Welcome Home to Healing

“God, the Father of mercies through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God grant 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.”

— Prayer of Absolution, Rite of Penance
 

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

Do you remember the last time you heard those words? If the words sound familiar, that probably means you have recently celebrated the Sacra­ment of Reconciliation or “went to confession.” The words could also be familiar if you try to go to confession (as we believe we should) at least once a year.

If those words do not sound very familiar, I encourage you to read them again and consider how wonderful it would be not just to read them, but to hear them, after having asked for God’s forgiveness in the (beautiful, if often misunderstood) Sacrament of Reconciliation. Some priests have the custom of adding other beautiful and comforting words after saying the words of Abso­lution. Some priests will add the words: “Go in Peace, your sins are forgiven.” As important as the words are, the gift of this “Sacrament of Healing,” which is the forgiveness of sin and the peace and healing that so often accompany that forgiveness, is truly “beyond words.”

I have said before that there is a great amount of evidence that the “Sacrament of Reconciliation” or “Confession” is making a comeback. To say that this Sacrament has gone through a “difficult time” during the past 50 or 60 years would not be an exaggeration and may be a significant understatement. There are Catholics who can remember (in the 1950s and well into the 1960s) long lines for Confession every Saturday night, as all those who wanted to receive Holy Com­munion at Mass on Sunday morning felt that, in order to receive Communion, they had to go to Confession the night before.

Changes that took place in the Church, society, culture, and family life combined to have a very significant impact on the understanding and practice of Catholics when it came to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. While it was never actually the case, there was, at times, a feeling that “no one was going to confession anymore.” At the same time, the numbers of those going to confession did, in fact, decrease dramatically. There has been a tremendous amount of study and writing analyzing “what happened” to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I will not attempt here to even summarize the results of those studies and analyses. The important point that I wish to highlight at this time is the way in which things have begun to change for the better, especially in the past five to 10 years. Catholics are not only “returning” to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but they are growing in their appreciation of what it means to say that, along with the Sacra­ment of the Anointing of the Sick, the Sacrament of Reconciliation is a “Sacrament of Healing.”

The Seven Sacraments are sometimes grouped into three “types.” There are three “Sacraments of Initiation” (Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion), and there are two “Sacraments of Mission” (Marriage and Holy Orders). There are two “Sacraments of Healing” (Anointing of the Sick and Recon­ciliation). As Catholics, the Sacra­ments are such a central part of our life of Faith, but, like so many of God’s most wonderful gifts, because they are so familiar to us, there is a danger that we can “take them for granted.” How often do most Catholics stop or pause and think, “What makes a Sacrament a Sacrament?” or “What do all seven Sacraments have in common?” While the wording has changed somewhat over the decades, the “heart” of the definition of a Sacrament has remained the same. The definition of a Sacrament in the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults is:

SACRAMENT: An efficacious sign of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us by the work of the Holy Spirit. (CCC, nos. 1131, 774).

A definition that I liked to use with Confirmation students, with adults preparing to receive the Sacraments, and with parents in Sacramental preparation classes is:

A Sacrament is a visible or “sensible” (something you touch, see, taste, hear, or smell) sign of an “invisible reality” (or a reality beyond the senses) instituted by Christ to give Grace.

I mention all this because I believe it can be helpful to remember that Reconciliation (Confession) is a Sacrament, a Sacrament of Healing, given to us, entrusted to the Church by Jesus. Saying the words that we say when we ask for God’s forgiveness as we “confess” our sins and hearing the words of Absolution (forgiveness) that we hear through the “instrument” of the priest — those are the “efficacious signs” or “sensible realities.” Yet, the Sacraments always bring us “beyond the senses” by the reception of “Grace” (when “… divine life is dispensed to us by the work of the Holy Spirit”). When I spoke earlier of the “gift” that we receive when we celebrate or receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I am referring to the “Grace of the Sacrament,” that our sins are forgiven, and the receiving of that forgiveness can bring us healing and peace that are beyond words and that all of us need at times in our lives.

“Welcome Home to Healing” is an invitation in our Diocese to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconcili­ation during the Season of Lent. You can find more information and details at the “Welcome Home to Healing” website. Most importantly, you should know that this initiative invites everyone to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconcili­ation especially by making the Sacrament available in EVERY parish in our Diocese on EVERY Monday evening during Lent, from Feb. 27 through March 27 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. You should check with the individual parish to confirm the exact times when the Sacrament will be available. Many parishes will offer additional days and times when the Sacrament will be available. I want to take this opportunity to thank the priests of our Diocese for their availability, as many of them will spend a great deal of time hearing confessions during Lent. Hopefully, we always pray for our priests. It would be good to offer some extra prayers for them during Lent.

There are so many people in our lives and in our world who are in need of healing, forgiveness, and peace. As the saying goes, “You can’t give what you don’t have.” Many of us would like to be instruments of peace, healing, and forgiveness for others, but there are times when our own weakness and, yes, sinfulness “get in the way” of God’s grace being able to work through us. When we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive forgiveness for our sins and the healing and peace that come with that forgiveness, then we will be able to share those gifts with others. I ask us all to pray, during this Season of Lent, that many will respond to the invitation to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconcili­ation and that the Lord will Bless our Welcome Home to Healing initiative.