From Zenit. More confusion and apparent Lutheranism:
As we enter the confessional, we should always remember that it is Christ who welcomes, it is Christ who listens, it is Christ who forgives, it is Christ who gives peace.”
FEBRUARY 11, 2016
On the vigil of Ash Wednesday, Pope Francis received in audience priests who have been selected as Missionaries of Mercy for this jubilee. During the Mass of Ash Wednesday, they were given their mandate, including faculties to absolve certain sins reserved to the Holy See.
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Dear Brothers Priests, good evening!...
Therefore, whatever the sin that is confessed – or which the person does not dare spell out, but makes it understood, is sufficient. Every missionary is called to remember his existence as a sinner and to place himself humbly as a “channel” of God’s mercy. And I confess to you fraternally that for me my confession of September 21 of ’53 is a source of joy, which reoriented my life. What did the priest say to me? I don’t remember. I remember that he smiled at me and then I don’t know what happened. But it is to welcome as a father …
Another important aspect is to be able to see the desire for forgiveness present in the penitent’s heart. It is a desire that is the fruit of grace and of its action in the life of persons, which enables one to feel the nostalgia of God, of His love and of His house. The heart turns to God, acknowledging the evil done but with the hope of obtaining forgiveness. And this desire is reinforced when one decides in one’s heart to change one’s life and to sin no more. It is the moment in which one entrusts oneself to God’s mercy, and has full confidence of being understood, forgiven and supported by Him. Let us give great space to this desire of God and of His forgiveness; let us have it emerge as a true expression of the grace of the Spirit who spurs to the conversion of heart. And here I recommend that you understand not only the language of the word, but also that of gestures. If someone comes to you and feels something must be removed from him, but perhaps he is unable to say it, but you understand … it’s all right, he says it this way, with the gesture of coming. First condition. Second, he is repentant. If someone comes to you it is because he doesn’t want to fall into these situations, but he doesn’t dare say it, he is afraid to say it and then not be able to do it. But if he cannot do it, ad impossibila nemo tenetur. And the Lord understands these things, the language of gestures. Have open arms, to understand what is inside that heart that cannot be said or said this way … somewhat because of shame … you understand me. You must receive everyone with the language with which they can speak.
Finally, I would like to mention a component of which there is not much talk, but which in fact is determinant: shame. It is not easy to put oneself before another man, although knowing that he represents God, and to confess one’s sin. One feels shame, be it for what one has done, be it for having to confess it to another. Shame is an intimate sentiment that cuts into one’s personal life and it requires on the part of the confessor an attitude of respect and encouragement. Often shame makes one mute and … The gesture, the language of the gesture. From the first pages, the Bible speaks of shame. After the sin of Adam and Eve, the sacred author notes immediately: “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” (Genesis 3:7). The first reaction of this shame is to hide themselves from God (Cf. Genesis 3:8-10)
There is also another passage of Genesis that strikes me and it is the story of Noah. We all know it, but we rarely remember the episode in which he was drunk. In the Bible, Noah is considered a just man yet, he is not without sin: his being drunk makes one understand how weak he was, to the point of failing in his dignity, a fact that Scripture expresses with the image of nakedness. However, two of his sons take his cloak and cover him so that he returns in the dignity of father.
This passage makes me say how important our role is in confession. Before us is a “naked” person, and also a person that doesn’t know how to speak and doesn’t know what to say, with his weakness and his limitations, with the shame of being a sinner, and so many times unable to say it. Let us not forget: the sin is not before us, but a repentant sinner, the sinner who would like not to be like this, but is unable <to change>, a person who feels the desire to be heard and to be forgiven. A sinner who promises that he doesn’t want to be estranged from the house of the Father and that, with the little strength he has, wants to do all he can to live as a child of God. Therefore, we are not called to judge, with a sense of superiority, as if we were immune from sin. On the contrary, we are called to act like Shem and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who took a cover to spare their father shame. To be a confessor according to the heart of Christ means to cover the sinner with the cover of mercy, so that he is no longer ashamed and is able to regain the joy of his filial dignity, and is also able to know where it is found again.
Well, first of all, the last thing posted by ABS is far too close to the understanding of Martin Luther, not the Catholic Church for the Catholic Church teaches that one's she is not covered but that his sin is absolved, obliterated, washed away.
Luther taught that our sins remained but were covered by the righteousness of Christ. We prolly all remember his infamous analogy, that it is like a pile of dung covered by snow.
Luther taught that our sins remained but were covered by the righteousness of Christ. We prolly all remember his infamous analogy, that it is like a pile of dung covered by snow.
And necessary of absolution is that he sins be limned :
The confession of sins
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.
1456 Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: "All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly."54
The confession of sins
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.
1456 Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: "All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly."54
- When Christ's faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, "for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know."55
1458 Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.59 Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father's mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful:60
Whoever confesses his sins . . . is already working with God. God indicts your sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear "man" - this is what God has made; when you hear "sinner" - this is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made. . . . When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You do the truth and come to the light.6
1496 The spiritual effects of the sacrament of Penance are:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle
ABSOLUTION. In the sacrament of penance, the act by which a qualified priest, having the necessary jurisdiction, remits the guilt and penalty due to sin. The new formula of absolution, since the Second Vatican Council, is: “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of His Son, has reconciled the world to Himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” To which the penitent answers, “Amen.” In this formula the essential words are: “I absolve you.” For centuries, the Church used the deprecatory form of absolution, e.g., “May God absolve you from your sins.” This was really declarative in meaning, as is clear from the fact that in the whole of tradition the priest who absolved was looked upon as a judge who actually absolved, even though he used the subjunctive mood to express his affirmative judgment. (Etym. Latin absolvere, to free from; to absolve, acquit.)
With absolution, the sins are obliterated, washed away, not covered
The New Confessional ?