Louis BIRA sx
“Come unto me all you who labor and are over burden and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28)
This call of Jesus is more urgent in our present day than ever before. The Lord in seeing our struggle with the burden and load of sin calls us to come to him in order to give us rest. This is the same rest that SaintAugustine talks about in his Confessions “our hearts are restless until they rest in you”.
- Confession: a misunderstood sacrament
It seems however that today we either consciously or unconsciously avoid this call of the Lord to rest in him, in a world that makes us to believe that human happiness and fulfillment are one’s achievements. One might argue that this call of Jesus remains hypothetical and unachievable, giving an analogy that when our tired bodies need rest one can resort to a concrete material solution, like our bed and have a good rest. After which we regain energy to continue our daily activities. The question therefore is how concretely can we achieve the rest which Jesus has to offer? This can be answered by asking the question where is more concrete than in the sacrament of confession to receive this rest? In fact, more than the bed, the sacrament of confession gives both physical and spiritual strength. Unfortunately, this sacrament is still misunderstood sometimes even by practicing Catholics.
Indeed, there is a good number of Catholics who do not see the reason to go for confession. Often, I hear questions like these: “why must I confess my sin to a man? Can’t I just ask God directly to forgive me? Why should I go and confess my sins to a priest since he commits the same sins like me? Or after confession, is the priest not going to judge me? However, some courageous Catholics are not lacking. They are among those who confess occasionally their sins during spiritual retreats or those who postpone celebrating the sacrament until the annual pilgrimage organized at Kukujang/Gambia or at Regent/ Saint Paul’s Major Seminary/Freetown. For the last, the intention is to have an opportunity to meet with a priest who doesn’t know them personally to confess their sins.
It has to be acknowledged also the fact that Protestantism does not help Catholics on what the sacrament of confession means. For them it is not simply a sacrament and one does not need to meet a priest for his confession. He can address directly his words of sorrow to God. Therefore, due to all these reasons the sacrament that should be celebrated often in our contemporary world is notoriously fading away in our dioceses, churches and communities. Then what other time can be more appropriate to reflect, meditate and convince ourselves about this sacrament than this season of grace and mercy which is Lent and particularly the holy week?
In the following lines[1], I intend to explain what does confession mean and why a catholic Christian should go for confession. Since I am convinced that it’s the loose of the sense and the meaning of sin that leads to the neglect of the sacrament of confession, especially among the young Catholics, first I wish briefly to say a word on what is sin according to the teaching of the Catholic Church.
- What does the Church teach about sin?
“All have sin and have fallen short of the glory of God” (Rm 3:23). This statement made by saint Paul when he was addressing the romans is widely accepted within our diocese, parishes and communities since almost all of us accept that we are sinners and we often commit sin. With this in mind, it is important to clarify what does sin mean in the catholic tradition.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines sin as “an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighborcaused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as an utterance, a deed or a desire contrary to eternal law” (CCC1849). This definition does not only express that sin alienates us from the love of God but it also hurts humanity and affects those around us. On numerous occasions God punishes the people for their sins this shows us that because of his love God is displeased with every act of sin. His will is that we may be holy as he our heavenly Father is holy (Lv 11:45).
The perpetuity of sin robs our souls from salvation. The farther in the story commonly known as the parable of the prodigal son (Lk15:11-33) indeed knew that his son will perish and languish out of his presence. He anxiously waits for the return of his son so that he will come back to him and live in his house again as his son. Once the prodigal son is back home, his Father calls for a feast(Lk15:23). So too Jesus, through his Church and in the person of the priest waits for us sinners at the confessional to lavish his mercy and reconcile us to him in order to bestow on us abundant graces and blessing we have lost through sin. Who knows, maybe our resistance to enjoy the grace of the sacrament of confession comes from an attitude similar to that of the elder son of the parable, because though he was in the house of the Father he never really knows who the Father was. He never experiences the joy of being a son(Lk15:25-30).
- What is confession?
“Seek the lord while he may be found call upon his name while he is near ;let the wicked forsake his way ………..let him return to the lord that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon”(Is 55:6-7). According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, a concrete place where we enjoy God’s mercy and forgiveness is in the sacrament of confession. Thus in it we physically touch and experience the mercy and love of God. In the person of the priest, though sinner himself, Christ by his Spirit is present. In the words of the priest through the ministry he has received from the Church, God embraces us again. He forgives us. By the words of absolution God’s mercy and love become visible and effective for a sinner.
Thus the sacrament of confession is defined as the sacrament whose first grace is reconciliation with God for the sins committed after baptism. Since we are sinful by nature and have the natural inclination to fall into sin even after baptism, the Church gives us this sacrament as a possibility of being new again and again. However, it is important to mention that there are two essential elements necessary in the sacrament of confession: contrition and conversion. Contrition is the state of being remorseful of the sins one has committed. It is an act in which one becomes conscious of his/her sins, then regrets and expresses sorrow for doing them. It is expressed by the prayer during confession: the act of Contrition. By conversion, the Church means a decision one makes in amending with God and his brothers and sisters and thus takes up a new life, rejecting everything that alienates him/her from the love of God and the love of the neighbor, in order to return to God by making a sincere commitment to work in the ways of God. These two terms are key words in the sacrament of confession since they are described as the effects of the Sacrament of confession; while the absolution is the concrete channel of God’s forgiveness. Without contrition one won’t feel the need of confession due to the absence of the consciousness and the sense of sin. And without conversion then our confession should become mere functionary, a meaningless rite. In every true act of confession conversion should be its consequence.
- Why must we confess our sins?
“If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1Jn1:8), this scriptural passage reaffirms that we are all sinful and because of this confession is needed. Saint Thomas Aquinas states “in the life of the body of a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he will restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the sacrament of confession” (Saint Thomas Aquinas, Quotes on the sacrament of penance). However as stated earlier, some lay faithful often ask this question: “why should I confess to a priest”? The first mistake in this question is that as Catholics, we do not confess to the priest as a person but rather in the sacrament of confession we celebrate and acknowledge the power given to the Church by the Risen Lord: “Receive the Holy Spirit if you forgive anyone’s sins they are forgiven, if you retain anyone sins they are retain” (Jn 20: 22-23). We confess to the priest as a minister of the Church. He absolves our sins by the mandate received from the Church, on behalf of the Church.
Another reason we must confess is that confession is a sign of both humility and charity. By confessing our sin we strip ourselves from the garments of our pride and surrender ourselves to the mercy of God. Thus we enter the confessional as humble servants begging for God’s mercy and we leave the confessional been lifted up as children of God. Like the Virgin Mary, in the confession, we enjoy God’s greatness who pulls down the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly (Lk1:52). According to saint Augustine, confession is also an act of charity: “confession of evil work is the first sign of good work”; by confessing our sins, we don’t only reconcile ourselves to God but we reconcile with the church and other people around us. In so doing, we give our charitable contribution in the healing process of a broken world.
This season of lent is a perfect opportunity for such adventure. In the sacrament of confession we celebrate God’s love. Since lent leads us to the great feast of Easter, the feast where we see God’s love in action, by the passion, death and resurrection of his Son, lent is therefore the appropriate moment of confession as an act of welcoming God’s love in our lives as individuals and as a community. St Chrysostom states“after confession a crown is given to penitents”. Are we ready to be crowned? If yes, let us rediscover the beauty of the sacrament of confession in this holy week.
[1] The author of this text is a second year student of theology at saint Paul’s Major seminary/ Regent-Freetown. He is from the Diocese of Banjul/Gambia. This text is a fruit of conversation between I, father Louis Bira, sx and the student in the context of the Course on Original Sin and Grace.
“Come unto me all you who labor and are over burden and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28)
This call of Jesus is more urgent in our present day than ever before. The Lord in seeing our struggle with the burden and load of sin calls us to come to him in order to give us rest. This is the same rest that SaintAugustine talks about in his Confessions “our hearts are restless until they rest in you”.
- Confession: a misunderstood sacrament
It seems however that today we either consciously or unconsciously avoid this call of the Lord to rest in him, in a world that makes us to believe that human happiness and fulfillment are one’s achievements. One might argue that this call of Jesus remains hypothetical and unachievable, giving an analogy that when our tired bodies need rest one can resort to a concrete material solution, like our bed and have a good rest. After which we regain energy to continue our daily activities. The question therefore is how concretely can we achieve the rest which Jesus has to offer? This can be answered by asking the question where is more concrete than in the sacrament of confession to receive this rest? In fact, more than the bed, the sacrament of confession gives both physical and spiritual strength. Unfortunately, this sacrament is still misunderstood sometimes even by practicing Catholics.
Indeed, there is a good number of Catholics who do not see the reason to go for confession. Often, I hear questions like these: “why must I confess my sin to a man? Can’t I just ask God directly to forgive me? Why should I go and confess my sins to a priest since he commits the same sins like me? Or after confession, is the priest not going to judge me? However, some courageous Catholics are not lacking. They are among those who confess occasionally their sins during spiritual retreats or those who postpone celebrating the sacrament until the annual pilgrimage organized at Kukujang/Gambia or at Regent/ Saint Paul’s Major Seminary/Freetown. For the last, the intention is to have an opportunity to meet with a priest who doesn’t know them personally to confess their sins.
It has to be acknowledged also the fact that Protestantism does not help Catholics on what the sacrament of confession means. For them it is not simply a sacrament and one does not need to meet a priest for his confession. He can address directly his words of sorrow to God. Therefore, due to all these reasons the sacrament that should be celebrated often in our contemporary world is notoriously fading away in our dioceses, churches and communities. Then what other time can be more appropriate to reflect, meditate and convince ourselves about this sacrament than this season of grace and mercy which is Lent and particularly the holy week?
In the following lines[1], I intend to explain what does confession mean and why a catholic Christian should go for confession. Since I am convinced that it’s the loose of the sense and the meaning of sin that leads to the neglect of the sacrament of confession, especially among the young Catholics, first I wish briefly to say a word on what is sin according to the teaching of the Catholic Church.
- What does the Church teach about sin?
