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The Christian religion including the Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches is known as Christianity. Within the Christian faith there are many beliefs and acts for one to follow. Such acts consist of the sacraments, for which there is seven. Believed by many to be one of the most intricate and difficult to understand of all the sacraments, is the sacrament of Reconciliation. Those who approach the sacrament of Reconciliation, 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 there sins. There are also two different types of sin.
The consequences of sin also vary. This sacrament can also be referred to by many different names. Many wonder how this sacrament came to be or how it evolved. The evolution of it goes back to the time of Jesus Christ who instituted all the sacraments to symbolize or confer grace. This sacrament also consists of many parts or actions, which take place throughout the act of Reconciliation.
There are also many spiritual affects which come out of this sacrament. There are many different names of Reconciliation, three of the names are penance, confession, and forgiveness. It is called the sacrament of Penance because this is the part of the sacrament that consecrates the Christian sinners' personal steps of conversion. There are three forms of penance. These forms are fasting, prayer and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to all others. It can be called the sacrament of Confession do to the act of revealing ones sins to the priest.
This is an essential element of this sacrament. Last but not least, it can be known as the sacrament of forgiveness, do to the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the Penitent pardon. The truth is Reconciliation encompasses all these aspects. All of these aspects are needed to be fully reconciled with God.
Sin is before all else an offense against God, a break of communion with Him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. In the eyes of the Church, no evil is worse than sin and nothing has worse consequences for sinners themselves and for the Church. The sinner wounds Gods honor and love, his own human dignity as a man called to be a son of God, of which each Christian ought to follow. That is why there is the sacrament of Reconciliation so ones sins can be wiped away. There are two types of sin, venial and mortal.
Mortal sin destroys kindness in the heart of man by a serious violation of God's law. It turns man away from God, who is his ultimate end and his complete happiness, by preferring an inferior good to him. Venial sin allows kindness to exist, although it offends and wounds God's law. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be met. "Mortal sin is a sin whose object is grave matter which is also committed with a full knowledge and deliberate consent. " (Catechism 455) Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man, " Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother. " (Mk 10: 19) The gravity of sins is more or less great. Murder is graver than theft.
One must also take into account the one who is hurt. Violence against parents is in itself graver than violence against a stranger. Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It is assumed before hand that the sinful act, which offends Gods laws, is done knowingly. With this knowledge, one will continue to deliberately commit the act and go against God.
One commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, when one disobeys the mortal law in a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without committing the act purposely. Deliberate and unrepeated venial sins disposes us little by little to commit a mortal sin. However, venial sin does not break the covenant with God. Sin itself has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, this is also known as the eternal punishment of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to man, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory.
This purification frees one from what is called the temporal punishment of sin. These two punishments must not be viewed as a kind of vengeance inflicted by God, but from the very nature of the sin. The reconciliation of the sinner can help one attain the purification so that no punishment will remain. The forgiveness of sin and restoration of the communion with God entail the pardon of the eternal punishment, but the temporal punishment of sin remains. Christians must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a grace. They should strive by works of mercy and charity, as well as by prayer and the various practices of penance to start a clean slate.
The church teaches that "Only God forgives sin. " (Catechism 362) This shows that when the priest absolves one from their sins they are doing it on behalf of God. The Sacred Scripture speaks of reconciliation and states when Jesus grants through the Holy Spirit the power to forgive sins upon ordinary men. When Jesus appeared to the Disciples after His resurrection He said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. " (Jn 20: 22 - 23) This is one of the most inspiring innovations of the Gospel. He gives this ability to the apostles for them to continue their mission as proclaimers of the Gospel and ministers of Christ's redemption work.
In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners to the Church. He gives this power to act out in his name. When celebrating the sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Samaritan who puts together wounds and of the just and impartial judge whose judgement is both just and merciful. The priest is the sign and the instrument of God's merciful love for the sinner. Priests are not initially granted the ability to forgive sins in the name of God. Every priest must be trained for the ministry of the sacramental penance from his years in the seminary, not only through the study...
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