The Sacraments of Reconciliation

Hello All: 

Three things Jesus did during his time on Earth:

    1. He was born into this world to perform his ministry on Earth and preached the Gospel.

    2. He was crucified, died and descended into the underworld to preach the Gospel to those who came before him.

    3. He Ascended into Heaven to continue his work on Earth through the Holy Spirit, present through the sacraments that he gave us.It is our faith and understanding that reveals the significance of the sacraments of the church.

 ***

The first things Jesus did when he rose from the dead was to celebrate mass. While the disciples were on the way to this mass, he explained the scriptures to them. They recognized the breaking of bread which is code term for the Eucharist in the early church. And on the night when he met the apostles in the locked room, this was the first time he instituted a sacrament after he died and rose again. This was the sacrament of penance, to receive forgiveness of sins after baptism. 

It was very appropriate for Jesus to institute this sacrament on that night because who needed to go to confession the most that night but the apostles? And so he forgave them for the sin of betraying him. You can imagine the moment when Jesus suddenly appeared in the locked room. The apostles might have been frightened and concluded that Jesus had come back to get even with them. But, instead, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit on them and proclaimed, "Peace be with you!"

 You can imagine the moment when Jesus got to Peter and asked him what his sins are.

"Well, I denied you?" confessed Peter.

"How many times did you deny me?" further probed Jesus. (maybe a reminder of how he’s always right?)

Regardless, Jesus forgave Peter and instructed him to do the same to others.

Often it is asked, "Why do we have to confess our sins to a priest?" But we are asking the wrong question. We should be really be asking, "Why do we need the sacraments at all?" And once you understand that Jesus was born into this world to perform his ministry; was crucified and died to descend into the underworld and preach the Gospel to the dead; and finally ascended into Heaven to continue being with us through the Holy Spirit and his sacraments, you gain the full appreciation that those sacraments are the way that we interact with Jesus. 

You wouldn't ask, "Why do I need a priest or deacon to be baptized? Why not simply say that I identify as a Catholic and that's it? There's nothing stopping us from doing that. But that is not the way Jesus set it up.

The Sacrament of the Eucharist? Why should we have to go up for communion each week in church? Why can't we simply commune with God in nature on Sunday mornings as some people say? Again, there's nothing stopping us from doing this? But that is not the way Jesus set it up.

You see, the whole sacramental reality of the Church is that Jesus reaches out to us in our day. That's one of the things that are so fascinating about the sacraments.

Sometimes people refer to confession as the sacrament of reconciliation. But that isn't entirely true. The fact is, confession is just one of the sacraments of reconciliation. There are actually three of them, and most people don't think of them in these terms. 

The first sacrament that reconciles us with God is the sacrament of Baptism. Through it we are cleansed of original sin. 

The second sacrament of reconciliation may surprise you. It's Communion. For when we go to mass in a state of mortal sin, Jesus is present in the Eucharist; cleanses us and reconciles us with God. “This is the blood shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins." Our sins are forgiven through the worthy reception of the Eucharist which results in us being in a state of Grace, not in a state of mortal sin. 

The third state of reconciliation is confession itself. Understanding that Jesus ascended into Heaven to send out his Holy Spirit to reach us through the sacraments of his church, we realize that the penance is an ongoing conversion and forgiveness of our sins, just as the apostles slipped and fell. 

Remember, the Last Supper was the apostles night of ordination, and on that night they all committed a mortal sin. That's why Jesus came back to them on the day of his resurrection and instituted the Sacrament of Forgiveness and empower them to be vessels of his Grace.