a special word from the Lord and some great information about the Church. I’m Patti Brunner. We invite you to subscribe and come back next time, because there is more. With the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
If you would like to read the transcript of this episode please check out PatriarchMinistries.com/181 . We’ll see you next time!
