297. Why is there a sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism?
(Comp 297) Since the new life of grace
received in Baptism does not abolish the weakness of human nature nor the
inclination to sin (that is, concupiscence), Christ instituted this sacrament
for the conversion of the baptized who have been separated from him by sin.
“In
brief”
(CCC 1486)
The forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism is conferred by a particular
sacrament called the sacrament of conversion, confession, penance, or
reconciliation.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1425)
"You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor 6:11). One must
appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of
Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for
him who has "put on Christ" (Gal 3:27). But the apostle John also
says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us" (1 Jn 1:8). And the Lord himself taught us to pray:
"Forgive us our trespasses" (Cf. Lk 11:4; Mt 6:12), linking our
forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God
will grant us.
On reflection
(CCC 1426) Conversion to Christ, the new birth of
Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received
as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just as the Church herself,
the Bride of Christ, is "holy and without blemish" (Eph 1:4; 5:27).
Nevertheless the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished
the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that
tradition calls concupiscence, which
remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may
prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life (Cf. Council of Trent (1546)
DS 1515). This is the struggle of conversion
directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to
call us (Cf. Council of Trent (1547): DS 1545; LG 40).
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