The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Theological Prejudice

It is first necessary to note that many people are against Catholicism on this issue. It is numbered by anti-Catholics with the "worship" of Mary and Purgatory. And so as a simple warning, I would like anyone who reads this apology to open their minds. First of all, realize that, common to some popular belief, I in no way intend to undermine Christ's work on the cross. Also keep in mind that the first, early Christians (as early as 2nd century!) undoubtedly practiced forms of the Sacrament of Confession. The Sacrament of Confession has been around far longer than any Christian Protestant or Orthodox denomination, and so it should not be viewed as bizarre or ridiculous. With this said, happy reading.

The Necessity of Reconciliation in Human Life

"Sin is before all an offense against God, a rupture of communion with Him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation." CCC 1440

The Apostolic Authority, Reconciliation to God

The Catholic Church runs its Sacramentailty based upon the fact that all of its bishops are successors of the apostles, and priests chosen delegates of those successors. There is no Christ-given ecclesiastical power that applied to the apostles and not the bishops of today, nor is there any Christ given ecclesiastical power that applies to the bishops today and not the apostles. Therefore, the Catholic Church's ability to admininister the Sacrament of Reconciliation must have also been held by the apostles.

There are two places in the Bible in which God breathes upon a certain person(s). The first is during the Creation. God "formed man out of the clay of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became living." (Gen 2:7) God created the body of man first. However, the man, at this point, was not a living, Spiritual being. God then breathed HIS breath into the man, and in this way the man became alive and Spiritual. God had transferred something that belonged to Him (life) to the man. He had given man His power (although, of course, not nearly all of it).

The second time was very similar. This was when Christ, after His resurrection, appeared to the disciples in John 20:21-23. It reads as follows:

"Peace be with you," He said again. "As the Father sent me, so I send you."
Then He breathed on them and said:
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive men's sins, they are forgiven them;
If you hold them bound, they are held bound."

When breathing upon the disciples, and only His disciples, He was giving them the Spirit (breath) of God to perform a certain task. Just as in Genesis, the Spirit (breath) of God gave life. The ability is made clear in verse 23. The ability is to "forgive men's sins" and to "hold them bound." And so the authority to forgive sins through the power of Christ was conferred to the apostles' through God's breath. Where Christ had personally forgiven sins before hand, he gave the apostles His power to do so. Just as in the garden God actually gave his breath of life, so Christ did actually give His power to the apostles. Christ had constantly roamed the Land during His life, forgiving the sins of the Faithful as He went along (Cf. John 7:53 to 8:11, Luke 7:36-50, Luke 23:43, Matthew 26:75). The forgiveness of sins that Christ had put into practice was handed over to the apostles, through Christ's breath and promise, in John 20:21-23.

It is important to remember, however, that it is still Christ's power. God is the ONLY one who could and can forgive sins (cf Mark 2:7). However, how Christ forgives sin is totally up to His discretion. And it is evident in Scripture and Tradition that Christ chooses, by His own total power, to forgive sins through the Church; the apostles and their successors and delegates. When a priest claims that he has the ability and power to forgive sins, he is in heresy. Christ granted His own power to be manifested through the bishops and the priests, so that He might forgive certain sins through the Church. But all people must realize that aside from the power of God, no Church clergy or member has the ability to forgive sins. To sum, it is Christ alone that forgives sin (Cf. CCC 1441).

Christ, in John 20:21-23, as formerly established, granted His ministry of Reconciliation to the Church. Astonishingly, we see that the Church itself, in the Bible, claims this very ministry of Reconciliation to be a characteristic of its bishops and Church leaders. II Corinthians 5:18-20 rads as follows:

All this has been done by God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of Reconciliation. I mean that God, in Christ, was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting man's transgressions against them, and that He has entrusted the message of Reconciliation to us. This makes us ambassadors for Christ, God as it were appealing through us. We implore you, in Christ's name: be reconciled to God!

The apostles and Church Leaders describe themselves as "ambassadors for Christ" in II Corinthians 5:20. The Bible tells us that God is working directly through the apostles, appealing to the people through the apostles, also in II Corinthians 5:20. Furthermore, we must note that in II Corinthians 5:18-20, the apostles (specifically Paul and Timothy, see verse 1:1) are commanding the Church members to be reconciled to God through themselves. If all people of the Church were ambassadors of Christ, then there would be no need for the Church members to be reconciled through the Church leaders, the apostles. Rather, the Church  members could simply be reconciled to God through themselves. And so we must deduct that the Church Leaders, the apostles and their successors, were and are "ambassadors for Christ" while regular Church member Christians are usually not.

Some would argue with this point, saying that the "us" in II Corinthians 5:18-20 means all of the Christians of the Church rather than the apostles and the Church Leaders, their successors. This argument usually makes out "the ministry of reconciliation" to be the good news that the apostles spread about the forgiveness granted by God. However, this argument breaks down in verse 20 where Paul says "This makes us ambassadors for Christ, God as it were appealing through us. We implore you, in Christ's name: be reconciled to God!" Paul is speaking at first in first person using "us" to describe who he is talking about. Suddenly, he gives a command to the Church in Corinth, whom he is writing to, using the word "you." This means that in this passage "us" and "you" are two different groups of people, and therefore the "us" cannot be the Church members, because the "you" are the Church members.

