Tell me about the Sacrament of Reconciliation

[Jibb_Smart]

G’day,

I’m a Protestant. Thanks to uni, I’ve spent very little time on this forum, but some time nonetheless. I have a week off, and I want to learn about Roman Catholic confession.

I started on Wikipedia, but as easy as it is to find information there, that information cannot be trusted until verified by a more reliable source, which in this case is you Catholics.

This is what I’ve gathered so far, and I’d love it if anyone who knows their stuff can tell me where I’m wrong or where something’s missing:

Confession is how you get your sins forgiven post-Baptism (of course, you can only be Baptised once).

Confession involves confessing all the mortal sins you’ve done since your last confession to a Priest, to the best of your ability, with a contrite heart and the genuine desire and intention to never commit those sins again. With the Priest’s word (acting as Christ) and the appropriate response, the person confessing has had all his/her past sins forgiven. Should they die immediately, they would go straight into God’s arms without temporal punishment.

There are two classes of sins: mortal and venial. They really need to be taken on a case-by-case basis, but sometimes it’s easy: murder (especially premeditated murder) is mortal; a sinful thought (especially one pushed away immediately) is venial.

Venial sins committed between your last confession and your earthly death will be payed for through temporal punishment (Purgatory), and then you go to heaven.

Any mortal sin committed between your last confession and earthly death (without perfect contrition (though that is supposedly extraordinarily rare) or the intent of confessing these sins asap) result in eternal damnation.

How did I go? Is that all right? What am I missing?

Also, I read that Canon Law requires one to confess at least once a year (which really isn’t a big ask at all). If someone claims to be Catholic but in full awareness of this requirement, does not fulfill it, are they really Catholic? What if instead they are unaware of the requirement?

Thanks,

Jibb

 

[Nickkname]

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.

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 the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

• The Catechism, 1420-21

The Catechism of the Catholic Church actually reveals everything that the Church teaches about Confession: vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P46.HTM

 

[Corki]

G’day,

Confession involves confessing all the mortal sins you’ve done since your last confession to a Priest, to the best of your ability, with a contrite heart and the genuine desire and intention to never commit those sins again. With the Priest’s word (acting as Christ) and the appropriate response, the person confessing has had all his/her past sins forgiven. Should they die immediately, they would go straight into God’s arms without temporal punishment.

Jibb

Confession does not remove the need for temporal punishment from sin. Usually that means Purgatory but acts of mercy, prayer and pennance can remove all or part of the temporal punishment. The only people who usually get a direct ticket would be someone who died immediately after Baptism or a martyr.

 

[japhy]

With the Priest’s word (acting as Christ) and the appropriate response, the person confessing has had all his/her past sins forgiven. Should they die immediately, they would go straight into God’s arms without temporal punishment.

No on that last part; Confession remits the eternal punishment due for sin, but it does not completely remit the temporal punishment due for sin. That is where penance and indulgences come into the picture. From the Catechism (CCC) 1496:The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:

• reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
• reconciliation with the Church;
  **- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
• remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;**
• peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
• an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.

There are two classes of sins: mortal and venial. They really need to be taken on a case-by-case basis, but sometimes it’s easy: murder (especially premeditated murder) is mortal; a sinful thought (especially one pushed away immediately) is venial.

“[M]ortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.” (Reconciliatio et paenitentia n. 17.12, cf. CCC 1857)

In contrast, “[o]ne commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.” (CCC 1862)

See CCC 1854-1864 for more information.

Venial sins committed between your last confession and your earthly death will be payed for through temporal punishment (Purgatory), and then you go to heaven.

Temporal punishment is not necessarily relegated to Purgatory alone; penance on earth may remit the temporal punishment. Indulgences, again, are another means of remission (see CCC 1471-1479).

Any mortal sin committed between your last confession and earthly death (without perfect contrition (though that is supposedly extraordinarily rare) or the intent of confessing these sins asap) result in eternal damnation.

Yes (cf. CCC 1035).

