Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: Due to the pandemic, we were unable to hold weekly classes for 22 tenth-grade Confirmation students, so we prepared a series of 14 lessons on the material, along with some questions to answer. If these lessons are of value to you, put them to whatever use you can. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well, so please send them along, either to the postal mailing address or the email address below, and we will interrupt this series to answer them.
Special Course On Catholicism And Life — XII
Jesus’ name means “Savior” because He came into the world to save us from our sins. Sin is our greatest obstacle to reaching Heaven, so Jesus established a remedy to obtain forgiveness for sin when He gave us the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation or Confession. This sacrament was given to us on that first Easter Sunday two thousand years ago. Remember what happened that night?
The apostles, frightened that what happened to Jesus on Good Friday might also happen to them, were locked in a house in Jerusalem. Suddenly, Jesus came through the locked door and said to the apostles, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (John 20:21-23).
Notice what Christ is saying. He is giving the apostles, who were the first priests, the power to forgive sins in His name. He is telling them that a priest has the choice of forgiving a person’s sins, or refusing to forgive them if he feels that the person is not truly sorry. But in order for the priest to exercise that choice, a person must first tell his or her sins to the priest. We could tell God directly that we are sorry for our sins, and we should say an Act of Contrition every night before we go to sleep, but Jesus wanted us to tell our sins to a priest. Why?
First, it teaches us to acknowledge our sins with humility, something that might not happen if we were talking to God directly. Second, the priest can give us sound advice on how to avoid sin in the future, while the person praying in private receives no helpful instructions. Third, there might be an attempt on our part to convince ourselves that some word or action was not really a sin, but the priest can compel us to be honest with ourselves and with God. Fourth, when the priest says the words of absolution or forgiveness over us, we can be sure that our sins are forgiven. Fifth, we receive graces from the Sacrament of Penance that bring us closer to God and help us to avoid sin in the future.
There are four elements of the sacrament: (1) contrition or sincere sorrow for sins, (2) confession or telling the priest the kinds of sins we committed and the number of times we committed them, (3) absolution or forgiveness from the priest that takes away our sins, and (4) satisfaction or performing some prayer or good deed to make up for our sins (sometimes called our penance).
Remember that the priest cannot tell anyone what you tell him in Confession. This is called the Seal of Confession, and priests have been jailed or killed for refusing to reveal the sins they heard in Confession. Remember also that you should never leave out a sin when you go to this sacrament. Some sins are embarrassing to tell, but the priest has heard them all at one time or another. If you knowingly leave out a sin on purpose, the whole Confession is invalid. So if you have a particular sin you are afraid to tell, make it the first one you tell so you aren’t tempted to leave it out at the end. And if you are not sure if something is a sin, ask the priest and he will tell you.
The Sacrament of Penance is like eternal life insurance. It paves the way for us to get to Heaven. We should go to Confession at least once a month, and more often if we are conscious of having committed a mortal sin. This sacrament is Jesus’ Easter gift to us. He could have said that once we had sinned, it was all over for us. But instead He makes His mercy and forgiveness available no matter how many times we sin.
List Of Answers
ABSOLUTION
ADVICE
APOSTLES
CONFESSION
CONTRITION
EASTER
GRACES
HUMILITY
MONTH
PENANCE
PRIESTS
RECONCILIATION
SATISFACTION
SAVIOR
SEAL
Quiz
- Jesus’ name means ______________________ because He came to earth to save us from our sins.
- On Easter Sunday night, Jesus told the __________________ “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.”
- That same power to forgive sins is also given today to ____________.
- Confession is also called_______________________ or _________________.
- We must acknowledge our sins with ______________________.
- The priest can give us good ____________ in Confession.
- _______________________ is sincere sorrow for having offended God.
8.___________________ means telling what sins we committed, how many times, and what the circumstances were.
9.___________________ is the words the priest uses to take away our sins. - ___________________ means performing the penance the priest gives us.
- The _____ of Confession means the priest can’t tell anyone what we told him.
- We receive ______________ from the sacrament to help us get to Heaven.
- We should go to Confession at least once a _______________.
- The Sacrament of Penance is Jesus’ ______________ gift to us.
