Cathal Barry
The Church teaches that reconciliation with God is the purpose and effect of the sacrament, writes Cathal Barry
The whole power of the Sacrament of Penance, according to the Church, consists in restoring the faithful to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship.
Reconciliation with God, the Church teaches, is thus the “purpose and effect of this sacrament”.
For those who receive the Sacrament of Penance with contrite heart and religious disposition, reconciliation “is usually followed by peace and serenity of conscience with strong spiritual consolation” (Council of Trent).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that this sacrament “reconciles us with the Church”.
The key teaching document notes that while sin “damages or even breaks fraternal communion”, the Sacrament of Penance “repairs or restores it”.
Members
“In this sense it does not simply heal the one restored to ecclesial communion, but has also a revitalising effect on the life of the Church which suffered from the sin of one of her members.
“Re-established or strengthened in the communion of saints, the sinner is made stronger by the exchange of spiritual goods among all the living members of the Body of Christ,” the Catechism says.
As John Paul II stated: “It must be recalled that… this reconciliation with God leads, as it were, to other reconciliations, which repair the other breaches caused by sin. The forgiven penitent is reconciled with himself in his inmost being, where he regains his innermost truth. He is reconciled with his brethren whom he has in some way offended and wounded. He is reconciled with the Church. He is reconciled with all creation.
The Church teaches that in this sacrament, the sinner, placing himself before the merciful judgment of God, “anticipates in a certain way the judgment to which he will be subjected at the end of his earthly life”.
“For it is now, in this life, that we are offered the choice between life and death, and it is only by the road of conversion that we can enter the Kingdom, from which one is excluded by grave sin,” the Catechism says.
In converting to Christ through penance and faith, the Church teaches that the sinner passes from death to life and “does not come into judgment” (John 5:24).
Sin
The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God, according to the Catechism, “entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin”.
The Catechism adds, however, that “temporal punishment of sin remains”.
“While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace”.
“He should strive by works of mercy and charity,” the document says, “as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the ‘old man’ and to put on the ‘new man’ (Eph 4:22, 24)”.