20170313 EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Violet.
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First reading
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Daniel 9:4-10 ©
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O Lord, God great and
to be feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness for those who love you
and keep your commandments: we have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted
wickedly, we have betrayed your commandments and your ordinances and turned
away from them. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in
your name to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, and to all the people of
the land. Integrity, Lord, is yours; ours the look of shame we wear today, we,
the people of Judah, the citizens of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and
far away, in every country to which you have dispersed us because of the
treason we have committed against you. To us, Lord, the look of shame belongs,
to our kings, our princes, our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.
To the Lord our God mercy and pardon belong, because we have betrayed him, and
have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God nor followed the laws he has
given us through his servants the prophets.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Psalm
78(79):8-9,11,13 ©
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Do not treat us
according to our sins, O Lord.
Do not hold the guilt
of our fathers against us.
Let your
compassion hasten to meet us;
we are
left in the depths of distress.
Do not treat us
according to our sins, O Lord.
O God our saviour,
come to our help.
Come for
the sake of the glory of your name.
O Lord our God,
forgive us our sins;
rescue us
for the sake of your name.
Do not treat us
according to our sins, O Lord.
Let the groans of the
prisoners come before you;
let your
strong arm reprieve those condemned to die.
But we, your people,
the flock of your pasture,
will give
you thanks for ever and ever.
We will
tell your praise from age to age.
Do not treat us
according to our sins, O Lord.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
The seed is the word
of God, Christ the sower;
whoever finds this
seed will remain for ever.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
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Or
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cf.Jn6:63,68
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Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life;
you have the message
of eternal life.
Praise and honour to
you, Lord Jesus!
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Gospel
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Luke 6:36-38 ©
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Jesus said to his
disciples: ‘Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and
you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be
condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and there
will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and
running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out
is the amount you will be given back.’
EFFECTIVENESS
OF THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ DAN 9:4-10;
PS 78:8-9,11,13; LUKE 6:36-38 ]
There are many who go for
confession but do not feel forgiven or healed of their guilt and pain. As
a consequence, they conclude that the Sacrament of reconciliation is
ineffective and irrelevant. They do not experience the healing mercy of
God. What are the real reasons for not being able to receive the healing
grace of God? There is nothing wrong with the Sacrament of Reconciliation
per se, but with the way we prepare ourselves for it and the way the Sacrament
is administered to us. In other words, it depends on the disposition of
both the penitent and the confessor. When the right dispositions are not there,
the mercy of God is compromised and the rite loses its effectiveness.
On the part of the
penitent, there must be genuine acknowledgement of his sins. This was
what the Israelites did in the first reading. They confessed their sins
without compromise, without excuse and without blaming anyone else. They
put the blame solely on themselves and not on some scapegoats. They said,
“We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly, we have betrayed
your commandments and your ordinances and turned away from them. We have
not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our
kings, our princes, our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.” On
the contrary, often the confessor is put in a dilemma at the
confessional. The penitent may have confessed his sins, but he put the
blame on everyone else for what he did. He came to confession not to ask for
forgiveness and find justification in Christ’s mercy but to justify himself
before God. Like the Pharisee in the gospel, he leaves the confession
room unjustified. Jesus remarked, “I tell you that this man, rather than
the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves
will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Lk 18:14)
Secondly, the sinner must
be ready to accept the consequences of his sins. “Integrity, Lord, is
yours; ours the look of shame we wear today, we, the people of Judah, the
citizens of Jerusalem, the whole of Israel, near and far away, in every country
to which you have dispersed us because of the treason we have committed against
you. To us, Lord, the look of shame belongs, to our kings, our princes,
our ancestors, because we have sinned against you.” They were not
resentful of God for being punished by their sinful behavior. They did
not blame God for their having been exiled in Babylon. On the contrary,
they humbly accepted their retribution. Again, many are not healed simply
because they blame God and curse Him for the sufferings brought about by their
foolish and selfish acts. When we are not ready or humble enough to
accept the consequences of our actions, it means that we have not really
recognized that we were wrong. If that were the case, we are
self-righteous and therefore angry with God who is not on our side.
