Lk 22, 54-62 Peter went out and began to weep bitterly

(Lk 22, 54-62) Peter went out and began to weep bitterly

[54] After arresting him they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest; Peter was following at a distance. [55] They lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat around it, and Peter sat down with them. [56] When a maid saw him seated in the light, she looked intently at him and said, "This man too was with him." [57] But he denied it saying, "Woman, I do not know him." [58] A short while later someone else saw him and said, "You too are one of them"; but Peter answered, "My friend, I am not." [59] About an hour later, still another insisted, "Assuredly, this man too was with him, for he also is a Galilean." [60] But Peter said, "My friend, I do not know what you are talking about." Just as he was saying this, the cock crowed, [61] and the Lord turned and looked at Peter; and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times." [62] He went out and began to weep bitterly.

(CCC 1481) The Byzantine Liturgy recognizes several formulas of absolution, in the form of invocation, which admirably express the mystery of forgiveness: "May the same God, who through the Prophet Nathan forgave David when he confessed his sins, who forgave Peter when he wept bitterly, the prostitute when she washed his feet with her tears, the Pharisee, and the prodigal son, through me, a sinner, forgive you both in this life and in the next and enable you to appear before his awe-inspiring tribunal without condemnation, he who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen." (CCC 1455) The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible. (CCC 1485) "On the evening of that day, the first day of the week," Jesus showed himself to his apostles. "He breathed on them, and said to them: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained"' (Jn 20:19, 22-23). (CCC 1491) The sacrament of Penance is a whole consisting in three actions of the penitent and the priest's absolution. The penitent's acts are repentance, confession or disclosure of sins to the priest, and the intention to make reparation and do works of reparation. (CCC 1494) The confessor proposes the performance of certain acts of "satisfaction" or "penance" to be performed by the penitent in order to repair the harm caused by sin and to re-establish habits befitting a disciple of Christ.