Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the Second Sunday of Easter.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! The tenth article of the Apostle’s Creed is “I believe in the forgiveness of sins.” There are four (4) In Brief passages in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding this article of the Creed. The following is a reflection on article 986.
Belief in the forgiveness of sins presupposes knowledge of what sin is. Six (6) different words (hattath = missing; won = perversity; pesh = transgression in Hebrew; hamartano = miss the mark; parabasis transgression with a suggestion of violence; adikia = injustice, unrighteousness in Greek) are translated into English, roughly as “sin.” The Latin word peccatum is used for sin (cf. 1 John 5:17). Any thought, word or deed which transgresses the law of God is a sin (cf. 1 John 3:4). Laws, human, divine, or ecclesiastical, are ordinances of reason. So, sin is an offense against reason. Not all sins are “deadly” but some are (cf. 1 John 5:16–17).
While the Catechism has an entire section treating the Sacrament of Penance, here while considering the Creed which proclaims our faith in God’s forgiveness we also consider the Sacrament of Penance. Jesus Christ gave to His Church the power to pardon, or forgive the sins of the baptized. “If you will forgive men their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you also your offenses” (Matthew 6:14). Some object in our day, as they did during the Lord’s earthly ministry, that “only God can forgive sins” (cf. Matthew 9:2–7; Mark 2:7–10; Luke 5:18–26). But because Jesus is God He was able to pardon sinners then and He still does so now through the ministry of His Church. When the Risen Lord showed Himself in the Upper Room He commissioned the Apostles to forgive sins when He said: “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them: and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained” (John 20:23).
The Sacrament of Penance is the normal way in which post-baptismal sins are forgiven. Sacred Scripture exhorts us to do penance and to confess our sins (cf. Luke 17:3; 1 John 1:9). In the Sacrament of Penance the Bishop or Priest assigns us a particular penance as a further sign of our sorrow, as a mark of gratitude for mercy received from God, as well as an incentive to sin no more (cf. Matthew 21:32; Luke 17:3; John 8:11). An alternative to confessing our sins and receiving God’s graceful mercy is to die in our sins which sadly is possible with eternal consequences (cf.Matthew 7:23; 25:41; Luke 5:8; 13:27; John 8:24)
The role Bishops and their Priests play in the forgiveness of post-baptismal sins is significant. They personally, sacramentally, make present the apostolic ministry. Christ is unwilling to forgive us if we spurn His plan for our salvation: “apart from Me you can do nothing” (cf. John 15:5). We may hear the voice of the Bishop or Priest, see their eyes… but it is Christ Himself who gives power to their words: “… I absolve you…”
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr