Day 195: Penance and Reconciliation (1420-1426)

• It’s Day 195!!

• CHAPTER TWO: THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

• ARTICLE 4: THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION

• WHAT IS THIS SACRAMENT CALLED?

• WHY A SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION AFTER BAPTISM?

• We NEED this sacrament of Confession, forgiveness, Reconciliation

• Why?

• Because even though Baptism united us to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and made us into sons and daughters of the Father, made us into temples of the Holy Spirit, gave us a filial relationship with Jesus, and filled us with these graces, and forgave our sins, we also know that we STILL ARE BROKEN

• Because we are still broken and wounded, WE NEED HEALING

• Because we still wander away, WE NEED RECONCILIATION

• Because we still have hard hearts, WE NEED CONVERSION

• The different names of the sacraments reveal different dimensions of the sacrament

• Let’s pray!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much for this day. Thank you for bringing us to Day 195. We thank you not only for giving us new birth and regeneration in Baptism, but also giving us your healing in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, your healing in the Anointing of the Sick. Lord God, for as often as we wander you pursue us. As often as we stray, you chase us down. We ask you to please, Lord God, be that Hound of Heaven. Be that Hound of Heaven that never ceases to chase after us. Be that Hound of Heaven that never ceases to call us back to you. Help us to belong to you, body and soul. Help us give our minds to you. Help us to love you with everything we are and when we fail to love you, bring us home and heal us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• Paragraph 1420 says, “Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives 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.”

• Because of that, here is how Good God is

• Paragraph 1421 says, “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 REMARKABLE!!

• What was Jesus’ ministry?

• To save us from eternal damnation in Hell

• Also to RECONCILE US to the Father and the community so as to bring us into the Body of Christ

• Also to HEAL

• That is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing

• Confession and Anointing of the Sick

• There is a REAL HEALING OF THE SOUL that happens and there is a REAL HEALING OF THE BODY that can happen through these two sacraments

• Paragraph 1422 says, “‘Those who approach the sacraments of Penance obtain 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.’”

• Our sins have wounded the Church, our brothers and sisters

• There are personal sins where we make a choice

• There are some sins that are private and not known

• BUT…

• There is no such thing as a sin that is just between us and God

• Because we have been brought into the Church, the family of God

• Every sin is not only a sin against God

• They are also against our brothers and sisters

• When one member of the Body gets strong, the whole Body is strengthened

• When one member of the Body is weakened, or chooses to walk away, the whole Body is weakened

• Even though we walk away from the Church and God, the Church continues to always labor for our conversion through love, example, and prayer

• God never gives up on us

• The Church never gives up on us

• You might feel that the Church has given up on you

• You may feel that you can’t be reconciled to the Church, that it is impossible

• NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!!

• Fr. Mike talked about irregular marriages before

• Some people may feel that they can’t be reconciled because of that

• God always provides a way so don’t give up

• Whatever the situation is, the Church continues to labor for our conversion, by love, example, and prayers

• Fr. Mike isn’t saying that Christianity is easy or that following Jesus is easy

• Everyone listening has a whole slew of reasons why they may think God doesn’t love them, doesn’t want to use them, etc.

• We come up with reasons why we think we are disqualified

• AND YET…

• What does the Church continue to do?

• What does God continue to do?

• God continues to reach out to us

• We are all in the same boat even we all have different stories and wrestle with different things

• There are no dead ends for any of us

• God can make a way for every single one of us

• DON’T GIVE UP!!

• Paragraph 1423 says, “It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus’ call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin. It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner’s personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.”

• Paragraph 1424 says, “It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a ‘confession’-acknowledgement and praise-of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.”

• Every time we approach the sacrament of Confession we are acknowledging and praising the God who is HOLY AND MERCIFUL

• There are two MIRACLES that happen at each Confession

• The first is being CONVICTED OF OUR SINS

• Because we can numb ourselves because that is what sin does

• SIN NUMBS US!!

• The second miracle is that we have been convicted by God’s MERCY and the TRUTH and BELIEF that God WANTS TO FORGIVE US OF OUR SINS

• MIRACLE 1: THE CONVICTION OF OUR SINS

• MIRACLE 2: THE CONVICTION OF GOD’S MERCY

• Paragraph 1424 continues, “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…”

• There is a difference between being FORGIVEN and being RECONCILED

• We have people we are called to FORGIVE

• BUT…

• We are not necessarily called to be RECONCILED WITH THEM

• We MUST extend the offer of forgiveness

• We have been commanded by our Lord

• “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

• We have not been commanded to reconcile

• Yes there is a verse in the Bible where Jesus tells us to reconcile with our brother before we bring our gift to the altar

• That is real

• Forgiveness is when I release you from your debt

• Reconciliation is when the relationship has been restored

• There are times when we offer forgiveness, but we ought not offer reconciliation

• There may be people in our lives that we forgive, but we can’t have the relationship we had before

• It’s not wise

• It’s maybe not even possible

• BUT…

• In the sacrament of Reconciliation, our relationship with God is restored

• We are called to go beyond that and be reconciled with our brother

• Yes, that is true

• Matthew 5:24 says so

• AND YET…

• There are times when we are called to forgive and not necessarily be in relationship again

• Here’s Fr. Mike’s example so let’s listen…

• Reconciliation is bringing someone into your trust once again

• When someone has wounded that trust, it would be foolish to trust them again

• We need this sacrament

• Yes we have been given new life in Christ in Baptism

• BUT…

• We have this fancy word called CONCUPISCENCE

• Concupiscence is inclination towards sin and we all have it

• The consequences of Original Sin are that we have a DARKENED INTELLECT, a WEAKENED WILL, and ATTRACTION TO SIN

• We can understand but not clearly

• We can make choices but not as strongly as we should

• We experience death

• There are things that we want that we know are not good for us

• This remains with us

• BUT…

• With the help of the Grace of Jesus we can prove ourselves in the struggle of the Christian life

• Paragraph 1426 says, “This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.”

• God will NEVER cease to call us to this life of holiness

• There may be many times when we think we are disqualified

• God is calling us to the heights of holiness

• We are not disqualified and God never ceases to call us

• Even in the midst of our brokenness, concupiscence, and our sins

• God never ceases to call us

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!