Having looked a couple of weeks ago at the Scriptural roots of the Sacrament of Marriage we are now going to turn to looking at the matter and the form of the sacrament itself.  If you recall, each sacrament has both matter and form.  The matter is that physical reality which is present and used by God to accomplish the sacrament and the form is the proper words and ritual of the celebration of that sacrament.  We can use a simple example from baptism.  In baptism, the matter is water poured over the head and the form is the words, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  If one of the two elements (matter or form) is not present, then the sacrament is not conferred.  So, for instance, in baptism, if the priest were to pour apple juice over a child’s head while praying the proper words, would the sacrament of baptism be conferred?  No, because it’s lacking in the proper matter.  If the priest were to use water and pour the water over the head of the child three times but say nothing, would the child be baptized?  No, because the proper form would not be there.  So, matter and form are essential for the sacrament. 

Now, when we move into the Sacrament of Marriage, what are the matter and form?  What are the essentials which must be present for the celebration of the sacrament?   The matter necessary for marriage to take place is one baptized man and one baptized woman, and the consummation of that marriage.  The form necessary for the marriage is the vows.  In addition, the Church also requires the marriage to take place in a Catholic church in front of a Catholic minister with the Catholic ritual, unless these aspects of the form are dispensed by the bishop himself.  This is a very important part – most particularly given our climate today and the debates which surround marriage.  At the end of our examination of marriage we will return to this question, however, it’s very important to keep in mind that the matter of the Sacrament of Marriage has always been one baptized man and one baptized woman, and without that matter being present it is not possible for marriage to be conferred.

Having examined the matter and form of the Sacrament of Marriage, we can now begin to look at the ritual itself.  The marriage ritual has been newly translated into English, from the Latin, so if you have been to a wedding recently and didn’t hear this exact translation, that is why!  The new translation is able to be used now and must be used starting in December.  There are two options for the celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage – the one is a Celebration of Matrimony Outside of Mass and the second is the Celebration of Matrimony Inside of Mass.  As the titles indicate, one takes place with Mass and the other does not.  It is oftentimes advised that a wedding between a Catholic and a non-Catholic take place outside of Mass, however, in both celebrations the ritual is the same. 

The ritual for the celebration of marriage begins with an Instruction; it reminds the couple as to what is about to take place; it speaks of their “intention to enter into marriage.”  It also reminds them of the sacramental nature of what they are about to do that, in the sacrament, they will receive a special grace from God, through which God “enriches and strengthens those he has already consecrated by Holy Baptism, that they may be faithful to each other for ever and assume all the responsibilities of marriage life.”  This is important to note that marriage, as with every sacrament, brings with it a special grace which accomplishes certain things – in marriage, that grace both binds the couple together in the sight of God and it also carries with it particular gifts to help that couple to truly live out their marriage in fidelity, permanence and with great fruitfulness.  It is this grace which they will need to rely on through the ups and downs of married life.

In our next article, we will turn to the second part of the ritual which includes: The Questions Before the Consent, The Consent, The Reception of the Consent, and the Blessing and Giving of Rings.
​
(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)
 

If you recall, last year I wrote a series of bulletin articles on the Sacraments – looking at each sacrament through the lens of the theological axiom “lex orandi, lex credendi” (the law of prayer is the law of belief).  This is a method of understanding the sacraments by looking at the rituals by which they are celebrated.  We also took a look at the scriptural roots of each sacrament, the matter and form of each sacrament, and finally looked at the effects of the sacraments.  I mentioned at the end of the last academic year that we had already examined five of the seven sacraments and planned to complete that look by examining the Sacrament of Matrimony and the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  In picking up where we left off last year we are now going to turn to the Sacrament of Matrimony.  First we will examine it in light of its scriptural basis, then examine its matter and form before moving on to the marriage ritual itself and then addressing a couple of important topics related to marriage. 

