Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are twenty-three (23) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and five (5) canons in the Code of Canon Law which can help us to appreciate the Sacrament of Penance. The following is a reflection on CCC 1451.
When considering the Sacrament of Penance we should recall the three “Acts of the Penitent” namely: contrition, confession and satisfaction. Here we focus on contrition.
The Hebrew word shabar and the Latin word contritio mean a breaking of something hardened. To be contrite is to be broken hearted over our sins, remembering that Jesus Christ had His Sacred Heart Pierced for love of us and our redemption (cf. Psalm 34:18; 51:17; Isaiah 57:15; 61:1; Jeremiah 5:23; Ezekiel 3:7). The Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the eleven after the resurrection because of their hardness of heart (cf. Mark 16:14) even as He corrected the Pharisees who rejected the indissoluble nature of Marriage (cf. Matthew 19:1–12)
A contrite person experiences a sorrow of soul. The sorrow is for the offense given to Almighty God who is all good and deserving of all our love and obedience. That God is deserving of all our love and obedience is to recall His sovereignty over His creation of which we are a part. This is not just for external show but deeply interior and not just psychological but based on supernatural motivations. We are not to just be sorry for one or another sin but for all of our sins.
A contrite person detests the sins committed. The Hebrew word sane is sometimes translates hate while taab is to loathe or abhor. To detest, hate, loathe or abhor something is pretty serious. Sacred Scripture when addressing idiolatry exhorts us to detest idols as dung (cf. Deuteronomy 7:26). Elsewhere we read that God detests arrogance, pride, evil and every wicked way (cf. Proverbs 8:13; Amos 5:15; 6:8). As His people so should we. We are directed to both love the Lord and to hate evil (cf. Psalm 97:10). Saint Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit admits that he did not do the good he willed but the evil that he hated (cf. Romans 7:15).
A contrite person resolves with the help of God’s grace to sin no more in the future. When we have a true sorrow for our sins it is in part because we have recognized our sins and God’s great mercy and justice. We know that grace and truth come to us from Christ who is the way, the truth and the life, who gives us access to the hope of glory with God in Heaven as adopted and redeemed sons and daughters (cf. John 1:17; 14:6; Romans 5:2).
Let us all pray, asking for God’s grace to be truly sorry for all our sins so as to receive God’s forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance. Then we will be pleasing in His sight here and now and in the hereafter!
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr