by Bishop John C. Nienstedt

This past April, our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, issued a new Apostolic Letter on the Mercy of God, entitled Misericordia Dei. The reason for the new document is the Pope’s concern about how we are celebrating the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation. It is clear that he wants to encourage our habit of confessing our sins personally to the priest, either in private or communal ceremonies. It is also evident that the Holy Father wishes to stop the wrongful use of General Absolution outside of extreme cases of "grave necessity." His concern is positive: he states that he wishes to ensure a more faithful and fruitful celebration, as intended by Christ himself. He emphasizes, as the New Testament does, the highly personalized nature intended for this sacramental encounter.

The Apostolic Letter begins with a reflection on the mission of Jesus as Savior . . . which means "above all redemption from sin." Now I have heard many people say, "What is sin? I am not a bad person. I don’t do things so wrong that they deserve headlines or call undue attention to my actions." That may be true, but sin is simply a personal participation in evil. Evil is a powerful, personal force that leads us, sometimes subtly and sometimes not so subtly, away from God and from our neighbor. Take, for example, the recent crisis of clerical sexual abuse. In those situations, the few priests involved rationalized that this one private incident behind closed doors was not so bad, not so harmful as to have any lasting effect. Yet we can see how giving in to such an evil temptation has caused irreparable harm for the victims and ultimately for the whole Church. An evil act, once accomplished, takes on a life of its own. And as we have seen these past months, it can become a tidal wave. Sin is a willing, knowing cooperation in an evil act.

The forgiveness of sin takes on a sacramental expression through the words of the Risen Jesus on the evening of his Resurrection: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven." (Jn 20:22-23) This power to forgive sins is given by the Church, the Body of Christ, to bishops and priests. It is an awesome responsibility because it calls them to stand in the very person of Jesus, Shepherd and Head, exercising a divine power in his name and in the name of the Church. At the same time, the Sacrament cannot be effective without sincere contrition on the part of the penitent. Again, this is a highly personal encounter which engages both the confessor and the penitent.

The bishop or priest, of course, is not immune from sin. He must also make use of the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation, perhaps even more so than his own penitents. As I have told my students during the thirteen years I taught the Penance Practicum in the seminary, you will only be as good a confessor as you are a penitent. Unless you are humbled, you will never be humble, a confessor once said to me. I believe he was right.

Now for many of us who grew up going to "confession" in a dark confessional, the present form of this sacramental celebration will offer us some surprising new changes.

First of all, the priest is dressed in an alb and stole. This implies that the action is liturgical, just as the other Sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, or Marriage.

Secondly, the penitent enters a room, not a box, wherein one has an option: to confess behind a screen or to sit in a chair and confess face-to-face.

Thirdly, the confession begins with a proclamation of a brief Scriptural passage. By doing so, the point is made that all that is done in these few moments falls under the power of God’s Word.

The priest listens to my sins, gains a perspective on my spiritual state and offers advice. A penance is given as restitution and prevention. It is meant to strengthen the penitent against repetition of the same act. It is also meant to heal the harm caused by a particular action.

Finally, an Act of Contrition is prayed and then the confessor offers the Prayer of Absolution. Finally he says, "Go in peace. Your sins have been forgiven!"

What could be better Good News! Jesus, through the incarnational reality of the Church, has reached into our lives to forgive those sins that have been confessed and to assure us of his forgiveness. That is awesome, it is also powerful! But this experience should not be rushed. Parishes, therefore, need to provide sufficient times each week that are both convenient for people and allow for an unhurried celebration.

At the same time, I have heard many people ask me why "Communal Penance" is wrong. It’s not! Communal celebration of the Sacrament is a beautiful experience when it allows for a full confession of sins. What’s wrong is the impersonal approach of General Absolution. When we look to the Gospels, we see that Jesus only forgave sin as a personal encounter with an individual. He looked into the eyes of each sinner and spoke his word of forgiveness and so he does today. Our privilege is to continue the same work begun by the Lord.