To begin with, we see throughout scripture, numerous metaphors and comparisons used to describe God’s relationship with people – we may think of the Good Shepherd and the flock, or we may think of the Body of Christ with its various parts as some of the most familiar.  One of the clearest metaphors that is used is the image of the bride and the groom.  In the Old Testament, particularly in the prophets, we see the relationship between God and Israel compared to the relationship between a groom and a bride.  We see in Jeremiah God directly referring to Himself as the husband of Israel, “for I am your husband” (Jeremiah 3:14, Douay-Rheims).  We see this analogy playing a major role in the book of Hosea and perhaps one of the most haunting and memorable uses of this can be seen in Ezekiel Chapter 16. 

This use of this metaphor is carried on into the New Testament, however in the New Testament it is further refined and used to express the love and the relationship between Christ and the Church.  We see St. John the Baptist discuss this and use the image of the groom to describe Christ’s relationship to the Church (John 3.29).  We also see a reference by Christ Himself to His role as the Bridegroom in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (cf. Matthew 25.1-13).  It is St. Paul who takes this metaphor and explains it theologically in his letter to the Ephesians where he speaks of the relationship between husband and wife and then directly points out that he is doing this in order to show us, “a great mystery” – one which he speaks “in reference to Christ and the Church.”  (cf. Ephesians 5.22-33). 

So it is clear from scripture that in order to understand marriage we must understand how God and His people, how Christ and His Church are bound to one another.  If a husband and wife are related to one another as Christ is to His Church then what do we see as the defining characteristics of that relationship?  The Church points us to three – fidelity, permanence and fruitfulness, flowing from the bond of love.  Just as Christ is bound to the Church faithfully, permanently and with a great fruitfulness, so too should a husband and wife be bound together, in love, faithfully, permanently and with great fruitfulness. 

This points out one of the fundamental ends of marriage, to reveal to the world the love that Christ has for His Church!  The Nuptial Mass itself speaks of this great calling when it prays in one of the collects, “O God, who consecrated the bond of Marriage by so great a mystery that in the wedding covenant you foreshadow the Sacrament of Christ and his Church…” and in one of the Prefaces we hear, “the Sacrament of holy Matrimony” is “the abiding sign of your [God’s] own love.”  Perhaps the clearest (and one of the most beautiful) references is found in one of the Nuptial Blessings, “O God, who, to reveal the great design you formed in your love, willed that the love of spouses for each other should foreshadow the covenant you graciously made with your people, so that, by fulfillment of the sacramental sign, the mystical marriage of Christ with his Church might become manifest in the union of husband and wife among your faithful.” What a beautiful and noble gift marriage is! 
​
(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

As we draw our look at the Anointing of the Sick to a close, we want to step back and examine a few things that surround the Anointing of the Sick which are sometimes, but not always, present in its administration and also examine the question of when the best time to be anointed is.

The first aspect that we want to examine is what is called Viaticum – Viaticum, is the administration of the Holy Eucharist for the final time before someone dies or is in danger of death.  The name itself is rooted in the Latin with the sense that Christ, present in the Eucharist, journeys with the person as they make the passage through death.  There is a short prayer added to the giving of the Eucharist as Viaticum, “May the Lord Jesus Christ protect you and lead you to eternal life.”  When we think about it, whether we are heading out on a vacation or simply walking through life there is a joy that comes from having companions and what greater companion could we want or need than Christ Himself walking with us through death?

The second aspect we will need to consider is the Apostolic Pardon.  The Apostolic Pardon is meant to be given towards the end of life by the priest and there are two options, one of which is “By the power which the Apostolic See has given me, I grant you a full pardon and remission of all your sins, in the name of the Father (+) and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  The Apostolic Pardon is not the same as sacramental absolution (for the forgiveness of sins which takes place in the Sacrament of Reconciliation), but instead forgives the temporal punishment due to sin (i.e. a plenary indulgence).  In other words, provided we die in the state of grace and yet have not done adequate penance for our past sin, this inadequate penance is forgiven through the Apostolic Pardon, which is a great gift.