This also explains why the confessor is required to give “penance” to the
penitent before absolving him of his sins. This is not so much a
“punishment” but an expression of the humility of the penitent that he is
wrong, and ready to accept the “correction” through the application of the
penance given to him in humility and obedience.
Thirdly, the sinner must trust
in the mercy and love of God. The people prayed, “Lord, our God great and to be
feared, you keep the covenant and have kindness for those who love you and keep
your commandments.” Again, they prayed, “To the Lord our God mercy and
pardon belong.” It is important to claim the mercy of God and His
kindness. In the gospel, Jesus affirmed God’s mercy when He said, “Be
compassionate as your Father is compassionate.” Once we are confident of
God’s mercy and compassion, we should not doubt whether our sins are forgiven
when we have confessed our sins with all humility, sincerity and honesty.
To doubt His mercy impedes reception of His forgiveness.
Insofar as the sinner is
repentant and contrite, he can be assured that his sins are surely forgiven,
and he will certainly be able to receive God’s healing grace and mercy.
When we are contrite and repentant, God will give us peace, joy and hope.
With our sins forgiven, our anger and resentment taken away, we will be able to
see ourselves in a new way. We will also be able to let go of those who
have hurt us, or at least perceived them as having wronged us.
Recognizing our own contiribution to the sin or misunderstanding, instead of
apportioning blame to others, we take the first step in correcting ourselves,
our own weaknesses and our part in the sinful situation. When that is
done, we will find liberation from our enemies and our hurts. In fact, we
will thank God instead for allowing the sin to happen because what was a
disgrace has been used by Him to be a channel for grace.
However, on the part of the
confessor, it is important that he manifests the compassion of the
Father. Jesus said, “Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate.”
The role of a judge is not very helpful in the confessional. When
confessors appear and conduct themselves like judges, waiting to scold,
reprimand, examine and interrogate, it robs the Sacrament of reconciliation of
the mercy of God and reduces the penitent to a condemned criminal. He
will leave the confessional box hurt, humiliated, angry and probably vowing
that that would be the last time he would ever go for confession. It
shows a total lack of sensitivity and compassion on the part of the
confessor. Of course, it is right for a priest to counsel the penitent and
give spiritual direction, but we never heard Jesus scolding repentant
sinners. He only reprimanded those who were hardened in their sins, like
the Pharisees.
Understandably those who
have been hurt and humiliated in the confessional box stop going for confession
because of the trauma they underwent. For such Catholics, even though
they do not go for confession again, we entrust them to the mercy of God and
pray that one day they will return to confession for full healing. Deep
in their hearts, they realize the need to confess their deepest sins, but they
lack courage and humility to face the priest again. By not going for
confession, they miss out on the powerful healing grace of God through this
sacrament.
Whether it is for the
confessor or penitent, the advice of Jesus about receiving what we give is an
important reminder. “Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure,
pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap;
because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.”
When we are generous with forgiveness or with mercy, we ourselves will receive
the same mercy. St James reminds us, “For judgment will be without mercy
to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” (Jms 2:13)
For this reason, Jesus urges us, “Do not judge and you will not be judged
yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant
pardon, and you will be pardoned.”
Those who condemn others
are unaware of their own sinfulness. Those who lack compassion towards others,
have no compassion towards themselves. Of course, there are some who
apparently are compassionate towards themselves when they fail. They
would make excuses for their mistakes but they would apply a different measure towards
others who fail. How do we explain such inconsistency of judgment? Why
the double standards? It shows that they are not fully aware of their
wrongs and crimes. But for those of us who are conscious of our own
struggles, sinfulness, imperfections, inadequacies and failures, would we dare
to condemn others? St Paul wrote, “Therefore you have no excuse, whoever
you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn
yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.” (Rom 2:1) So let us
pray for a greater self-awareness of our sinfulness so that we can be
compassionate like the Father towards those who sin against us or against
others. When we perfect our compassion, then we truly become sons and
daughters of God. We find joy and mercy ourselves.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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