The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 195: Penance and Reconciliation (2024)

Episode Date: July 13, 2024

Together, with Fr. Mike, we begin the chapter on the sacraments of healing, starting with the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Fr. Mike emphasizes that Christ has given the Church the power of the Holy Spirit to continue his earthly ministry of healing and redemption with the sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick. He also points out that through Reconciliation, we not only receive God’s forgiveness, but are also reconciled to the Church. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 1420-1426. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast. Where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith, the Catechism in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home, this is day 195, we're reading paragraphs 1420-1426. As always, I am using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes a Foundations

of Faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism with the Catholic Church. You can also download your own Catechism in your reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash C-I-Y. That stands for Catechism in the Year. In case you were wondering wondering crack the code here we are also you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates and daily notifications also thank you again i don't want to thank people too often but it's a big deal

thank you so much for everyone who's listening this is day 195 this is crazy i mean the fact that for 195 almost 200 days of this year we've've been on this journey together, which is, I was actually praying about this this morning and I just blown away, blown away by the fact because at first, you remember, remember at the beginning of this year when people were talking about Dave Earbum and instead of Dave Airbum and there's an excitement there. There's, you know, kind of like rolling out of the Bible in a year, like let's launch into the catechism in the air Super good. And of course with any year long thing people, you know, we start we stop we start again but here you are on day 195 and Thank you so much for being part of this and thank you for being part of the production of this podcast with your prayers and

Financial gifts but above everything else. Thank you so much for just walking Walking with me walking with each other. It means a lot to me. We're reading paragraphs 1420 to 1426. Today we're in chapter two of this section, or you know, the second pillar of the catechism, sacraments of healing. So we had the sacraments of initiation, right? Baptism and confirmation and holy communion, Eucharist. Today we're starting this second section, chapter two, on the sacraments of healing. And we're beginning by talking about the sacrament of penance and reconciliation.

And just what incredible opportunity that we have that we need the sacrament of conversion. We need this sacrament of confession, forgiveness, reconciliation. Why? Because, well, we all know why. We need it because even though baptism united us to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, made us into the sons and daughters of the Father,

made us temples of the Holy Spirit, made us, you know, we have a filial relationship, brotherly relationship with Jesus, filled us with these graces, forgave our sins. We also know that we still are broken. And so because we're still broken, because we're still wounded, we need healing. And because we still wander away, we need reconciliation.

And because we still have a hard heart, we need conversion. And so today that's what we're gonna talk about. We're gonna talk about why this sacrament of reconciliation after baptism and what is this whole thing called? Because as we learned when it came to Holy Communion, the names of the sacraments, they reveal something different.

The different names reveal different dimensions of the sacrament, so that's what we're gonna do today. Let's say a prayer as we start. Father in heaven, we give you praise and glory. Thank you so much for this day. Thank you for bringing us to day 195. We thank you, not only for giving us new birth and regeneration in baptism,

but also giving us the healing, your healing, in the sacrament of reconciliation, your healing and the anointing of the sick. Lord God, for as often as we wander, you pursue us. As often as we stray, you chase us down. We ask you to please, Lord God, be that hound of heaven. Be that hound of heaven that never ceases to chase after us. Be that hound of heaven that never ceases

to call us back to you. Help us belong to you, body and soul. Help us give our minds to you. Help us to love you with everything we are, and when we fail to love you, bring us home and heal us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. It is Day 195. We are reading paragraphs 1420 to 1426. Chapter 2. The Sacraments of Healing.

Through the sacraments of Christian initiation, man receives the new life of Christ. Now, we carry this life in earthen vessels, and it remains hidden with Christ in God. We are still in our earthly tent, subject to suffering, illness, and death. This new life as a child of God can be weakened and even lost by sin. The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, has willed that his Church continue in the power of the Holy Spirit, his work of healing and salvation, even among her own members. This is the purpose of the two sacraments of healing, the sacrament of penance and the

sacrament of anointing of the sick. Article 4. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. Lumen Gentium states, Those who approach the sacrament of penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offence committed against him, and are at the same time reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins, and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion. What is this sacrament called?

It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin. It is called the sacrament of penance since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction. It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense, it is also a confession, acknowledgement, and praise of the holiness of God and of His mercy toward sinful man. It is called the sacrament of forgiveness,

since by the priest's sacramental absolution, God grants the penitent pardon and peace. It is called the sacrament of reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles, be reconciled to God. He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call, Go, first be reconciled to your brother.

Why is Sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism? As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which sin is excluded for him who has put on Christ. But the Apostle John also says, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

And the Lord Himself taught us to pray, Forgive us our trespasses, linking our forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us. Conversion to Christ The new birth of baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the body and blood of Christ received as food have made us holy and without blemish, just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is holy and without blemish, just as the Church herself, the Bride of Christ, is holy and without blemish. Nevertheless, the new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence,

which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ, they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion, directed toward holiness and eternal life, to which the Lord never ceases to call us." Alright, we have the introduction, basically the first couple paragraphs of this section on healing, as well as this section on specifically reconciliation and penance. So let's just, let's go back to the beginning. 1420, just, it's, you know, teeing up the base,

basically teeing up the golf ball or teeing up the baseball if you're in tee ball. But we recognize that 1420 says, through the sacraments of Christian initiation, right, we receive new life in Christ. So we're carrying this new life in earthen vessels. We have an earthly tent, right, for's subject to suffering, illness, and death, but we're truly transformed.

At the same time, this new life as a child of God can be weakened by sin, it can even be lost by sin. So, because of that, here is how good God is. Jesus, physician of our souls and bodies, who has the ability to forgive sins and ability to restore bodily health, wants the Church, He has willed the Church, He has given the Church the power of the Holy Spirit to continue His work of healing and salvation. And this is remarkable, isn't it? What was Jesus' ministry?

His ministry, of course, to save us from eternal loss, eternal damnation, to save us from eternal loss, you know, eternal damnation, to save us from hell. Also, to reconcile us to the Father, to reconcile us to the community, to bring us into the body of Christ, and also to heal. And so that's the purpose of the two sacraments of healing, which are, you know, penance or confession, and anointing of the sick. There is a real healing of the soul that happens,

and there is a real healing of the body that happens and there is a real healing of the body that can happen through these two sacraments. And this is just so, it's so beautiful. Now, paragraph 1422, I love Lumen Gentium, right? From the dogmatic constitution of the church, Second Vatican Council, talks about this. I just, you know, sometimes the church's words in the catechism or even in the Second Vatican Council,

they're so economical, they're so exactly what you want, what you need to hear that you can't, you don't need to add anything to them, just read them again. And so it says here in 1422, those who approach the sacrament of penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him. Yeah, so we get pardon, we get forgiveness. It goes on to say, and are at the same time reconciled with the church. I think sometimes we miss that part. Yes, we receive God's forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation, but we're also reconciled with the community. We are reconciled with the family. We're reconciled with the church. And it goes on to say, not only are we reconciled with the church, but it describes, it says, we are

reconciled with the church, but it describes, it says, we are reconciled with the church, which they have wounded by their sins. Which we have wounded by our sins. We have committed an offense against God himself, but our sins have wounded the church. Our sins have wounded our brothers and sisters. And just to reflect on that for a second, we've mentioned this before, I'll say it again.

There are personal sins, right? There are sins that, I made this choice. And there are some sins that are in some ways private in the sense that they're not known. But there's no such thing as a sin that's private in the sense that it's just between me and God. No such thing. Because you and I have been brought into the church, we that it's just between me and God. No such thing. Because you and I have been brought into the church,

we've been brought into the family of God. And so we recognize that every sin is not only a sin against our Father, our God, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, our sins are against God, but they're also against our brothers and sisters. We recognize that when one member of the body gets strong, the whole body is strengthened. One member of the body gets strong, the whole body is strengthened. One member of the body is weakened or chooses to walk away.

The whole body is weakened. And I think it's worth noting here in the Catechism 1422 that in confession we are reconciled with the church which we have wounded by our sins. And also, it goes on to say, and which by charity, meaning love, right? By love, by example, and by prayer, labors for their conversion. That here, even though we walk away from God,

even though we walk away from the church, the church continues always by charity, by example, and by prayer, the church always continues to labor for our conversion. It's just so incredible to realize that God never gives up on us. And essentially the church never gives up on us. Now it is one thing, you know, you might feel like the church has given up on you. You might say, I'm going to stay in my life right now where I can't be reconciled to the church.

Where I'm at right now is it's impossible for me to be reconciled with the church. You know, nothing is impossible Nothing is impossible Yeah, a couple days ago. I think I brought up the situation of irregular marriages You say yep. See that's that's my problem My my issue is I can never be reconciled with the church because I'm in this marriage that the church doesn't recognize Nothing is impossible There's almost God almost always provides a way. So please, please don't give up if that's you or if it may be another situation,

whatever the other situation is, the church continues to by love, by example, and by prayer, labor for your conversion and for my conversion. You know, again, I am not doing this podcast. I'm not reading the catechism or didn't read the Bible as someone who's got it all together. As someone who's like, Oh yeah, Christianity is super easy. Following Jesus is super easy. But just, just like everyone listening to this, just like everyone listening

to this have a whole slew of, well, this is the reason why God shouldn't love me. This is the reason why I shouldn't talk about who God is. This is the reason why God can't use me. I've got a whole list of excuses, a whole list of reasons why I'm disqualified from being able to be here with you. And yet, what does the church continue to do? What does God continue to do? He continues to reach out to me. And you guys, you continue to pray and give me example.

And out of your love, you continue to pray and give me example. And out of your love, you continue to labor for my conversion too, just like I continue to labor for your conversion. We are all in the same boat. And I know we all have different stories. We all wrestle with different things. But there's no dead ends for any of us. God can make a way for every single one of us.