The final aspect of the Anointing of the Sick to consider is ‘when do I call for a priest?’  For many years the sense was that a priest should be called as near to the moment of death as possible, there is nothing wrong with this, however, it is appropriate to anoint someone in a number of circumstances – such as before a surgery, or due to a declining physical condition which may not necessarily be leading to death, or a chronic illness.  While we may think of the Anointing of the Sick as “last rites” that is not necessarily the case and given how quickly one’s health can turn, it would probably be better to not wait until the “final moments.”  There is another aspect of that and that is that due to the declining number of priests it is not always possible to get a hold of a priest in the case of an emergency and so if it looks as if someone is in their final illness it would be appropriate to contact a priest as soon as possible so that a time can be arranged for him to come and administer the Sacrament.  This can also be helpful so that Viaticum can be administered as well, since it’s not unusual for people in their final days to slip into a coma and are unable to receive the Eucharist. 

The Anointing of the Sick is a beautiful and powerful sacrament and shows and makes present the love and strength of God in the midst of the terrible reality of sickness. 

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

We are continuing to look at the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick and now it’s time to turn to the ritual itself to see what it contains.  While there are a number of rituals that can be used given various circumstances, we are going to look at the ritual for an Anointing Outside of Mass, which gives us the most complete picture of the ritual.

The first part of the ritual is the usual Sign of the Cross and greeting and an optional Sprinkling Rite followed by the Instruction on the Sacrament, in the Introduction we see two things emphasized – the first is the healing nature of Christ, of how the sick were drawn to Him and His power to heal, the second we hear is a quotation from the Letter of St. James which urges the sick to call upon the priest for an anointing which will lead to the Lord “raising them up” (whether to good health or, as the case may be, to eternal life).  Following the Introduction it is appropriate for the sick person to make a good confession, or if that does not take place at that time, then a Penitential Act takes place, urging the sick person to seek forgiveness for one’s sins and then follows a short reading from scripture.

Following these introductory rites we move into the Liturgy of the Anointing.  This part of the ritual begins with a short litany, asking God’s help for the sick person and calling upon His mercy.  Following the litany the priest will then lay his hands on the head of the sick person – we have talked about the ancient gesture of the “laying on of hands” in prior articles and so we won’t repeat that discussion here, but will point out once again that it is associated with calling down the Holy Spirit and asking God to make His power manifest in a specific way, in this case, for healing.  There is then a brief prayer of thanksgiving over the blessed oil, giving praise to God for His power and the way He uses that power for our sanctification, then there is the anointing itself.

In the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the priest will anoint both the forehead of the sick person as well as the palms of the hands.  While he anoints the forehead with the Oil of the Sick in the sign of the cross, he prays, “Through this holy anointing may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.”  As he anoints the palms of the hands he prays, “may the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”  Note that these anointings and the words that are prayed constitute the matter and form of the sacrament – the matter is the anointing with the oil and the form are the words that are prayed with the anointing.  Following the anointing itself a prayer is prayed, then the Our Father and, if appropriate, the Eucharist is received, followed by a Prayer after Communion and a final blessing.

As I noted earlier in this article there are numerous variations on this basic ritual to take into account various situations, so, for instance, there is a shorter ritual designed to be used in hospitals or institutions where there may be a number of people to be anointed or when time is of the essence, there is a ritual for anointing within a Mass and then there are special prayers for use when someone is dying and rituals which include emergency situations, or Christian Initiation for the dying (including baptism, confirmation and reception of the Eucharist).  In our next article we are going to look at a few specific things surrounding Anointing of the Sick, including when one should be anointed. 

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

​As we continue our examination of the Anointing of the Sick, we want to take a moment and to examine the scriptural roots of the sacrament.  As we discussed before in previous articles, each of the sacraments is rooted in Christ’s own life on earth – continuing His mission and work through His Mystical Body, the Church.  We saw in our previous article how important the care of the sick was to Christ and this is a command that Christ gives to His Church, “heal the sick!” He says (Matthew 10:8) and the Church has done this ever since.