Also, I read that Canon Law requires one to confess at least once a year (which really isn’t a big ask at all). If someone claims to be Catholic but in full awareness of this requirement, does not fulfill it, are they really Catholic? What if instead they are unaware of the requirement?

In the first case, they’re a Catholic who is stubbornly refusing to conform to the law of the Church, in which case they are sinning; it might be a mortal sin, but I am not an expert on that. In the second case, their ignorance is something God will take into account, not me… although I wish priests would help remove this ignorance (not, of course, so that people refuse stubbornly like in the first case, but so that they make use of this sacrament!) by preaching about the importance of the sacrament regularly.

For more on the Sacrament of Confession, see CCC Part 2, Section 2, Chapter 2, Article 4.

 

[Jibb_Smart]

Very helpful, all three of you. Especially japhy.

So, confession will remove some temporal punishment; is it ever possible for it to remove all, with a particularly good confession and perfect contrition?

Also, I’ll look at indulgences (from your links, not Wikipedia) and probably be back with more to ask, but thanks everyone for the quick and useful responses.

Jibb

 

[benedictgal]

Greetings from Texas, Jibb!

Here is the scriptural origin for the Sacrament of Penance (also referred to as Reconciliation). It is taken from John Chapter 20:23:

21 He said therefore to them again: Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent me, I also send you. 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them; and he said to them: Receive ye the Holy Ghost. 23 Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. 24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said to him: We have seen the Lord. But he said to them: Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Here is the footnote from the Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible:

23 “Whose sins”… ***See here the commission, stamped by the broad seal of heaven, by virtue of which the pastors of Christ’s church absolve repenting sinners upon their confession. ***

In other words, in his first post-Resurrection visit to the surviving 11 members of the Apostolic band, Jesus instituted the sacrament of Penance with his granting the Apostles the authority to forgive sins.

One must also remember that with nearly every miraculous healing that Jesus did, He also included the forgiveness of sins, as in the case of the paralytic man (whose friends lowered him down from the ceiling).

Every one of the Church’s sacraments has its basis in scripture, from Baptism to the Annointing of the Sick. Now, something about the Annointing of the Sick applies to this thread. When a priest is annointing the infirmed, if the person is unconscious, the priest can still forgive his sins. So, there is an element of the sacrament of penance in the Annointing of the Sick. That is why only a priest/bishop can administer this sacrament, since it also, in some cases, entails confession (or the forgiviness of sins if the person is unconscious and/or near death).

 

[japhy]

Very helpful, all three of you. Especially japhy.

You’re welcome, but it’s really the Catechism to thank.

So, confession will remove some temporal punishment; is it ever possible for it to remove all, with a particularly good confession and perfect contrition?

An act of perfect contrition (which would necessarily be accompanied by a good confession, methinks) would probably do it.

Also, I’ll look at indulgences (from your links, not Wikipedia) and probably be back with more to ask, but thanks everyone for the quick and useful responses.

Yeah, I would go with what the Catechism says about indulgences over any non-Catholic source, simply because a) the Church has no reason to mislead its own faithful, and b) the Catechism will employ the proper language and provide the correct references and source materials.

 

[Jibb_Smart]

An act of perfect contrition (which would necessarily be accompanied by a good confession, methinks) would probably do it.

Okay, cool. I felt that was implied by “remission, at least in part,” as opposed to just “in part” on its own, but had to ask.

The Catechism’s reasoning behind indulgences seems straight-forward enough, but how does one go about obtaining these indulgences?

Jibb

 

[Genesis12345]

Yes, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is required only once a year. And if Catholic’s do not attend it, they are in sin,but they are still Catholic.

If you confess your mortal sins and die, you WILL NOT go straight to heaven. Yes, your sins and guilt are taken away, but you still have to atone for the punishment due to sin, not knowing the mind of God, you could be sent to Purgatory to be purified until it is time to meet God. Usually one does not go straight to heaven, unless he is dying and receives an Apostolic Blessing or he is Anointed which takes sins away.
In the case of venial sins, yes, we are forgiven, but the punishment due to one’s sins has to be atoned forand that is usually in Purgatory.