Just don't give up. We call this sacrament, the sacrament of conversion, because yeah, we need to turn away from sin and turn back to the Father. It's the sacrament of penance because it, it consecrates our steps towards conversion, penance and satisfaction. It's called the sacrament of confession

because we have to have, you know, disclosure or confession of sins to the priest. That's an essential element of the sacrament of confession because we have to have, you know, disclosure or confession of sins to the priest. That's an essential element of the sacrament. And I love this in 1424. It says in a profound sense, it's also a quote unquote confession, meaning acknowledgement and praise of the holiness of God and his mercy towards sinful men. You know, every time you and I approach confession, every time we approach the sacrament of confession,

we're acknowledging and praising the God who is holy and merciful. And that's, I love the dual miracle that happens at every confession. The first miracle of being convicted of our sins, like the first miracle, because you know, we can numb ourselves, in fact, that's what sin does, sin numbs us.

I could numb myself to the reality of sin, but the miracle is I've been convicted by my sin. The double miracle, the second miracle, is I've been convicted by my sin. The double miracle, the second miracle, is we've been convicted by God's mercy. We've been convicted by the truth, the belief that God wants to forgive us of our sins and every person who goes to confession experiences this double miracle. The conviction of their sins and the conviction of God's mercy. And so every confession is a confession, acknowledgement of praise of the holiness of God,

and there's mercy towards us. It's a sacrament of forgiveness because here in the point of the priest says, I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Man, what a gift. Our sins are taken away. They are absolved, forgiven.

And also sacrament of reconciliation. We realize that there's a difference, right, between being forgiven and being reconciled. That you and I, we have people in our lives that we're being called to forgive them, but we're not necessarily being called to be reconciled with them. This is a deep and profound thing.

You and I, we have to, we must extend the offer of forgiveness. We'll talk about that later on, what forgiveness really is. We've been commanded by our Lord We beg it God forgive us as we forgive those trespass against us. We've been commanded to forgive. We have not been commanded to reconcile Yes, there is a there is a section of scripture where Jesus says if you have come to the altar with your gift On the way you realize you have something against your brother go first be reconciled with him That is very that's there and that's real

But we recognize there's a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation Forgiveness is when I release you from your debt. You owe me a debt or I owe you a debt and you release me from my debt Reconciliation is now that relationship has been restored and Reconciliation is now that relationship has been restored. And there are times in our lives where we can offer forgiveness, we must offer forgiveness, but we ought not to offer reconciliation. There are some people in our lives that, um, I forgive you, but we can't have the relationship we had before. That's just, that's not wise, maybe not even possible. But in the sacrament of reconciliation, we have that.

Our relationship is restored, we are reconciled to God. And of course we are called to go beyond that and then go as it says here and be reconciled with your brother. Yes, yes, that is true, Matthew 5 verse 24. And yet there are times, there are times when we're called to forgive and not necessarily be in relationship with again. Here's the example. Someone might borrow your car and they get in a wreck and the damage is worth $1,500. That's a lot of

money. And they might say, I have no way to pay it. And you say, okay, I'm going to pay it for you and don't worry about paying me back. That's forgiveness. Literally, that's a lot of money and You might they might say I have no way to pay it you say, okay Uh, I'm gonna pay it for you and don't worry about paying me back. That's forgiveness. They literally that's all forgiveness is forgiveness Is you owe me this I am NOT gonna make you pay me back. That's it You're for your debt is forgiven. You're released from your debt Now that doesn't mean I'm gonna borrow you. I'm gonna lend you my car Next weekend, right? that would be reconciliation. That would be like, I bring you into my trust once again. But sometimes if someone has wounded that trust,

it would be foolish to bring them into your trust again. They'd be foolish, they've demonstrated they haven't improved their driving skills, so in that case, I'm not gonna lend you my car again. Does that make sense? That's like reconciliation. So that's my distinction, and hopefully we'll make even clearer distinctions

as we move forward in these days. We need this sacrament because yes, we've been washed and given new life in Christ in baptism. But also we still have this fancy word called concupiscence. Concupiscence is this inclination towards sin. We all have it. The results of the sin, the consequences of the original sin is you have a darkened intellect right so we can understand but don't understand clearly we have a weakened will we can make choices

But we don't make those choices as strongly as we should we experience death and also We have this attraction to sin There are things that you and I want that we know are not good for us and that Inclination to sin, that attraction to sin is called concupiscence. And that remains with us. But with the help of the grace of Jesus, we can prove ourselves in the struggle of the Christian life. I love this last sentence of 1426, last sentence for today. This is the struggle of conversion

directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us. God will never cease to call you to this life of holiness. He never ceases to call me. There are so many times when I think, man, oh man, I'm disqualified. That it's, man, disqualified. Yet God never ceases to call me to holiness.

Not just to like, hey, get back up there and do your best, second stringer. But calling to the heights, he's calling you to the heights of holiness. You are not disqualified and he never ceases to call you. Even in the midst of your brokenness, in the midst of your concupiscence, in the midst of our sins, God never ceases to call us.

And that's why I'm so grateful. Man, I was excited to talk about the Eucharist, but here we are launching into talking about sacrament of reconciliation. So excited. You know, today I'm praying for you. We'll keep on talking about reconciliation for the next few days.

I'm so excited about this. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.