By Deacon Richard Hay
“A sacrament we should repeat…”
As we prepare to receive the graces from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I would like to share the insight the church provides in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and how they are connected to our Gospel from John this evening and this beautiful sacrament.
First – sacraments…
The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions. (CCC 1131).
In the gospel from John we just heard, Christ establishes this sacrament with his apostles when he said to them:
“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Second – where the power of this sacrament comes from…
Sacraments are “powers that comes forth” from the Body of Christ, which is ever living and life-giving. They are actions of the Holy Spirit at work in his Body, the Church. They are “the masterworks of God” in the new and everlasting covenant. (CCC 1116)
We hear how this sacrament is powered by the Holy Spirit in two actions from this gospel when Jesus first breathes on the apostles and then says – “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
The catechism of the Catholic Church also states that “The Sacrament of Penance is God’s gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven. In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sin. With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God.”
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of our “repeatable” sacraments, like Holy Communion. It is one we can and should avail ourselves too as often as necessary to receive all of the graces and blessings that the Lord gives to us in this sacrament.
These sacraments are present to us as the Body of Christ to assist us in this life as we journey towards eternity in heaven.
The blessing of these sacraments is that God’s mercy is infinite no matter how unforgiveable we might feel. His mercy will never be exhausted. All we must do is seek out that mercy through this “repeatable” sacrament as often as needed.