We see the institution of this sacrament in Jesus’ own day, when He sends out His disciples and we hear, “so they went out and preached that men should repent.  And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them” (Mark 6.12-13).  Furthermore this mission of anointing the sick is something that we hear of in the Epistle of St. James, “is there anyone ill among you?  Let them send for the priests of the Church and let the priests pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.  The prayer of faith will save the sick person and if they have committed any sins their sins will be forgiven them” (James 5.14-15).  

It is important to see in both of these citations that the use of oil was a part of the celebration of this sacrament from the very beginning.  As was mentioned previously, this oil of the infirm is blessed by the bishop (though in case of need can be blessed by any priest) once a year at the Chrism Mass.  The oil is the matter of the sacrament and combined with the ritual prayer (the form) that goes along with the administration of the oil on the forehead and palms of the sick person.  We will turn in our next article to the looking at the administration of the sacrament itself, but before we do, we need to take a look at the effects and graces which flow from its celebration.

The Anointing of the Sick offers the sick person strength, peace, comfort and courage in the midst of their illness. It also unites the person who is ill with the Passion of Our Lord.  Flowing from this union of the person’s suffering with Christ’s own suffering the entire Church benefits as she is sanctified by this offering up of the suffering as is the soul of the person who is sick.  Finally, the sacrament can help prepare the person for the final journey through death, granting them graces for a peaceful death.  

In our next article focusing on the sacrament we will review the ritual for the celebration of the sacrament and then also briefly look at Viaticum and then discuss when it is appropriate to receive this sacrament.  

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

We have spent some time during the Lenten Season looking at one of the two Sacraments of Healing – namely, the Sacrament of Reconciliation – now it’s time to turn our attention to the second sacrament of healing, the Anointing of the Sick – sometimes called Extreme Unction or Last Rites.  We will examine the sacrament first in light of the experience of human illness, then turn to Christ’s own concern for the sick and the scriptural roots of the sacrament prior to examining its celebration.

Illness and sickness are disturbing realities of the human condition.  In the midst of illness we experience powerlessness, limitation and the finite nature of human existence and this gives us a glimpse into the reality of death.  Sickness and illness can make us feel isolated from God and from others and, in some sense, even from ourselves, as we find the things that we are used to doing or able to do are not possible in the same way – even thinking itself can be difficult.  The General Introduction to the ritual book, “The Pastoral Care of the Sick” which contains the anointing ritual, states, “suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit.  Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear pain with greater courage.  From Christ’s words they know that sickness has meaning and value for their own salvation and for the salvation of the world.  They also know that Christ, who during his life often visited and healed the sick, loves them in their illness” (General Introduction, #1).  

Perhaps some of the most familiar stories from the gospels are those which show us this concern and love that Christ has for the sick and His desire to help them and to heal them – we have only to think of the healing of the paralytic, the healing of the man born blind, etc., to see that a fundamental and significant part of Christ’s public ministry was the healing of the sick and a pastoral solicitude for them in their illness and pain.  Those who are sick stand in deep need of God’s grace, lest they become discouraged or fall into despair or find their faith being weakened.  At the same time, when one encounters Christ in the midst of the suffering due to illness, then the illness itself can help us to mature and to discern what is of true value and provoke a search and return to God on a deeper level.  

It is to accomplish this union of the suffering and experience of the sick to Christ that the sacrament comes into play – while there may be times when one does recover physically from their illness because of the sacrament even more importantly is this uniting of the suffering and ill person with Christ.  The anointing of the sick “gives the grace of the Holy Spirit to those who are sick; by this grace the whole person is helped and saved, sustained by trust in God, and strengthened against the temptations of the evil one and against anxiety over death.  Thus the sick person is able not only to bear suffering bravely, but also to fight against it. A return to physical health may follow the reception of this sacrament if it will be beneficial to the sick person’s salvation” (General Instruction, #6).