And so as a simple matter of sensical interpretation and grammatical examination, we find that in II Corinthians 5:18-20, the apostle Paul and his chosen successors and delegates claim for themselves the ministry of reconciliation.

Furthermore, we find that the Bible clearly shows that Paul administered this ministry of Reconciliation, granted to him by Christ in John 20:21-23. This ministry of Reconciliation is the basis for the modern Sacrament of Reconciliation. Paul uses this Sacramental power of Christ-induced forgiveness in II Corinthians 2:10, which reads as follows:

Now whom you [members of the Church of Corinth] forgive anything, I also forgive. For indeed if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ.

Paul makes the bold claim that if he forgives something of someone, he has forgiven that one for his sake in the presence of Christ. This is a direct and undeniable reference to John 20:21-23. Indded, if Paul does not forgive the sinner, his sins will be retained (John 20:23). And so Paul assures the sinner that because he forgives his sins, they are forgiven in the presence of Christ, and not retained. Furthemore, if it is enough that the laity forgive eachother, then why would Paul make that first statement? Why would Paul assure the Church members at Corinth that what they forgive he forgives? Indeed, for a logical interpretation of this passage, we must conclude that Paul had power to forgive far greater than that of an ordinary Church member, and that Paul was indded invoking his Christ-given power of Reconciliation. The Sacrament of Reconciliation, even in the primitive Church, was carried out.

Although a bit shaky, 1 John 1:9 can also be seen as a direct command to the sinner to confess his sins to the community. The verse reads, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." If the verse does imply the confession of sins to another human or humans, then it embodies the Sacrament of Confession rather well. The context around the verse swings both ways. It speaks about fellowship with one another, which could definitely imply a public confession of sins. On the other hand, earlier in the context, it speaks of a fellowship with God, which could also imply a private confession of sins to God. Although the verse is blurry, it must at least be considered a possible support of the Sacrament of Confession.

The Apostolic Authority, Reconciliation to the Church

"During His public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effects of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at His table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God's forgiveness and the return to the bosum of the People of God.

"In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: 'I will give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on Earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven.' [Matthew 16:19] The office of binding and loosing given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles unoted to its head. [Matthew 18:18]" (CCC 1443-1444)

When we sin, we hurt two things. First, and most notable, we hurt God and our relationship with Him. But secondly, we hurt our communion with the Church. And so communion with the Church is also logically necessary after sin. The Bible makes our amazing connection with the Church very clear. I Corinthians 12:25-27 clarifies things for us:

that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

As seen, our damage caused by sin not only makes us suffer, but the Church suffers with it. If one person misrepresnts the Church, the entire Church's reputation may be hurt. Indeed, a reconciliation to the Church is necessary. And so, under the Biblical constraints of binding and losing, the bishops and priests of the Church accept apologies through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. They prey for you in the presence of Christ, and give you Penance, in confident hope that this Penance may reduce your urge to sin in the future.

We do know that some form of this confession of sins was made upon entering the Church. In Acts 19:18-19, we find that "many who had become believers came forward and openly confessed their former practices. A number who had been dealing in magic collected their books and burned them in public. When the value of these was assessed, it came to fifty thousand silver pieces." Although this verse in no way shows the Sacrament of Reconciliation, it DOES show that in the Bible, sinners openly confessed their sins and burned their former sinful practices to gain favor and forgiveness with the Church. This is exactly the kind of attitude that needs to be held when we are confessing a sin that we have committed against the Church.

Certain Protestant denominations and sects DO practice some form of a reconciliation, confession, or sorrow, to their church. This is commendable and Biblical, and we realize this.

Sins Forgiven

The Church has always granted that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not needed for the forgiveness of ALL sins. Venial (non-mortal) sins, as described in 1 John 5:16-17, can be forgiven through simple, private prayer to God, so long as it is sincere, true, and penitant. The Catholic Church also holds firm that apart from interior penance, practices such as fasting, frequent prayer, and almsgiving can assist in the forgiveness of sin, as recorded in Tobit 12:8-10. Charity can also assist in forgiveness of sin, as it "covers a multitude of sin", as recorded in 1 Peter 4:8. Concern for the salvation of one's neighbor also covers sin (James 5:20). As long as a good act is accompanied by inner-sorrow and penitance, it should help in the forgiveness of venial sin.

However, such a thing exists as mortal sin (1 John 5:16-17). This sin destroys our charity, and we must act upon an actual grace given by God, and not an act decided upon by ourselves, for the forgiveness of sin. The True Sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the only things that is a guaranteed source of actual grace. For more on actual graces, mortal sin, and the forgiveness of mortal sin, please see "Salvation: How To Get it and Lose It."

And so I conclude, in the name of the Divine Trinity, and through the Catholic Church, which has taught Truth in God from the beginning, unchanged, that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is indeed a valid, Christ-instituted Sacrament.