Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation 

 In Living the Liturgy

Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, we receive the new life of Christ. Now, we carry this life “in earthen vessels,” and it remains “hidden with Christ in God.” We are still in our “earthly tent,” subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin. (CCC 1420) 

 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. (CCC 1440) Thus, Christ Jesus instituted the sacrament of Penance & Reconciliation for all sinful 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.” (CCC 1446) 

 The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, 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 & Reconciliation and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. (CCC 1421) 

 The sacrament of Penance & Reconciliation obtains pardon from God’s mercy for the offense committed against Him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion. (CCC 1422) 

 It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament, i.e. acknowledgment and praise – of the holiness of God and of His mercy toward sinner. It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest’s sacramental absolution, God grants the penitent “pardon and peace.” It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles. (CCC 1424) 

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