This union which is brought about between the person in their illness and Christ Himself can be a great source of consolation and strength, as well as sanctifying the soul of the person who is ill.  Christ’s love for the sick is so clear that He actually identifies Himself with the person who is sick, “I was sick and you visited me” as He says in St. Matthew’s Gospel.  In our next article we examine some of the scriptural roots of the sacrament as well as the graces which flow from it.  

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

In my last article I spent some time talking about the preparation that is necessary for celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation and taking an honest look at one’s life through an examination of conscience.  The article this week will focus in on how to actually confess those sins well in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Traditionally, the Church has said that the easiest way to make a good confession is to honestly confess one’s sins by their nature and their number.  This means that one is specific enough so that the priest knows what one is confessing and also gives a sense of how often these sins have been committed.  Over time it may be hard to remember how often one has committed a particular sin and so it’s okay to give a general sense of it, for instance, by saying that it’s something that has been committed once or is of a frequent occurrence.  This  not only helps the priest to know how deep the roots of this sin go, but it also helps the penitent to get a sense of what part of their lives they need to work on, with the influence of grace and the help of the Holy Spirit.  It also helps one to be more honest and to confront the sin more directly, since it doesn’t call for an explanation or excuses to be given – it’s just the confession of the sin and its frequency - bluntly, honestly and directly.  

For this reason, it’s good to keep in mind, that it is not necessary to relay all the circumstances surrounding each sin.  If the circumstances are particularly important than it may be helpful for the priest to know, however every confessed sin does not require an explanation and, the rule of thumb is often that the more succinct the better.  Another thing to keep in mind is that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not a short counseling session.  While very real problems and issues can manifest themselves in various sins, if the situation requires some type of counseling or advice, it’s better to pursue that outside of the confessional by setting up a separate appointment.  Finally, confessing our sins directly by their type and number prevents the subtle human tendency to want to mitigate our sinfulness or to give excuses for it.  It is not the amount of words that are used to confess one’s sin that makes for a good confession, it’s the honesty and the directness that they are confessed with that does.  

As we continue to move through the Lenten season, it’s good to take a few minutes to ask ourselves if it has been too long since we’ve gone to confession and if it is, then to work to celebrate this sacrament in preparation for Easter.  There are quite a few opportunities to celebrate the sacrament here at St. Mary’s and the Archdiocesan website (www.archmil.org) actually has a listing of the confession times at various parishes throughout the Archdiocese if you are looking for a place and time that works for you and your schedule.  Imagine entering into Holy Week and the celebration of Easter without the heavy weight of sin being dragged along with us, what graces the Lord will bestow on us and what joy will fill our hearts!  

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

Last week we took a few moments to look at the great gift that is the Sacrament of Reconciliation and examined the parts of the celebration of the Sacrament.  This week, in our pursuit of growing in our knowledge of how to make a good confession, we are going to take a look at the preparation that should take place prior to celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
​ 
The first thing that one has to keep in mind is the distinction of types of sin.  There are two types of sin, one is mortal sin.  Mortal sins always involve what is called “grave matter” – where the nature of the sin is such that it can actually sever our relationship with God when we have full knowledge of what we are doing and give full consent to doing it.  Mortal sins remove sanctifying grace which is given to us at Baptism and can only be restored through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The second type of sin is venial sin which does not involve grave matter, but which we do with knowledge and consent.  While venial sins can be forgiven in a number of ways, mortal sins can only be forgiven by confessing them.  