You cannot make the statement that one will never commit another mortal sin because we are all human and can fall into that state again, but the other information you read is correct.

It is great that you are interested in the Catholic Church. They have what is called a RCIA program yearly for non-Catholics and it prepares them to become a Catholic.

 

[japhy]

The Catechism’s reasoning behind indulgences seems straight-forward enough, but how does one go about obtaining these indulgences?

“An indulgence is obtained through the Church who, by virtue of the power of binding and loosing granted her by Christ Jesus, intervenes in favor of individual Christians and opens for them the treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints to obtain from the Father of mercies the remission of the temporal punishments due for their sins. Thus the Church does not want simply to come to the aid of these Christians, but also to spur them to works of devotion, penance, and charity.” (CCC 1478)

Most indulgences are attached to specific prayers or forms of prayer; some are attached to certain pious acts (like making a pilgrimage to some place, or attending a special Mass in a particular church, such as the diocesan cathedral). Indulgences are more than just saying a prayer and getting off the hook, though; you must have the proper disposition to receive the indulgence, usually involving sacramental confession (that is, being in a state of grace), reception of Holy Communion, and prayer for the Pope and his intentions.

 

[LilyM]

Okay, cool. I felt that was implied by “remission, at least in part,” as opposed to just “in part” on its own, but had to ask.

The Catechism’s reasoning behind indulgences seems straight-forward enough, but how does one go about obtaining these indulgences?

Jibb

The place to go for information is the handbook on indulgences (called the Enchiridon of Indulgences). It lists what are called ‘norms’ (procedure) for obtaining an indulgence, as well as listing most of the prayers and other acts that are ‘enriched with’ (have) an indulgence, and what type.

Basically, there are two types of indulgence. Partial indulgences remove part of your temporal punishment due to sin, Plenary indulgences remove ALL of it (those would be the kind that get you straight to heaven). Requirements are different for the two types

To obtain any indulgence, you must firstly be in a state of grace (no mortal sin on your soul). For a partial indulgence, you simply say whichever indulgenced prayer or do whichever indulgenced act you choose - with at least a general but deliberate intention of gaining that indulgence (ie you can’t gain one by accident or unawares).

For a plenary indulgence, however, one must
a) go to confession within two weeks either side of the day you say whichever act or do whichever prayer is enriched with a plenary indulgence

b) receive communion, do the indulgenced act or say the indulgenced prayer, and pray for the Pope and his intentions (which can be as simple as saying an Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be) all in the one day

c) the real kicker - you must be in a state of total detachment from all sin, mortal or venial. There is some debate about what this phrase means - but at the very least you can’t be secretly ‘hanging onto’, or only half-hearted about wanting to conquer, some habitual sin, or one that still has a strong hold over you.

It’s an interesting requirement - makes it difficult to get a plenary indulgence, and also shows that attaining heaven, ultimately, is dependent upon BOTH our disposition of soul AND as the acts we do and the prayers we say.

 

[puzzleannie]

Any mortal sin committed between your last confession and earthly death (without perfect contrition (though that is supposedly extraordinarily rare) or the intent of confessing these sins asap) result in eternal damnation.

you did great up until here. you get a B+

anyone who dies with a deliberate unconfessed mortal sin upon the soul, uncontrite and unrepentent, will go to hell, condemned through their own free will choice. because that means, when confronted face to face with God at the moment of death for their particular judgment, they still choose to cling to the sin, rather than letting it go and coming to God. We cannot know what transpires at this moment, when all God’s love and mercy is shown to the individual and made available, so we can never say with certainty that any human soul is in hell.

 

[nor336]

I think you did good Matey, I give you an A-.
It is not through the Priests’ word (acting as Christ). The Priest intercedes for us with God by asking him to forgive our sins. Both Mortal and Venial sins are confessed, even things that you suspect may be sinful but don’t actually know. Only Jesus knows what happens to you after you make a sincere confession and then drop dead.

