Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 227.

YOUCAT Question n. 227 - Who instituted the sacrament of Penance?

(Youcat answer) Jesus himself instituted the sacrament of Penance when he showed himself to his apostles on Easter day and commanded 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 20:22a-23).

A deepening through CCC

(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).

Reflecting and meditating   

(Youcat comment) Nowhere did Jesus express more beautifully what happens in the sacrament of Penance than in the parable of the Prodigal Son: We go astray, we are lost and can no longer cope. Yet our Father waits for us with great, indeed, infinite longing; he forgives us when we come back; he takes us in again, forgives our sins. Jesus himself forgave the sins of many individuals; it was more important to him than working miracles. He regarded this as the great sign of the dawning of the kingdom of God, in which all wounds are healed and all tears are wiped away. Jesus forgave sins in the power of the Holy Spirit, and he handed that power on to his Apostles. We fall into the arms of our heavenly Father when we go to a priest and confess.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1439) The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father (Cf. Lk 15:11-24): The fascination of illusory freedom, the abandonment of the father's house; the extreme misery in which the son finds himself after squandering his fortune; his deep humiliation at finding himself obliged to feed swine, and still worse, at wanting to feed on the husks the pigs ate; his reflection on all he has lost; his repentance and decision to declare himself guilty before his father; the journey back; the father's generous welcome; the father's joy - all these are characteristic of the process of conversion. The beautiful robe, the ring, and the festive banquet are symbols of that new life - pure worthy, and joyful - of anyone who returns to God and to the bosom of his family, which is the Church. Only the heart of Christ who knows the depths of his Father's love could reveal to us the abyss of his mercy in so simple and beautiful a way.     

(The next question is: Who can forgive sins?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 226.

YOUCAT Question n. 226 - But we have Baptism, which reconciles us with God; why then do we need a special sacramental Reconciliation?

(Youcat answer) Baptism does snatch us from the power of sin and death and brings us into the new life of the children of God, but it does not free us from human weakness and the inclination to sin. That is why we need a place where we can be reconciled with God again and again. That place is confession. 

A deepening through CCC

(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.

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) It does not seem like a modern thing to go to confession; it can be difficult and may cost a great deal of effort at first. But it is one of the greatest graces that we can receive again and again in our life—it truly renews the soul, completely unburdens it, leaving it without the debts of the past, accepted in love, and equipped with new strength. God is merciful, and he desires nothing more earnestly than for us, too, to lay claim to his mercy. Someone who has gone to confession turns a clean, new page in the book of his life.

(CCC Comment)

(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). 

(The next question is: Who instituted the sacrament of Penance?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 225 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 225 - Part II. What names are there for the sacrament of Penance?

(Youcat answer – repeated) The sacrament of penance is also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation, of forgiveness, of conversion, or of confession.  

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1486) The forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism is conferred by a particular sacrament called the sacrament of conversion, confession, penance, or reconciliation.   

Reflecting and meditating 

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1424) It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man. It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace"  (OP 46: formula of absolution). It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God" (2 Cor 5:20). He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother" (Mt 5:24).   

(The next question is: But we have Baptism, which reconciles us with God; why then do we need a special sacramental Reconciliation?)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 225 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 225 - Part I. What names are there for the sacrament of Penance?

(Youcat answer) The sacrament of penance is also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation, of forgiveness, of conversion, or of confession.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1486) The forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism is conferred by a particular sacrament called the sacrament of conversion, confession, penance, or reconciliation. (CCC 1422) "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion" (LG 11 § 2). 

Reflecting and meditating 

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1423) It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father (Cf. Mk 1:15; Lk 15:18) from whom one has strayed by sin. It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.

(This question: What names are there for the sacrament of Penance? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 224.

YOUCAT Question n. 224 - Why did Christ give us the sacrament of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick?

(Youcat answer) Christ’s love is shown in the fact that he seeks the lost and heals the sick. That is why he gave us the sacraments of healing and restoration, in which we are freed from sin and strengthened in our physical and spiritual weakness.

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 1420) Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now we carry this life "in earthen vessels," and it remains "hidden with Christ in God" (2 Cor 4:7; Col 3:3). We are still in our "earthly tent," subject to suffering, illness, and death (2 Cor 5:1). This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin.

Reflecting and meditating 

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 1421) The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health (Cf. Mk 2:1-12), has willed that his Church continue, in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing: the sacrament of Penance and the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick.

(The next question is: What names are there for the sacrament of Penance?)