The second nature of sin that we have to keep in mind is that there are sins of commission and sins of omission.  Sins of commission are those that we actively do, whereas sins of omission are those we do not do.  Finally, we have to keep in mind the nature of temptations.  Temptations that come into our mind without our giving any willful assent are not sins.  Temptations, in order to become sinful, need to be given consent to in order to take on a sinful nature.  In other words, the fact that a thought may come into the mind without willing it is not a sin, however, taking that thought and continuing to think about it, to dwell on it or to plot how to carry it out moves that temptation into the nature of sin, because we have moved to the point where we “agree” to entertain it.  

Once we have an understanding of sin, we can prepare ourselves to confess that sin by doing an examination of conscience.  An examination of conscience is the time taken to take an honest look at our lives and to hold it up to the life of Christ and see where we failed to follow in the way of Our Lord.  There are numerous ways we can do this.  For some, they find a few quiet moments examining their relationships, their actions, their thoughts and their words, is a sufficient way of coming to an understanding of what needs to be confessed.  For others, it’s helpful to have a guide of some sort – this could be the Ten Commandments, or it could be an examination of conscience put together by someone else, or there are wonderful guides that can be found on the internet, especially on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org).  There are even phone apps that are designed to facilitate this examination! 

As we make our examination of conscience it is good to keep in mind a number of things.  The first is that honesty is important in going to confession.  Any sin that is confessed is forgiven, any sin willfully hidden is not forgiven and, in fact, we add the sin of not being honest in confession!  A sin that is forgotten is still covered under the grace of the absolution that is offered.  Secondly, we have to keep in mind that we are not quite as unique as we think we are.  Sometimes people are hesitant to be honest because they wonder what the priest will think of them – I can honestly say, that most, if not all priests, have heard most every sin under the sun and confessing it will not shock him or cause him to think less of you, but often will be a moment of grace for the priest as well, who encounters such faith in another.  Finally, invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit is essential in making a good examination of conscience, it is He who illumines our minds and hearts and helps us to see ourselves clearly and while He helps us to know our sin, that knowledge is never an end in itself, it’s always to lead us to an encounter with God’s mercy where our sin is taken away and new life begins.  

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

In our last article, we examined a bit of the background for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the realty of sin.    We know that there are plenty of times when we fail to turn away from sin when we, in fact, embrace it – living our lives in ways that are contrary to the Gospel and contrary to the love of God and neighbor we are called to have.  This failure to live up to our call as baptized Christians is one of the fall-outs from original sin and of its resultant concupiscence (a desire to sin).  We know the pain that sin brings into our own lives as well as to the lives of others and the pain it gives to God to see us doing and saying and thinking things contrary to what He has asked of us.  But God, in His mercy, does not want us to live in our sin nor to remain in it, He wants us to be free of it and to forgive it so that we can begin again.  
​
In order to accomplish this, the Lord has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation – the sacrament of an encounter with God’s mercy, where we receive forgiveness of our sins and the graces necessary to not fall into sin again.  It is unfortunate that we do not avail ourselves often enough of this great sacrament.  I suspect that one of the reasons people stay away from the Sacrament is out of the fear that comes from opening oneself up and that vulnerability that comes from exposing our worst thoughts, words and actions to another.  I think sometimes it comes from a failure to recognize sin and the path of destruction it leaves behind it.  I also think it comes from our own “rationalization” of sin – the thought that, “it’s not really that bad.”  And then there is a fear which comes from not always knowing how to make a good confession, either because we have never been taught or because it has been so long since we have gone that we don’t quite know how to do it.  So, I thought that as we continue to reflect on the Sacrament of Reconciliation it would be good to point out a few things that can help us to make a good confession as well as understanding the structure of the sacrament itself.  

The celebration is comprised of five main parts – the Sign of the Cross, the Confession of Sins, the Assignment of a Penance, the Praying of an Act of Contrition, the Granting of Absolution.  The first step in making a good confession is to simply step into the confessional and begin with the Sign of the Cross, which the priest may begin or do with you.  Traditionally people then say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, it’s been ___ weeks / months/ years since my last confession.”  This isn’t done in order to embarrass someone who has not gone in a while, it’s to give the priest an understanding of what timeframe one is talking about when they confess their sins and is also helpful because, if it has been a while, the priest will know if he has to help give some guidance as the celebration unfolds.  