 

[Jibb_Smart]

Thanks everyone

anyone who dies with a deliberate unconfessed mortal sin upon the soul, uncontrite and unrepentent, will go to hell, condemned through their own free will choice…

Isn’t a mortal sin by definition deliberate? I know it seems like I’m nit-picking, but I just want to make sure I know what’s going on.

You can’t accidentally commit a mortal sin, can you?

Thanks again everyone,

Jibb

 

[japhy]

Isn’t a mortal sin by definition deliberate?

I’ll let annie answer for herself, but she might have meant to say “deliberately unconfessed mortal sin”.

 

[andy120]

The only people who usually get a direct ticket would be someone who died immediately after Baptism or a martyr.

I’ve always thought about this. If one died after receiving the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick or Reconciliation, and they prayed “regularly” in some way during their life, they would be given a plenary indulgence in articulo mortis, at the approach of death, and therefore, at least in theory, would not experience temporal punishment of purgatory (and would also die in a state of grace all provided they did not commit a sin after the sacrament).

Am I missing something?

 

[jmcrae]

Thanks everyone

Isn’t a mortal sin by definition deliberate? I know it seems like I’m nit-picking, but I just want to make sure I know what’s going on.

You can’t accidentally commit a mortal sin, can you?

Thanks again everyone,

Jibb

Mortal sin is indeed by definition deliberate - she was referring to deliberately omitting to confess it, because sometimes, you go in there and you have a brain lock-up, and can’t remember what you went in there for, so you confess whatever you can remember, ramble on a bit about how things are going with your mother, and then receive the Absolution, and then get half way home, and suddenly remember, “OH, YEAH, that bank I robbed!!” So you turn around and go all the way back, but the priest has gone in for his supper, so you’re going to have to wait until next time, to confess the bank robbery.

Because the omission was not deliberate, you are still forgiven of that sin by God (although you still need to confess it at the next opportunity) and you would still go to Heaven if you were killed in the meantime.

But if you deliberately omit to confess a mortal sin (that is, you are remembering about it perfectly when you are in the Confessional, and you simply choose not to mention it) then you would have committed a second mortal sin, and your Confession is no good. You have to go back and not only confess the mortal sin that you omitted, but everything else, as well.

 

[Jibb_Smart]

Okay cool. So there’s no fear of accidentally damning yourself.

Any idea how long one might spend in Purgatory?

Jibb

EDIT: No specific case or anything… just wondering… like, could someone die in a state of grace but spend 4000 years in Purgatory due to them committing vast amounts of venial sins but no mortal sins since their last confession or their baptism? Could someone spend only thirty seconds in Purgatory?

 

[japhy]

Any idea how long one might spend in Purgatory?

There used to be the convention of using terms like “days” and “years” (although certainly not in a dogmatic or otherwise binding sense), but that has stopped being used, since we don’t know for certain how long the purgation of souls takes.

I, personally, have no idea, having never been there myself. However, the Church does teach that our prayers – and the Mass, first and foremost – can aid those souls in Purgatory. But at the same time, I don’t think we believe there is a sharing of a single time-frame between the Earth and Purgatory.

 

[LilyM]

There used to be the convention of using terms like “days” and “years” (although certainly not in a dogmatic or otherwise binding sense), but that has stopped being used, since we don’t know for certain how long the purgation of souls takes.

I, personally, have no idea, having never been there myself. However, the Church does teach that our prayers – and the Mass, first and foremost – can aid those souls in Purgatory. But at the same time, I don’t think we believe there is a sharing of a single time-frame between the Earth and Purgatory.

Are you thinking of the fact that indulgences used to be expressed in terms of ‘days’ or ‘years’?

Contrary to popular belief, this did NOT refer to an amount of time remitted from purgatory, which I don’t think has ever been taught as existing in time (what would happen to those whose ‘time’ wasn’t done before the final judgement day, when all were bound to be irrevocably sent to heaven or hell, if it did?)

Rather this convention referred to the indulgenced prayer/act being equivalent to doing x number of days or years of the old canonical penances (which usually involved fasting for a certain amount of time, among other things).