Devotion for today: Come near to God and He will come near to you.

Mark 1:14-15: After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Today we will conclude our discussion of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We have covered all the aspects of a good confession, emphasizing the need for true sorrow for our sins. In that light we looked at the need for penance given to us by the priest. Why receive penance? In our Catholic faith, we believe the steps of a good confession to be: know my sins, be sorry for my sins, make up my mind not to commit these sins again, tell my sins to a priest and do the penance the priest gives me. Well, there are several obvious reasons. First of all, we know that if our child does something wrong and says he is sorry, we accept the apology, but we also let the child know that his actions carry consequences. He must do something to make up for the wrong he has done. If he has stolen something, he must apologize and return the item. If he has broken curfew, he is usually grounded so that he will appreciate the gift of freedom and trust given to him by his parents. If an adult is speeding, he is given a ticket to remind him of the “cost” of breaking the law. It is the same with our sins. They not only offend and hurt God, they offend and hurt our fellow man, since there is no private sin. All sin makes us less good, and thus takes away from the gift we can be to others. Secondly, sin is to be mourned. Along with feeling remorse, a true penitent should also feel a sense of sorrow for the wrong he has done. We long for a way to replace the sin which is now out of our behavior with something that is pure and good. We pull weeds and fill the empty space with a beautiful flower. That is what penance does for our souls. We say we are sorry, the priest prays the words of forgiveness, and now we proceed to enter into prayer, works of mercy, and restitution for what we have done. Prayer fills our soul with the music of God’s love; works of mercy remind us of our true calling as Christians, and restitution makes us one again with the one we have offended. We are not called to obsess over our sins. We do need to believe it is ok to be a little sad once in awhile. In a world filled with distractions to keep us happy and numb, we must be willing to call ourselves to responsibility for our behavior, to feel the sadness over what we have done, and to know that our sadness will be turned to joy when our union with God is complete. On our knees, in complete humility, filled with sorrow and repentance, we confess to our priest “in persona Christi” and listen to his words. We make a good Act of Contrition and resolve to leave these sins forever, and we wait to hear a way we can return to God’s grace and help restore the well-being of the world we have somehow diminished. We leave the church feeling renewed and refreshed, light and joyful. We are a new creation, and we will shine before men. How awesome is that!!!

In the Latin Rite the proper form of absolution is as follows:

God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

For pastoral reasons the priest may shorten the formula to:
I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

AN ACT OF CONTRITION: My God,
I am sorry for my sins with all my heart.
In choosing to do wrong and failing to do good,
I have sinned against you
whom I should love above all things.
I firmly intend, with your help,
to do penance, to sin no more,
and to avoid whatever leads me to sin.
Our Savior Jesus Christ suffered and died for us.
In His Name, my God, have mercy. Amen.