“All have sin and have fallen short of the glory of God” (Rm 3:23). This statement made by saint Paul when he was addressing the romans is widely accepted within our diocese, parishes and communities since almost all of us accept that we are sinners and we often commit sin. With this in mind, it is important to clarify what does sin mean in the catholic tradition.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines sin as “an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighborcaused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as an utterance, a deed or a desire contrary to eternal law” (CCC1849). This definition does not only express that sin alienates us from the love of God but it also hurts humanity and affects those around us. On numerous occasions God punishes the people for their sins this shows us that because of his love God is displeased with every act of sin. His will is that we may be holy as he our heavenly Father is holy (Lv 11:45).
The perpetuity of sin robs our souls from salvation. The farther in the story commonly known as the parable of the prodigal son (Lk15:11-33) indeed knew that his son will perish and languish out of his presence. He anxiously waits for the return of his son so that he will come back to him and live in his house again as his son. Once the prodigal son is back home, his Father calls for a feast(Lk15:23). So too Jesus, through his Church and in the person of the priest waits for us sinners at the confessional to lavish his mercy and reconcile us to him in order to bestow on us abundant graces and blessing we have lost through sin. Who knows, maybe our resistance to enjoy the grace of the sacrament of confession comes from an attitude similar to that of the elder son of the parable, because though he was in the house of the Father he never really knows who the Father was. He never experiences the joy of being a son(Lk15:25-30).
- What is confession?
“Seek the lord while he may be found call upon his name while he is near ;let the wicked forsake his way ………..let him return to the lord that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon”(Is 55:6-7). According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, a concrete place where we enjoy God’s mercy and forgiveness is in the sacrament of confession. Thus in it we physically touch and experience the mercy and love of God. In the person of the priest, though sinner himself, Christ by his Spirit is present. In the words of the priest through the ministry he has received from the Church, God embraces us again. He forgives us. By the words of absolution God’s mercy and love become visible and effective for a sinner.
Thus the sacrament of confession is defined as the sacrament whose first grace is reconciliation with God for the sins committed after baptism. Since we are sinful by nature and have the natural inclination to fall into sin even after baptism, the Church gives us this sacrament as a possibility of being new again and again. However, it is important to mention that there are two essential elements necessary in the sacrament of confession: contrition and conversion. Contrition is the state of being remorseful of the sins one has committed. It is an act in which one becomes conscious of his/her sins, then regrets and expresses sorrow for doing them. It is expressed by the prayer during confession: the act of Contrition. By conversion, the Church means a decision one makes in amending with God and his brothers and sisters and thus takes up a new life, rejecting everything that alienates him/her from the love of God and the love of the neighbor, in order to return to God by making a sincere commitment to work in the ways of God. These two terms are key words in the sacrament of confession since they are described as the effects of the Sacrament of confession; while the absolution is the concrete channel of God’s forgiveness. Without contrition one won’t feel the need of confession due to the absence of the consciousness and the sense of sin. And without conversion then our confession should become mere functionary, a meaningless rite. In every true act of confession conversion should be its consequence.
- Why must we confess our sins?
“If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1Jn1:8), this scriptural passage reaffirms that we are all sinful and because of this confession is needed. Saint Thomas Aquinas states “in the life of the body of a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he will restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the sacrament of confession” (Saint Thomas Aquinas, Quotes on the sacrament of penance). However as stated earlier, some lay faithful often ask this question: “why should I confess to a priest”? The first mistake in this question is that as Catholics, we do not confess to the priest as a person but rather in the sacrament of confession we celebrate and acknowledge the power given to the Church by the Risen Lord: “Receive the Holy Spirit if you forgive anyone’s sins they are forgiven, if you retain anyone sins they are retain” (Jn 20: 22-23). We confess to the priest as a minister of the Church. He absolves our sins by the mandate received from the Church, on behalf of the Church.
Another reason we must confess is that confession is a sign of both humility and charity. By confessing our sin we strip ourselves from the garments of our pride and surrender ourselves to the mercy of God. Thus we enter the confessional as humble servants begging for God’s mercy and we leave the confessional been lifted up as children of God. Like the Virgin Mary, in the confession, we enjoy God’s greatness who pulls down the mighty from their thrones and raises the lowly (Lk1:52). According to saint Augustine, confession is also an act of charity: “confession of evil work is the first sign of good work”; by confessing our sins, we don’t only reconcile ourselves to God but we reconcile with the church and other people around us. In so doing, we give our charitable contribution in the healing process of a broken world.
This season of lent is a perfect opportunity for such adventure. In the sacrament of confession we celebrate God’s love. Since lent leads us to the great feast of Easter, the feast where we see God’s love in action, by the passion, death and resurrection of his Son, lent is therefore the appropriate moment of confession as an act of welcoming God’s love in our lives as individuals and as a community. St Chrysostom states“after confession a crown is given to penitents”. Are we ready to be crowned? If yes, let us rediscover the beauty of the sacrament of confession in this holy week.
[1] The author of this text is a second year student of theology at saint Paul’s Major seminary/ Regent-Freetown. He is from the Diocese of Banjul/Gambia. This text is a fruit of conversation between I, father Louis Bira, sx and the student in the context of the Course on Original Sin and Grace.