Saturday, January 21, 2017
Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 232 - Part II.
(Youcat answer – repeated) Essential
elements of every confession are an examination of conscience, contrition, a
purpose of amendment, confession, and penance.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 1453)
The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also
a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration
of sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties
threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can
initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of grace, will be
brought to completion by sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect
contrition cannot obtain the forgiveness of grave sins, but it disposes one to
obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance (Cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS
1678; 1705).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) The examination of conscience should be done
thoroughly, but it can never be exhaustive. No one can be absolved from his sin
without real contrition, merely on the basis of “lip-service”. Equally
indispensable is the purpose of
amendment, the resolution not to commit
that sin again in the future. The sinner absolutely must declare the sin to the
confessor and, thus, confess to it. The final essential element of confession is
the atonement or penance that the confessor imposes on the sinner to make
restitution for the harm done.
(CCC Comment)
(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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment