Penance: A Sacrament of Healing

Transcription

1 Penance: A Sacrament of Healing Jigsaw Activity Sacraments 1

2 MARIST CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL Sacraments-MR.HAGGARD NAME: DUE DATE: PERIOD: SCORE: General Guidelines The following question is based on the accompanying documents. Some of the documents have been edited for the purpose of this project. The project is designed to test your ability to work with historical, philosophical, and theological documents. As you analyze the documents, take into account the source of the document, the author or evangelist s point of view, the context of each document and any other point of view that may be presented in the document. Be sure to: Fill out the Prewriting assignment with everything you know about the subject. Now read your assigned document carefully, highlighting key phrases and words that might address the document based question. You may also wish to use the margin to make brief notes. I will be looking for notes and highlighting marks for a completion grade. Complete the Expert report template and prepare to teach your document to the other members of your group. Complete the task as a group CONTENTS AND DOCUMENTS: Story: John Paul II and the Beggar Priest 1. Early Church Selections 2. Medieval Selections 3. Fulton Sheen PROJECT DIRECTIONS 4. Council of Trent 5. St. Francis de Sales Expert Report Template 1. Read the story, Story: John Paul II and the Beggar Priest Highlight and Annotate 2. Answer the Story Question on Page Read, Highlight, and Annotate your Expert Document (STEPS 1-3 NEED TO BE COMPLETED BEFORE DISCUSSION DAY) 4. Fill out Report with Expert Group Final Project: See Page 13 of Packet. 2

3 Story: John Paul II and the Beggar Priest Most of you may know the name Scott Hahn. He is a great Scripture scholar and a Protestant minister who converted to Catholicism. Scott Hahn has a priest friend and the priest went to visit Rome. Among other activities, the priest was scheduled to have a private audience with John Paul II. On the appointed day, the priest had many hours free. And like a tourist, the priest decided to stop in a basilica to tour and to say a prayer. On the steps of the church were a number of beggars, something fairly common in Rome. On the steps, the priest thought that he recognized one of the beggars. After entering the sanctuary he knelt down to pray, and then it hit him. He remembered how he knew the man. The priest rushed out and approached the beggar. I know you. Didn t we go to seminary together? The man gave a nod of affirmation. So you are a priest then? he said to the beggar. The man replied, Not anymore. I fell off the deep end. Please leave me alone. The priest was mindful of his approaching appointment with the Holy Father. I ve got to go I ll pray for you. The beggar with the familiar face replied, A lot of good that will do. With that, the priest left the beggar on the steps and departed for his meeting. These private meetings with the Pope are typically very formal. There are a number of people who have been granted a private audience at the same time, and when the Holy Father makes his way toward you, his secretary hands him a blessed rosary, and the pope in turn hands it to you. At this point, one would probably kiss the Pope s ring and say something heartfelt, such as asking him to pray for you, telling him you are praying for him, or thanking him for his service to the Church. However, when Pope John Paul II approached, the priest couldn t help himself and he blurted out, Please pray for my friend. Not only this, the priest told the entire story. The Holy Father, looked concerned, and he assured the priest that he would pray for his friend. As he moved on, he whispered something to an aide. Later that day, the priest was cell-phone contacted by staff from the Vatican. They told the priest that he and the beggar the former priest were invited to see the pope for dinner. Excited and curious, he rushed back to the church where he last saw his classmate. Only a few beggars were left, and as luck (or grace) would have it, his former classmate was among the few. He approached the man and said, I have been to see the Pope, and he said he would pray for you. And there s more. He has invited us to his private residence for dinner. Impossible, said the man, Look at me. I am a mess. I haven t showered in a long time and my clothes Sensing the gravity of the situation (and understanding that this beggar was his admission ticket to have dinner with the Pope), the priest said, I have a hotel room where you can shower and shave, and I have clothes that will fit you. Again, by God s grace, the beggar priest agreed. Later, they were off to have dinner with the Pope. 3

4 The hospitality was wondrous. At the close of dinner, just before dessert, the Holy Father motioned to the priest who didn t understand what the Pope was intending. Finally, the pope s secretary whispered to the priest, He wants us to leave, at which point the priest and the secretary left the Holy Father alone with the beggar. After quite some time, the beggar emerged from the room in tears. What happened in there? asked the priest. The most remarkable and unexpected reply came. The pope asked me to hear his confession, choked the beggar. After regaining composure, the man continued, I told him, Your Holiness, look at me. I am a beggar. I am not a priest. The Pope looked at me and said, My son, once a priest always a priest, and who among us is not a beggar. I too come before the Lord as a beggar asking for forgiveness of my sins. I told him I was not in good standing with the Church, and he assured me that as the Bishop of Rome he could reinstate me right then and there. The man relayed that it had been so long since he had heard a confession that the Pope had to help him through the words of absolution. The priest friend asked, But you were in there for some time. Surely the Pope s confession did not last that long. No, said his friend, But after I heard his confession, I asked him to hear mine. The final words spoken by Pope John Paul II to this prodigal son came in the form of a commission. The Holy Father gave the newly-reconciled priest his first assignment: to go and minister to the homeless and the beggars on the steps of the very church from where he just came. And so, my dear friends my gift to you at this Mass is to share with you this one gift that we Catholics have the gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Confession is the antidote to sin in our lives. Confession is an antidote to sin in the world. Sin such as the horrendous taking of lives in the massacre in Connecticut. 4

5 1. Summarize the story: any questions, reflections, or ideas? 5

6 1. Selections on the Early Church: Didache and Cyprian of Carthage Didache: Chapter 14. Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day. But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: "In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations." Do not in any way forsake the commandments of the Lord; but keep what you have received, neither adding thereto nor taking away therefrom. In the church you shall acknowledge your transgressions, and you shall not come near for your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. Cyprian of Carthage "The apostle [Paul] likewise bears witness and says:... Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord [1 Cor. 11:27]. But [the impenitent] spurn and despise all these warnings; before their sins are expiated, before they have made a confession of their crime, before their conscience has been purged in the ceremony and at the hand of the priest... they do violence to [the Lord s] body and blood, and with their hands and mouth they sin against the Lord more than when they denied him" (The Lapsed 15:1 3 (A.D. 251]). "Of how much greater faith and salutary fear are they who... confess their sins to the priests of God in a straightforward manner and in sorrow, making an open declaration of conscience.... I beseech you, brethren, let everyone who has sinned confess his sin while he is still in this world, while his confession is still admissible, while the satisfaction and remission made through the priests are still pleasing before the Lord" (ibid., 28). "[S]inners may do penance for a set time, and according to the rules of discipline come to public confession, and by imposition of the hand of the bishop and clergy receive the right of Communion. [But now some] with their time [of penance] still unfulfilled... they are admitted to Communion, and their name is presented; and while the penitence is not yet performed, confession is not yet made, the hands of the bishop and clergy are not yet laid upon them, the Eucharist is given to them; although it is written, Whosoever shall eat the bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord [1 Cor. 11:27]" (Letters 9:2 [A.D. 253]). "And do not think, dearest brother, that either the courage of the brethren will be lessened, or that martyrdoms will fail for this cause, that penance is relaxed to the lapsed, and that the hope of peace [i.e., absolution] is offered to the penitent.... For to adulterers even a time of repentance is granted by us, and peace is given" (ibid., 51[55]:20). "But I wonder that some are so obstinate as to think that repentance is not to be granted to the lapsed, or to suppose that pardon is to be denied to the penitent, when it is written, Remember whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works [Rev. 2:5], which certainly is said to him who evidently has fallen, and whom the Lord exhorts to rise up again by his deeds [of penance], because it is written, Alms deliver from death [Tob. 12:9]" (ibid., 51[55]:22). 6

7 2. Selections from the Early Medieval Age: St. John Chrysostom and St. Augustine St. John Chrysostom The Priesthood 3:5 [A.D. 387] 5. For if anyone will consider how great a thing it is for one, being a man, and compassed with flesh and blood, to be enabled to draw near to that blessed and pure nature, he will then clearly see what great honor the grace of the Spirit has vouchsafed to priests; since by their agency these rites are celebrated, and others nowise inferior to these both in respect of our dignity and our salvation. For they who inhabit the earth and make their abode there are entrusted with the administration of things which are in Heaven, and have received an authority which God has not given to angels or archangels. For it has not been said to them, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven. Matthew 18:18 They who rule on earth have indeed authority to bind, but only the body: whereas this binding lays hold of the soul and penetrates the heavens; and what priests do here below God ratifies above, and the Master confirms the sentence of his servants. For indeed what is it but all manner of heavenly authority which He has given them when He says, Whose sins ye remit they are remitted, and whose sins ye retain they are retained? John 20:23 What authority could be greater than this? The Father has committed all judgment to the Son? John 5:22 But I see it all put into the hands of these men by the Son. For they have been conducted to this dignity as if they were already translated to Heaven, and had transcended human nature, and were released from the passions to which we are liable. Moreover, if a king should bestow this honor upon any of his subjects, authorizing him to cast into prison whom he pleased and to release them again, he becomes an object of envy and respect to all men; but he who has received from God an authority as much greater as heaven is more precious than earth, and souls more precious than bodies, seems to some to have received so small an honor that they are actually able to imagine that one of those who have been entrusted with these things will despise the gift. Away with such madness! For transparent madness it is to despise so great a dignity, without which it is not possible to obtain either our own salvation, or the good things which have been promised to us. For if no one can enter into the kingdom of Heaven except he be regenerate through water and the Spirit, and he who does not eat the flesh of the Lord and drink His blood is excluded from eternal life, and if all these things are accomplished only by means of those holy hands, I mean the hands of the priest, how will anyone, without these, be able to escape the fire of hell, or to win those crowns which are reserved for the victorious? St. Augustine Sermon to the Catechumens 5. Forgiveness of sins. You have [this article of] the Creed perfectly in you when you receive Baptism. Let none say, I have done this or that sin: perchance that is not forgiven me. What have you done? How great a sin have you done? Name any heinous thing you have committed, heavy, horrible, which you shudder even to think of: have done what you will: have you killed Christ? There is not than that deed any worse, because also than Christ there is nothing better. What a dreadful thing is it to kill Christ! Yet [some] killed Him, and many afterwards believed on Him and drank His blood: they are forgiven the sin which they committed. When you have been baptized, hold fast a good life in the commandments of God, that you may guard your Baptism even unto the end. I do not tell you that you will live here without sin; but they are venial, without which this life is not. For the sake of all sins was Baptism provided; for the sake of light sins, without which we cannot be, was prayer provided. What has the Prayer? Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. Once for all we have washing in Baptism, every day we have washing in prayer. Only, do not commit those things for which you must needs be separated from Christ's body: which be far from you! For those whom you have seen doing penance, have committed heinous things, either adulteries or some enormous crimes: for these they do penance. Because if theirs had been light sins, to blot out these daily prayer would suffice.16. In three ways then are sins remitted in the Church; by Baptism, by prayer, by the greater humility of penance 7

8 3. Why Penance after Confession Fulton Sheen Satisfaction for sins, or what is sometimes called penance, is distinct from sorrow. Few dwell sufficiently on the difference between being forgiven and atoning for the sin which was forgiven. Suppose I stole your purse in the course of a conversation, and then I said to myself: What a scandal I am to this person. I am supposed to bring justice and the love of God, and here I violate God s law of justice, impugn His mercy, and nail Him to the Cross by stealing the purse. So I say to you, Will you forgive me? In your kindness, you would certainly say: I forgive you. But you would also say something else, would you not? Would you not say, Give me back my purse? Could I really say that I was sorry unless I returned the purse? At the end of the confession, the priest gives to the penitent what is called a penance, a certain number of prayers to say, or fasting, or the giving of alms, or acts of mortification, or a way of the Cross, or a rosary. All of these are to make up for the sin, and to prove that the sorrow was sincere. This is what Catholics call saying my penance or doing my penance. God does not ask us to make an exact reparation for our sins, but rather to do it in a proportional manner. This is because the Sacrament of Penance is less a tribunal of strict justice than a reconciliation between friends. The priest, representing Christ, is not a judge sentencing a criminal to prison. The penitent is not an enemy. He is a reconciled friend, and the reparation, penance, or satisfaction is the work of friendship between members of Christ s Mystical Body. The penance also has a medicinal value, that of healing the wounds of the soul, which is why it has to be performed in a state of grace. Our Lord forgave our sins on the Cross, but He paid for them in justice. Our Lord forgave the thief on the right, but He did not stop his crucifixion. The pain the thief endured was a reparation for his evil life. Penance is a sign that we are applying Christ s death on Calvary to ourselves. Here the Sacrament of Penance differs from the Sacrament of Baptism. In Baptism, the merits of Christ s Passion are applied to ourselves without any action on our part; but in the Sacrament of Penance, we make some satisfaction. Power and efficacy are given to our acts, because they are united with the Passion of Christ. There are two debts to be paid for sin. One is the eternal debt, which is hell; and the other is the temporal debt, or atoning in our lifetime for our imperfections and our want of charity, after our sin has been forgiven. The eternal debt of hell is completely remitted in the sacrament. The temporal debt for sin remains. But because I can harm the Church by my sin, so can I be helped by the Church when I am in debt. St. Paul applied to the Mystical Body the lesson of the physical body: All the different parts of it [the body] were to make each other s welfare their common care (I Corinth. 12:25). Religion is not individual, it is social; it is organic. Look to the natural order, and see how many benefits I receive from my fellow man. There are a million ways in which they are indulgent to me. I did not raise the cow that furnished the leather that went into my shoes. I did not raise the chicken I eat at dinner but that is a bad example; I do not like chicken! So let us say, the chicken you eat. Somebody s work or labor allowed you to indulge in this luxury. We might almost say that we are surrounded by social indulgences, because we share in the merits, talents, arts, crafts, sciences, techniques, needlework, and genius of society. 8

9 4. Council of Trent: THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE As the frailty and weakness of human nature are universally known and felt by each one in himself, no one can be ignorant of the great necessity of the Sacrament of Penance Baptism is administered but once, and cannot be repeated; Penance may be administered and becomes necessary, as often as we may have sinned after Baptism. Hence the Council of Trent declares: For those who fall into sin after Baptism the Sacrament of Penance is as necessary to salvation as is Baptism for those who have not been already baptised. The saying of St. Jerome that Penance is a second plank, is universally known and highly commended by all subsequent writers on sacred things. As he who suffers shipwreck has no hope of safety, unless, perchance, he seize on some plank from the wreck, so he that suffers the shipwreck of baptismal innocence, unless he cling to the saving plank of Penance, has doubtless lost all hope of salvation But should they (anyone) at any time prove so unfortunate as to fall, then, looking at the infinite goodness of God, who like the good shepherd binds up and heals the wounds of His sheep, they should not postpone recourse to the most saving remedy of Penance. To enter at once on the subject, and to avoid all error to which the ambiguity of the word may give rise, its different meanings are first to be explained. By penance some understand satisfaction; while others, who wander far from the doctrine of the Catholic faith, supposing penance to have no reference to the past, define it to be nothing more than newness of life. It must, therefore, be shown that the word has a variety of meanings. In the first place, it is said of those to whom that which was before pleasing is now displeasing, whether the object itself was good or bad. In this sense all those repent whose sorrow is according to the world, not according to God; and therefore, worketh not salvation, but death. In the second place, it is used to express that sorrow which the sinner conceives, not, however, for the sake of God, but for his own sake, concerning some sin of his in which he once took pleasure. A third kind of penance is that by which we experience interior sorrow of heart, or give exterior indication of such sorrow for the sake of God alone. To all these kinds of sorrow the word repentance properly applies. When the Sacred Scriptures say that God repented, the expression is evidently figurative. When we repent of anything, we are most anxious to change it; and hence when God has resolved to change anything, the Scriptures, accommodating their language to our manner of speaking, say that He repents. Thus we read that it repented him that he had made man, and also that He was sorry that He had made Saul king. But an important distinction is to be made between these different significations of the word. The first kind of penance must be considered faulty; the second is only the agitation of a disturbed mind; the third we call both a virtue and a Sacrament. In this last sense penance is taken here. We shall first treat of penance as a virtue, not only because it is the duty of the pastor to lead the faithful to the practice of every virtue; but also, because the acts which proceed from penance as a virtue, constitute the matter, as it were, of Penance as a Sacrament, and unless the virtue be rightly understood, the force of the Sacrament cannot be appreciated. The faithful, therefore, are first to be admonished and exhorted to labor strenuously to attain this interior penance of the heart which we call a virtue, and without which exterior penance can avail them very little. Interior penance consists in turning to God sincerely and from heart, and in hating and detesting our past transgressions, with a firm resolution of amendment of life, hoping to obtain pardon through the mercy. Accompanying this penance, like inseparable companion of detestation for sin, is a sorrow and sadness, which is a certain agitation and disturbance of the soul, and is called by many a passion. Hence many of the Fathers define penance as an anguish of soul. Penance, however, in those who repent, must be preceded by faith, for without faith no man can turn to God. Faith, therefore, cannot on any account be called a part of penance. 9

10 5. St. Francis of de Sales, INTRODUCTION TO A DEVOUT LIFE Chapter 19 OUR Saviour has bequeathed the Sacrament of Penitence and Confession to His Church, [49] in order that therein we may be cleansed from all our sins, however and whenever we may have been soiled thereby. Therefore, my child, never allow your heart to abide heavy with sin, seeing that there is so sure and safe a remedy at hand. If the lioness has been in the neighbourhood of other beasts she hastens to wash away their scent, lest it should be displeasing to her lord; and so the soul which has ever so little consented to sin, ought to abhor itself and make haste to seek purification, out of respect to His Divine Gaze Who beholds it always. Why should we die a spiritual death when there is a sovereign remedy available? Make your confession humbly and devoutly every week, and always, if you can, before communicating, even although your conscience is not burdened with mortal sin; for in confession you do not only receive absolution for your venial sins, but you also receive great strength to help you in avoiding them henceforth, clearer light to discover your failings, and abundant grace to make up whatever loss you have incurred through those faults. You exercise the graces of humility, obedience, simplicity and love, and by this one act of confession you practise more virtue than in any other. Be sure always to entertain a hearty sorrow for the sins you confess, however small they are; as also a stedfast resolution to correct them in future. Some people go on confessing venial sins out of mere habit, and conventionally, without making any effort to correct them, thereby losing a great deal of spiritual good. Supposing that you confess having said something untrue, although without evil consequences, or some careless words, or excessive amusement;--repent, and make a firm resolution of amendment: it is a mere abuse to confess any sin whatever, be it mortal or venial, without intending to put it altogether away, that being the express object of confession. Beware of unmeaning self-accusations, made out of a mere routine, such as, "I have not loved God as much as I ought; I have not prayed with as much devotion as I ought; I have not loved my neighbour as I ought; I have not received the Sacraments with sufficient reverence;" and the like. Such things as these are altogether useless in setting the state of your conscience before your Confessor, inasmuch as all the Saints in Paradise and all men living would say the same. But examine closely what special reason you have for accusing yourself thus, and when you have discovered it, accuse yourself simply and plainly of your fault. For instance, when confessing that you have not loved your neighbour as you ought, it may be that what you mean is, that having seen some one in great want whom you could have succoured, you have failed to do so. Well then, accuse yourself of that special omission: say, "Having come across a person in need, I did not help him as I might have done," either through negligence, or hardness, or indifference, according as the case may be. So again, do not accuse yourself of not having prayed to God with sufficient devotion; but if you have given way to voluntary distractions, or if you have neglected the proper circumstances of devout prayer--whether place, time, or attitude--say so plainly, just as it is, and do not deal in generalities, which, so to say, blow neither hot nor cold. Again, do not be satisfied with mentioning the bare fact of your venial sins, but accuse yourself of the motive cause which led to them. For instance, do not be content with saying that you told an untruth which injured no one; but say whether it was out of vanity, in order to win praise or avoid blame, out of heedlessness, or from obstinacy. If you have exceeded in society, say whether it was from the love of talking, or gambling for the sake of money, and so on. Say whether you continued long to commit the fault in question, as the importance of a fault depends greatly upon its continuance: e.g., there is a wide difference between a passing act of vanity which is over in a quarter of an hour, and one which fills the heart for one or more days. So you must mention the fact, the motive and the duration of your faults. It is true that we are not bound to be so precise in confessing venial sins, or even, technically speaking, to confess them at all; but all who aim at purifying their souls in order to attain a really devout life, will be careful to show all their spiritual maladies, however slight, to their spiritual physician, in order to be healed. Do not spare yourself in telling whatever is necessary to explain the nature of your fault, as, for instance, the reason why you lost your temper, or why you encouraged another in wrong-doing. Thus, someone whom I dislike says a chance word in joke, I take it ill, and put myself in a passion. If one I like had said a stronger thing I should not have taken it amiss; so in confession, I ought to say that I lost my temper with a person, not because of the words spoken so much as because I disliked the speaker; and if in order to explain yourself clearly it is necessary to particularize the words, it is well to do so; because accusing one's self thus simply one discovers not merely one's actual sins, but one's bad habits, inclinations and ways, and the other roots of sin, by which means one's spiritual Father acquires a fuller knowledge of the heart he is dealing with, and knows better what remedies to apply. But you must always avoid exposing any one who has borne any part in your sin as far as possible. [49] S. Matt. xvi. 19, xviii. 18; S. John xx

11 Expert Report Number of Your Document: SOURCE: Summary of your document: What insight does your document give to the Story: Important quotes:

12 Post Discussion day: What did you learn about the other documents, anything surprising? (Analyze the 5 most important quotes) 12

13 Final Performance Task Options for Unit 7 Important Information for Both Options The following are the main ideas you are to understand from this unit. They should appear in this final performance task so that your teacher can assess whether you learned the most essential content. The Sacraments of Healing are rooted in Jesus ministry. Mt. 18, Jn. 20, Jm 5. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation offers us God s forgiveness, thus freeing us to take responsibility for our actions. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick strengthens our relationship with God, supports us in grave illness, and offers spiritual and (if it is God s will) physical healing. The Sacraments of Healing compel us to offer forgiveness to others so that we might be forgiven, and to share the compassion of God with those who suffer. Option 1: The historical development of the Sacrament to Penance Write an essay (minimum 600 words, typed and double-spaced) Incorporate the key understandings from the unit as a guide to make sure that your essay is complete and contains quotations from the packet. Essentially: What insight do these documents give you when re-reading the Pope John Paul II s story? Option 2: Write your own examination of Conscience Read the handout on St. Ignatius of Loyola and then examine your own life using his steps. Write down the experience and the question that arise. If you are a Catholic I encourage you to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If not, I encourage you to pray. The final product should be 600 words. 13