POPE BENEDICT XVI

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ANGELUS, February 22, 2009: On the Gospel of Mark 2:1-12

"This Gospel episode shows that Jesus has the power not only to heal the sick body but also to forgive sins; and indeed, the physical healing is a sign of the spiritual healing that his forgiveness produces. In effect, sin is a kind of paralysis of the spirit, from which only the power of the merciful love of God can liberate us, allowing us to pick ourselves up and set out again along the path of goodness.

"In today's liturgy, we witness Jesus healing the paralytic lowered to him through the roof because of a large crowd. This passage reminds us that the Lord has power to forgive sins, and that nothing stands in the way of his mercy when we seek him with pure and contrite hearts! Let us never hesitate to ask his pardon - especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation - so that we may become better instruments of his love for others. God bless you all!"

MESSAGE FOR LENT 2008 -“Christ made Himself poor for you” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

Receiving and Offering Mercy

Each year, Lent offers us a providential opportunity to deepen the meaning and value of our Christian lives, and it stimulates us to rediscover the mercy of God so that we, in turn, become more merciful toward our brothers and sisters. (1)

Almsgiving and the Forgiveness of Sins

Saint Peter includes among the spiritual fruits of almsgiving the forgiveness of sins: “Charity,” he writes, “covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pt 4:8). As the Lenten liturgy frequently repeats, God offers to us sinners the possibility of being forgiven. The fact of sharing with the poor what we possess disposes us to receive such a gift. In this moment, my thought turns to those who realize the weight of the evil they have committed and, precisely for this reason, feel far from God, fearful and almost incapable of turning to Him. By drawing close to others through almsgiving, we draw close to God; it can become an instrument for authentic conversion and reconciliation with Him and our brothers. (4) Read more…

On the Reality of Sin and the Sacrament of Penance

Feb. 7, 2008, meeting with Parish priests and clergy of the Diocese of Rome:

Today we are used to thinking: What is sin? God is great, he knows us, so sin will not count, in the end God will be good to all. It is a beautiful hope. But there is justice and there is true guilt. Those who have destroyed man and the earth cannot immediately sit at table with God together with their victims. God creates justice. We must keep this in mind.

We must also speak of sin and of the sacrament of forgiveness and reconciliation. A man who is sincere knows that he is guilty, that he must begin again, that he must be purified. And this is the marvelous reality that the Lord gives us: There is a possibility of renewal, of being new. The Lord begins with us again and in this way we also can begin again with the others in our life.

This aspect of renewal, of restitution of our being after so many mistakes, after so many sins, is the great promise, the great gift that the Church offers, and what, for example, psychotherapy cannot offer. Psychotherapy is so widespread today and it is also necessary in the face of so many destroyed and gravely wounded psyches. But psychotherapy’s possibilities are very limited: It can only try a little to re-establish balance in an unbalanced soul. But it cannot give a true renewal, an overcoming of these grave maladies of the soul. And for this reason it always remains provisional and never definitive.

The sacrament of penance gives us the occasion to renew ourselves completely with the power of God — “Ego te absolvo” — which is possible because Christ took these sins, these faults upon himself.

It seems that today indeed this is a great necessity. We can be healed again. Souls that are wounded and sick —as is the experience of all — need not only advice but true renewal, which can come only from the power of God, the power of crucified love. It seems to me that this is the great nexus of mysteries that are truly inscribed in our life.

We ourselves must meditate on them again and in this way bring them again to our people.

POPE JOHN PAUL II

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POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION RECONCILIATION AND PENANCE OF JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOPS CLERGY AND FAITHFUL ON RECONCILIATION AND PENANCE IN THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH TODAY

APOSTOLIC LETTER NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II TO THE BISHOPS CLERGY AND LAY FAITHFUL AT THE CLOSE OF THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2000:

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

37. I am also asking for renewed pastoral courage in ensuring that the day-to-day teaching of Christian communities persuasively and effectively presents the practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As you will recall, in 1984 I dealt with this subject in the Post-Synodal Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, which synthesized the results of an Assembly of the Synod of Bishops devoted to this question. My invitation then was to make every effort to face the crisis of "the sense of sin" apparent in today's culture.23

But I was even more insistent in calling for a rediscovery of Christ as mysterium pietatis, the one in whom God shows us his compassionate heart and reconciles us fully with himself. It is this face of Christ that must be rediscovered through the Sacrament of Penance, which for the faithful is "the ordinary way of obtaining forgiveness and the remission of serious sins committed after Baptism".24

When the Synod addressed the problem, the crisis of the Sacrament was there for all to see, especially in some parts of the world. The causes of the crisis have not disappeared in the brief span of time since then. But the Jubilee Year, which has been particularly marked by a return to the Sacrament of Penance, has given us an encouraging message, which should not be ignored: if many people, and among them also many young people, have benefited from approaching this Sacrament, it is probably necessary that Pastors should arm themselves with more confidence, creativity and perseverance in presenting it and leading people to appreciate it.

Dear brothers in the priesthood, we must not give in to passing crises! The Lord's gifts — and the Sacraments are among the most precious — come from the One who well knows the human heart and is the Lord of history.

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

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What we learn from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Confession.
Read directly from:  www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a4.htm

SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

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What we learn from the Vatican Council II Documents on Confession.

Penance and Renewal – Continuous Purification of the Faithful:

Christ was sent by the Father "to bring good news to the poor, to heal the contrite of heart",(79) "to seek and to save what was lost".  Similarly, the Church encompasses with love all who are afflicted with human suffering and in the poor and afflicted sees the image of its poor and suffering Founder.

It does all it can to relieve their need and in them it strives to serve Christ. While Christ, holy, innocent and undefiled knew nothing of sin, but came to expiate only the sins of the people, the Church, embracing in its bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal. (Lumen Gentium 8)

Mercy and Reconciliation:

Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from the mercy of God for the offence committed against Him and are at the same time reconciled with the Church, which they have wounded by their sins, and which by charity, example, and prayer seeks their conversion. (Lumen Gentium 11)

On the Meaning and Consequences of Sin:

Every sin upsets the universal order God, in his indescribable wisdom and limitless love, has established. Further, every sin does immense harm to the sinner himself and to the community of men.  Throughout history Christians have believed that sin is not only a breaking of God’s law but that is shows contempt for or disregard of the friendship between God and man.

The latter is not always directly evident. Further, they have believed that sin is a real offense against God, the effect of which cannot be estimated. Again, it is a display of ingratitude, a rejection of the love God has shown us through Jesus Christ. He called his disciples friends, not servants.  (Indulgentiarum Doctrina 2)

Conversion and Reconciliation:

The Sacrament of Penance restores and strengthens in members of the Church who have sinned the fundamental gift of ‘metanoia’, of conversion to the kingdom of Christ, which is first received in baptism. Those who approach this sacrament receive from God’s mercy the pardon of their offenses and at the same time are reconciled to the Church which they have wounded by their sins. (Dum Canonicarum 1)