Going back to the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter, he speaks also of the obligation that rests on the penitent to confess "according to kind and number, all grave sins committed" (Canon 988, #1). In this regard, he rejects as spiritually detrimental any practice of restricting one’s confession to a "generic" sin or of limiting a penitent to one or two sins that are "judged to be more important." No, every penitent has the right and obligation to confess all sins that have not been previously confessed.

What is so clear to me, after reading the Pope’s message, is how much of a gift the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliation is for us and how much we can benefit from its use in our spiritual lives. Our catechesis on this Sacrament must continue, for there is so much more here than meets the eye.

On another topic, the new General Instruction of the Roman Missal is due to be implemented on the first Sunday of Advent 2002. For the most part there will not be noticeable changes for the faithful, except for those who serve as Extraordinary Eucharistic Ministers. The one exception will be in those parishes where the congregation stands during the Eucharistic Prayer. Actually, the previous General Instruction specified the general norm that the congregation is to kneel from after the "Holy, Holy, Holy" until the end of the Doxology that precedes our recitation of the "Our Father". The new GIRM repeats this directive.

Why should we kneel? We kneel for two reasons. The first is a sign of devotion before the great mystery which is the Eucharistic Prayer. When we kneel we give the Lord the place of prominence in our religious lives.

Secondly, we kneel as a sign of our unity with the other people who make up the Eucharistic assembly. The unity of our posture bespeaks the unity of our purpose. It is a reflection of our willingness to celebrate the Lord Jesus as the way, rather than insisting on my own personal way.

As the first Sunday of Advent approaches, I ask all of us to cooperate with the directives of the General Instruction. The intent of the Ritual is to call us to greater holiness by allowing Jesus to take control over us. It is also meant to strengthen our unity as Church, entrusted with a mission to bear witness before the world.

November 2002

Falta Mucho por Recorrer

Por el Obispo John C. Nienstedt

En abril de este año, nuestro Santo Padre, el Papa Juan Paul II, publicó una nueva carta apostólica en la Misericordia de Dios, Misericordia Dei. La razón del nuevo documento es la preocupación del Papa de la manera cómo estamos celebrando el sacramento de Penitencia/Reconciliación. Está claro que él desea estimular nuestro hábito de confesar nuestros pecados personalmente al sacerdote, ya sea en ceremonias privadas o comunales. Es también evidente que el Santo Padre desea frenar el uso ilegítimo de la Absolución General fuera de casos extremos de "necesidad grave." Su preocupación es positiva: él indica que él desea garantizar una celebración más fiel y más fructuosa, según la intención por el mismo Cristo. Él acentúa, como lo hace en el nuevo testamento, la naturaleza altamente personalizada prevista para este encuentro sacramental.

El sacerdote escucha mis pecados, logra una perspectiva de mi condición espiritual y ofrece consejo. Una penitencia se da como la restitución y prevención. Significa consolidar el penitente contra no repetir el mismo acto. También significa curar el daño causado por una acción particular.

Finalmente, se reza un acto de Contrición y luego el confesor ofrece la oración de absolución. Finalmente él dice, "¡Vete en paz, tus pecados han sido perdonados!"

¡Qué podría ser mejor noticia! Mediante la realidad encarnacional de la iglesia, Jesús ha llegado a nuestras vidas para perdonar esos pecados que han sido confesados y para asegurarnos de su perdón. ¡Eso es impresionante,!Pero esta experiencia no debe ser apresurada. Por lo tanto, las parroquias necesitan proporcionar suficiente tiempo cada semana que sean convenientes para la gente y permitir una celebración más calmada.

Después de leer el mensaje del Papa, me es claro el gran regalo que tenemos en el sacramento de Penitencia/Reconciliación y cuánto nos podemos beneficiar de su uso en nuestra vida espiritual. Nuestra catequesis sobre este sacramento debe continuar, porque hay mucho más aqui de lo que ustedes piensan.