Reconciliation (Overview)

In this presentation we will look at from an Apologetics approach: 3. 5. Why Confession is not a Catholic invention Why Catholics too believe that it is blasphemy to claim the power to forgive sins, only God can forgive sins. The Biblical authority by for priests in the Sacrament of Reconciliation

7.

12. Sin the nature of it and types 15. Along with what the Early Church Fathers wrote and thought about Confession 6. Why it is not enough to confess your sins privately

Knowledge a ripple effect

Confession Not A Catholic Invention The Fall Lets go where it all startedBut of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Genesis 3:3 Adam & Eve lost their divine life sin snuffs out the divine/supernatural life The gift of divine life is greater than the gift of physical life

Confession Not A Catholic Invention

The Mystery of Confession 1. The First Sin: the Fall Historical/Eschatological 2. The Lord speaks: Where are you? (Gen 3:9) (opportunity for mercy) 3. Adams Confession: I ate (Gen 3:12) (opportunity for an Act of Contrition) 4. Eves Confession: I ate (Gen 3:13) (more honest) 5. The Book of Revelation: Call to Sinners to Repent a. Necessity of Repentance b. Readmission to Paradise (Rev 2:5-7)

Original Sin
Christians believe that "the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator's love; has fallen into slavery to sin but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen to break the power of the evil one. Catechism of the Catholic Church 421

Psalmists on Sins
Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord Psalm 25 Happy the sinner whose fault is removed who sin is forgivenWhen I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted awayI was groaning all day long. Psalm 32 We have sinned like our ancestors; we have done wrong and are guilty. Psalm 106

Atonement
Then whoever is guilty in any of these cases shall confess the sin he has incurred, and as his sin offering for the sin he has committed he shall bring to the Lord a female animal from the flock, a ewe lamb or a she-goat. The priest shall then make atonement for his sin. "If, however, he cannot afford an animal of the flock, he shall bring to the Lord as the sin offering for his sin two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a sin offering and the other for a holocaust. He shall bring them to the priest, who shall offer the one for the sin offering first. Leviticus Chapter 5: 5-8

Confess the Wrong

"Tell the Israelites: If a man (or a woman) commits a fault against his fellow man and wrongs him, thus breaking faith with the Lord, he shall confess the wrong he has done, restore his ill-gotten goods in full, and in addition give one fifth of their value to the one he has wronged. Numbers 5:6-7

Confession is not a Catholic Invention Began at Garden of Eden Was evident throughout OT Genesis 3, Leviticus 4,
Numbers 5,

Elements of our confession including confessing, penance, reconciliation, atonement Awareness of sins. Genesis 3, Leviticus 4, Numbers 5,
Psalms 25,32, 106, 1 Kings 13, Lamentations 4:13, Nehemiah 9:37

Only God Can Forgive Sins

Who can forgive sins but God alone? Mark 2:7 Father, hallowed be thy nameforgive us our sins Luke 11:2, 4 One church has set up a priestly system by which the sinner comes to them for forgiveness, not to God. In this system, even God cannot forgive a sin if the priest refuses to forgive it. How can Catholics have the sacrament of reconciliation when only God alone can forgive sins?

Only God Can Forgive Sins

Yes that is exactly what we believe! The answer to the Catholic Confession is two-fold: A. what method does the Bible teach about confessing sins B. what authority does one have to forgive sins

Jesus, The Son of God Has Authority to Forgive Sins

Jesus says which is easier to forgive sins or for the paralytic to rise?

Jesus Selects His Disciples

Matthew 4:18: As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Christ Death & Resurrection

The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin: by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren." We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiationgains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection 654 CCC

Jesus Institutes the Sacrament and Thus Gives the Apostles The Authority
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them; whose sins you retain are retained. John 20: 21-23 Question - How did the Father send Jesus? With full power & authority.

Question How can you know if a sin is forgiven or retained if it is not confessed? The Authority did not reside just with original Apostles there were no protests when their successors practiced forgiveness of sins

The Power to Forgive Sins Resides in the Office not the Individual
1444 In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head.

The Power of the Office can be conferred to another person

St. Paul appears to be passing his office along to Timothy (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:6, 13-14, 2:1-2, 4:1-6). See, for example: 2 Timothy 2:1-2 (RSV) You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, [2] and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Luke 24:36-50
And he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And (behold) I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

The Apostle is sent out

1440 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. For this reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Only God forgives sin 1441 Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven.Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. 1442 Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation.The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God.

In persona Christi
In the bishops, therefore, for whom priests are assistants, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Supreme High Priest, is present in the midst of those who believe it is clear that, by means of the imposition of hands and the words of consecration, the grace of the Holy Spirit is so conferred,(20*) and the sacred character so impressed,(21*) that bishops in an eminent and visible way sustain the roles of Christ Himself as Teacher, Shepherd and High Priest, and that they act in His person Lumen Gentium Dogmatic Constitution of the Church

A New Era
THE SACRAMENTAL ECONOMY 1076 The Church was made manifest to the world on the day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit ushers in a new era in the "dispensation of the mystery" the age of the Church, during which Christ manifests, makes present, and communicates his work of salvation through the liturgy of his Church, "until he comes. In this age of the Church Christ now lives and acts in and with his Church, in a new way appropriate to this new age. He acts through the sacraments in what the common Tradition of the East and the West calls "the sacramental economy"; this is the communication (or "dispensation") of the fruits of Christ's Paschal mystery in the celebration of the Church's "sacramental" liturgy.

