The Hammer that Strikes the Wedge Home Splitting the Wood - The Sacrament of Penance Part 1

As strange as it may seem this is part 1 of the Sacrament of Penance Articles.

Between the protestant, non-christian religions and the Catholic Religion there stands another significant difference: the Sacrament of Penance.

While the Anglican's believe that confession is merely:

"for the unburdening of his conscience, and to receive spiritual consolation and ease of mind from him" Wikipedia

The remainder of the protestant and non-christian religions, if they include 'confession' hold some variation of this belief.

What Catholics believe stands in stark contrast:

The Sacrament of Penance is that Sacrament by which the sinner, who repents of his sins, acknowledges them sincerely and has the will to render atonement, has his sins, committed after his Baptism, remitted in the absolution pronounced by the priest. The word penance is also used to designate a particular part of the Sacrament of Penance, i.e., the satisfaction. Ott- Fundamentals of Dogma

The crux of the matter  is who God is and our relation to Him as his creatures.  He wants the best for us, which is to share in His happiness. He has set out a path for us to follow to achieve that goal and every time we deviate from that path we are making a statement.

We prefer our will to God's.  It is akin to making an obscene gesture to a person of authority. Only God is the ultimate authority, and it is this ultimate authority that we offend when we sin.

Sadly, if a person doesn't understand the 'who God is' they will not understand the gravity of sin and nor the greatness of the redemption.

This is the 'why' behind the wedge.

If you do not understand who God is you will never understand who you are and your place in creation.

Catholicism places a wedge between us and the world, the flesh and the Devil.

It places all the neutral items into their proper use and those that are evil, on the side opposite of us.

I'm going to truncate my mononlogue on this point, because Divine Providence has provided me with the foundation for this article - right from the Catechism of Trent. In other words, yesterday I reached the section on the Sacrament of Penance. The following are the key excerpts (although I strongly recommend a complete review of the whole article in the Catechism of the Council of Trent).





ARTICLE X : "THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS"

... without a firm belief of all the Articles of the Creed, Christian piety is wholly unattainable.

... It behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead the third day, and that penance and remission of sins should be preached, in his name, unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 

... weigh well these words, and he [Pastor] will readily perceive that the Lord has placed him under a most sacred obligation, not only of making known to the faithful whatever regards religion in general, but also of explaining with particular care this Article of the Creed. 

The Church Has the Power of Forgiving Sins On this point of doctrine, ... not only is forgiveness of sins to be found in the Catholic Church ... but also that in her resides the power of forgiving sins; and furthermore that we are bound to believe that this power ... is such as truly to pardon and remit sins. 

... The grace of Baptism, however, does not give exemption from all the infirmities of nature. ... each of us has to contend, against the motions of concupiscence, which ever tempts us to the commission of sin, there is scarcely one to be found among us, ... as to escape all wounds[sin]. 

It being necessary... that a power of forgiving sins, distinct from that of Baptism, should exist in the Church, to her were entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven, by which each one, if penitent, may obtain the remission of his sins, even though he were a sinner to the last day of his life. This truth is vouched for by the most unquestionable authority of the Sacred Scriptures.... Further, the testimony of St. John assures us that the Lord, breathing on the Apostles, said: Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. '

... the exercise of this power [is not] restricted to particular sins. No crime, however heinous, can be committed or even conceived which the Church has not power to forgive ... 

... this power is not restricted to particular times. Whenever the sinner turns from his evil ways he is not to be rejected ...
... our Lord gave not the power of so sacred a ministry to all, but to Bishops and priests only. The same must be said regarding the manner in which this power is to be exercised; for sins can be forgiven only through the Sacraments, when duly administered. ...

This is manifestly an effect of the infinite power of God, of that same power which we believe to have been necessary to raise the dead to life and to summon creation into existence. ... 

... the ancient Fathers declared that God alone can forgive sins, and that to His infinite goodness and power alone is so wonderful a work to be referred. ... wherefore we daily pray: forgive us our debts sin, it is clear, can be forgiven by Him alone, and by none else. 

This ... divine power was never communicated to creatures, until God became man. Christ our Saviour, although true God, was the first one who, as man, received this high prerogative from His heavenly Father. ... He became man, in order to bestow on man this forgiveness of sins, He communicated this power to Bishops and priests in the Church, previous to His Ascension into heaven, ... Christ, however ... remits sin by virtue of His own authority; all others, by virtue of His authority delegated to them as His ministers. 

... we must readily perceive that this gift, bestowed on the Church by the bounteous hand of Christ our Lord, is one of inestimable value.
... It was His will that our offences should be expiated by the blood of His Only-begotten Son; that His Son should voluntarily assume the imputability of our sins, and suffer a most cruel death, the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty. 

... we were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted and undefiled, we are naturally led to conclude that we could have received no gift more salutary than this power of forgiving sins, which proclaims the ineffable Providence of God and the excess of His love towards us. ... 

For whoever offends God, even by one mortal sin, instantly forfeits whatever merits he may have previously acquired through the sufferings and death of Christ, and is entirely shut out from the gate of heaven which, when already closed, was thrown open to all by the Redeemer's Passion. When we reflect on this, the thought of our misery must fill us with deep anxiety. But if we turn our attention to this admirable power with which God has invested His Church; and, in the firm belief of this Article, feel convinced that to every sinner is offered the means of recovering, with the assistance of divine grace, his former dignity, we must exult with exceeding joy and gladness, and must offer immortal thanks to God. 

The faithful, therefore, having formed a just conception of the dignity of so excellent and exalted a blessing, should be exhorted to profit by it to the best of their ability. For he who makes no use of what is really useful and necessary must be supposed to despise it; particularly since, in communicating to the Church the power of forgiving sin, the Lord did so with the view that all should have recourse to this healing remedy. As without Baptism no one can be cleansed, so in order to recover the grace of Baptism, forfeited by actual mortal guilt, recourse must be had to another means of expiation, -- namely, the Sacrament of Penance. 

But here the faithful are to be admonished to guard against the danger of becoming more prone to sin, or slow to repentance, from a presumption that they can have recourse to this power of forgiving sins which is so complete and, as we saw, unrestricted as to time. For, as such a propensity to sin would manifestly convict them of acting injuriously and contumaciously to this divine power, and would therefore render them unworthy of the divine mercy; so this slowness to repentance gives great reason to fear that, overtaken by death, they may in vain confess their belief in the remission of sins, which by their tardiness and procrastination they deservedly forfeited.

I couldn't help but include the complete texts of the last couple of sections.




The Sacrament of Penance

http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Sacraments/Confession-instruction.htm

http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Sacraments/Confession-frequent.htm