The next part is the actual confession of sins, in a future article I will discuss how to do this well and honestly, so, at this point, I will pass on to the Assignment of a Penance.  A penance is not a punishment; it’s a sign of the sorrow and resolve that one has to change.  It may be a prayer, or it may be some work of charity.  Either way, it is the equivalent of a husband giving his wife a bouquet of flowers after an argument - it’s not a punishment, but a visible and tangible sign that he is asking her forgiveness and pledging to begin again.  Along with the penance a priest may have a few words of advice to give encouragement and, hopefully, insight, to assist the process of ongoing conversion.  Following the penance being assigned, the penitent then prays an Act of Contrition, this may be one that has been learned as child or can be done in your own words.  There is always an Act of Contrition available in the confessional, so there is no need to be worried if you have forgotten the one you learned in Second Grade!  Finally, the priest raises his right hand and prays the Prayer of Absolution.  After the words, “This is my Body” and “This is my Blood” I do not think that there are any words as sweet to the human ears as, “I absolve you from your sins…” What joy fills the human heart when those words are spoken and the weight is lifted from our shoulders!  Truly one of God’s greatest gifts to us is the Sacrament of Reconciliation!  

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)

We are continuing our look at the sacraments over the course of this year and it’s now time to turn to the Sacraments of Healing – namely, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. We will first begin by looking at the Sacrament of Reconciliation which seems particularly fitting for this Lenten Season when we are called to repent from our sins and to turn more completely towards God. In order to understand why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation we need to begin by examining the reality of sin and the call to conversion. 

We can recall the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They are given innumerable blessings by God and live in communion with Him and with each other. There is only one prohibition that God gives them and that is that they must not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What do they end up doing? Of course it’s the one tree they choose to eat from! Under the tempting power of the serpent they give in and are disobedient to God and the fall-out from their decision to choose disobedience over obedience has carried on into the world ever since. We call this original sin and it is original sin that is forgiven in the Sacrament of Baptism, and in baptism we are given sanctifying grace, that grace which makes eternal life possible. However, still remaining is something called concupiscence – concupiscence is the desire to sin, the pull we feel to do what is wrong or to make ourselves the center of all things and it is this concupiscence which gives birth to our own sinfulness. Sin can be defined as either mortal sin or venial sin.  Mortal sins are those sins committed which involve what is called “grave matter” – in other words, particular sins which sever us from God’s love.  Mortal sins are committed when the sin itself involves grave matter, we fully consent to it and have full knowledge that we are sinning. Venial sins, on the other hand, are sins which do not involved grave matter. It may be easy to consider the distinction between the two as “everyday” sinfulness and less common sinfulness – but that’s not a useful distinction since it is quite possible for someone to continue to commit a mortal sin on an everyday basis. Venial sins harm the relationship with God, whereas mortal sins actually bring about the loss of sanctifying grace, a frightening reality indeed. 

Sin (both venial and mortal) affects both our relationship with God and with the Church. We read in the General Introduction to the Rite of Penance, “every sin is an offense against God which disrupts our friendship with him…” (#5) and later in that same paragraph, “by the hidden and loving mystery of God’s design men are joined together in the bonds of supernatural solidarity, so much so that the sin of hone harms the others just as the holiness of one benefits the others” (#5) – for this reason, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the forgiveness offered in it, reconciles us to God and also “with our brothers and sisters who are always harmed by our sins” (#5). In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, then, we see that we are reconciled to God as well as to the entire Church. 

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation both mortal and venial sins are forgiven. Venial sins can be forgiven in a number of ways, but mortal sins can only be forgiven in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  In our next article we will examine the structure of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as well as begin to take a look at how to make a good confession.

(This article is part of a series of articles on The Sacraments which will appear in the bulletin over the course of this year.)