Why Confess to a Priest?

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? 6 He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint (him) with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven. James 5: 13-19

Why Confess Sins Privately to Priest?

A. Jesus instructed us to do so

B. You have a certainty of forgiveness C. Sacramental graces are obtained that strengthen us spiritually D. Penance an external sign of internal conversion E. Talking to someone can help us sort out and destroy scruples, anxieties, doubt that comes from ourselves or the devil F. helps overcome self-deception, and rationalization of sins G. Get spiritual direction in avoiding future sins

Why Confess Sins Privately to Priest? H .Accountability to someone other than ourselves I. Unload our spiritual and emotional baggage to another human being who is non-judgmental and relates to us with a compassionate heart J. Confidential listener bound by the seal

The Three Models of Penance

The Therapeutic Model spiritual remedy for healing the wounds of sin The Judicial Model sinner is forgiven, the guilt is pardoned and the eternal punishment assigned to serious sins is remitted The Relational Model reconciles the alienated sinner with God and the community

Confession is a Sacrament
The Latin Word Sacramentum oath, sacred, hidden or mysterious Two Parts of a Sacrament a . Form: words And I absolve you b. Matter: actions freedom of the penitent. The priest cannot make the penitents acknowledge their guilt or force them to resolve not to sin again (THE
UNTAPPED POWER OF THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE)

Confession is a Sacrament
Sacraments of Healing Confession heals like the Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist The Sacraments are Necessary for Salvation a. Healing b. Transformation c. Participation in the Divine Nature (cf. CCC 460) what Adam & Eve lost & what mortal sin does to a soul

Reconciling Sinners
The Mystery of Sin: In order to understand the sacraments of healing, we first need to understand what is sin and how it wounds us. What is mortal sin? What is venial sin? Where are these taught in Scripture, and how can we avoid them?

Sins
Is all sin the same????? No! "If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly." (1 John 5:16-17). Thus St. John distinguishes between mortal and venial sin. Jesus also warns us that "Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned" (John 15:6).

Mortal Sin
So what kind of Sins are Mortal? In order for a sin to be mortal, it must meet three conditions: Mortal sin is a sin of grave matter Mortal sin is committed with full knowledge of the sinner Mortal sin is committed with deliberate consent of the sinner This means that mortal sins cannot be done "accidentally." A person who commits a mortal sin is one who knows that their sin is wrong, but still deliberately commits the sin anyway. This means that mortal sins are "premeditated" by the sinner and thus are truly a rejection of Gods law and love.

Reconciliation with the Church

1443 During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God's forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God. 1445 The words bind and loose mean: whomever you exclude from your communion, will be excluded from communion with God; whomever you receive anew into your communion, God will welcome back into his. Reconciliation with the Church is inseparable from reconciliation with God.

Early Church Fathers

Early Church fathers

Origen, a prolific theologian in the third-century Church, wrote: The layman who falls into sin cannot by himself wash away his fault. He must have recourse to the levite; he needs the priest. At times, he applies to one even greater: he needs the pontiffs help, that he may obtain the forgiveness of sins (Hom. in Numeros 10, 1). St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, also writing in the third century, said: I entreat you, brethren, that each one should confess his own sin while he who has sinned is still in this world, while his confession may be received, while his satisfaction and absolution given the priest are still pleasing to the Lord (De lapsis 28, 29).

Early Church Fathers

In the fourth century, St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, wrote: Sins are forgiven through the Holy Ghost. Certainly, but men lend him their ministry. . . . They forgive sin, not in their own name, but in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost (De Spiritu Sancto iii, 137).

Early Church Fathers

"The Church has received the keys of the kingdom so that sins may be forgiven through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit's actions" (St. Augustine). (Sermon to Catechumens on the Creed 7:15, 8:16 [A.D. 395]) St. Augustine (d. 430) warns the faithful: "Let us not listen to those who deny that the Church of God has power to forgive all sins" (De agon. Christ., iii). . . .

Early Church Fathers

For those who sought to escape the obligation of confession it was natural enough to assert that repentance was the affair of the soul alone with its Maker, and that no intermediary was needed. It is this pretext that St. Augustine sweeps aside in one of his sermons: "Let no one say I do penance secretly; I perform it in the sight of God, and He who is to pardon me knows that in my heart I repent". Whereupon St. Augustine asks: "Was it then said to no purpose, 'What you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven?' Was it for nothing that the keys were given to the Church?" (Sermo cccxcii, n. 3, in P.L., XXXIX, 1711). . . .