Experience God’s merciful love in the sacrament of penance

When looking at Baptism last month, we saw how Baptism saves us from the state of spiritual death into which we were born due to Original Sin. We were washed and forgiven; we became children of God and heirs to the Kingdom. However, we know that Baptism does not take away our human weakness and tendency to fall into sin, even deadly sin.

God in his goodness does not abandon us to our frailty. Even though we only receive Baptism once, and with it the forgiveness of every sin and their punishments, God gives us another means to have our post-baptismal sins forgiven. Baptism truly saved us from death, like a life-raft in raging waters. Penance as a Sacrament was called by St. Jerome, “a second plank,” because it also saves us from the death of sin, sin committed after Baptism.

Jesus left us the Sacrament of Penance as a means to forgive mortal sins committed after Baptism. Imagine what life would be like if Baptism was the only known means to forgive mortal sin! Thank God that we have another Sacrament, especially so we may receive the Eucharist worthily. To know how to gain the most from the Sacrament of Confession, we will look at what are called the three Acts of the Penitent (the one making confession): Contrition, Confession, and Satisfaction. These are all necessary for a valid and salutary Confession.

Contrition refers to the sorrow we must have for sin to be forgiven. While deep feelings or even tears may be helpful, they are not necessary for contrition. Contrition is not a feeling, but a choice. It is an honest assessment of the truth of one’s crime against God and others, and a firm resolution to amend one’s life. Contrition lowers us in humility before God at the sight of our sins. God is pleased by a humble and contrite spirit, and his grace flows like a river to the lowest place, to the humblest heart. Without contrition, we cannot receive forgiveness, because God cannot forgive a sin we lack sorrow for committing. For this reason, contrition must extend to all our sins.

We gain much by seeking contrition for sin. Perhaps the best way to practice contrition is through frequent examination of conscience. Certainly, we should do this before going to Confession. However, we would receive great benefit from examination at the end of every day, followed by an Act of Contrition.

The second Act of the Penitent is Confession. By confession we accuse ourselves of our sins with the aim to obtain pardon by virtue of the power of the keys given to the Apostles. Jesus gave the 12 and all their successors the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven: the power to bind and loose, the power to absolve or retain. However, how are they to know what to bind or loose, what to forgive or retain, unless people tell them their sins? How would they know if people had sufficient sorrow for forgiveness, except for Confession?

Confession has great advantage for the individual soul and for society. How great a gift that we can tell our sins to a priest, knowing that he can never share those sins with anyone! In the priest, we hopefully find a trusted friend and advisor. We all know the damage when we hold the shameful knowledge of our faults inside. It eats away at us. We seek relief by blaming others for our faults and problems. In reality, we just need to get it out and know that we receive forgiveness. The chaos and disorder we see around us comes from the chaos and disorder in individual souls. Confession restores order to the individual soul, and so, Confession would restore peace and goodwill to society faster than any other means.

The final Act of the Penitent is Satisfaction. Satisfaction means to pay back a debt, to satisfy. Sin leaves us in debt to God. Confession of sin will repay some of what we owe him. However, some of the effects of sin remain. When we tell a neighbor “I’m sorry” after breaking their window, the fact of the broken window remains. Unless we include in the “I’m sorry” a resolution to repair the window, our words will not mean much. Satisfaction repays what we owe to God for sin.

In every Confession, the priest will give a penance. This aims, in some way, to achieve satisfaction. However, the true Christian seeks to live their whole lives in atonement for their sins and the whole world. We aim to repay to God by our loving acts of prayer and sacrifice what has been unjustly withheld from him by the sins and ingratitude of ourselves and others.

By having in mind the three Acts of the Penitent, we can grow to make better and better Confessions, and experience God’s merciful love as never before.