In his apostolic exhortation “Reconciliatio et Paenitentia” (“On Reconciliation and Penance”), the Holy Father highlights not only the recognition that there is alienation and sin in the world but also that there is a longing for reconciliation and a desire for absolution — forgiveness. The exhortation, written following the 1983 synod that had as its theme human sin and the need for reconciliation, begins with the common understanding of human failure.

Things do not always work out the way we wish they would. Only in children’s stories do they “live happily ever after.” In the moral order, in our relationship with God and our neighbor, we often fail. Sin is the name we give to such human falls.

Forgiveness freely given

The sacrament of penance is available to each one of us. In Chapter 3, “The Pastoral Ministry of Penance and Reconciliation,” our Holy Father teaches us that “to evoke conversion and penance in man’s heart and to offer him the gift of reconciliation is the specific mission of the church as she continues the redemptive work of her divine founder. It is not a mission which consists merely in a few theoretical statements and the putting forward of an ethical ideal unaccompanied by the energy with which to carry it out. Rather, it seeks to express itself in precise ministerial functions, directed towards a concrete practice of penance and reconciliation” (23.1).

One would think that with all of the emphasis on the difficulties of our human condition and our regular failing and falling into sin that we could easily become depressed and despondent. Yet, the opposite is true. While the church recognizes sin it also proclaims forgiveness. The church’s pastoral ministry admirably reflecting the richness of God’s wisdom and mercy not only has the capability of naming sin but of also forgiving it. There is a sense in which we are much more wholesome in our approach to reality because we can name sin and see it for what it is and does.

At the same time, we are not abandoned in the misery of human failure but we receive in abundance on top of abundance God’s rich mercy in the sacrament of penance. The God who calls us to holiness makes it possible for us to attain it. “From the revelation of the value of this ministry and the power to forgive sins, conferred by Christ on the apostles and their successors, there developed in the church an awareness of the sign of forgiveness, conferred through the sacrament of penance. It is the certainty that the Lord Jesus himself instituted and entrusted to the church — as a gift of his goodness and loving kindness to be offered to all — a special sacrament for the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism” (30.1).

For all those who have committed mortal sin after baptism, it is necessary to receive this sacrament so that they may recover the grace and friendship of God. A worthy reception of this sacrament is “the ordinary way of obtaining forgiveness and the remission of serious sin committed after baptism. … It would, therefore, be foolish, as well as presumptuous … to claim to receive forgiveness while doing without the sacrament which was initiated by Christ precisely for forgiveness” (31.2).

The sacrament is not an option

The sacrament of penance is not an option in the church. We are not free to claim that we bring our sins directly to God to be forgiven. Christ has established this means to ensure that we are not only forgiven but also know that we are forgiven. We need to hear the words. That is what absolution — that is what the sacrament of penance — is all about.

We cannot really expect forgiveness of our sins if we are not sorry for them. Sorrow, if it is to be true, must be interior, that is from the heart and not merely something we express on our lips. Our sorrow should also include repentance for all of our sins and anything that would exclude us from the friendship of God.

In concluding these elaborations and reflections on “Reconciliatio et Paenitentia” I want to touch on what the document calls social sin. “To speak of social sin means in the first place to recognize that, by virtue of human solidarity which is as mysterious and intangible as it is real and concrete, each individual’s sin in some way affects others” (16.5).

Just as we do not make our way through life alone but rather as part of God’s family and just as that family is affected by what we do, so too is it harmed by our failure or sin. This exhortation reminds us that some sins, by their very matter, constitute a direct attack on one’s neighbor. “They are an offense against God because they are offenses against one’s neighbor. These sins are usually called social sins …” (16.6).

Our sins affect the whole community

In the Rite of Reconciliation at the beginning of eucharistic liturgy we ask forgiveness for all of our thoughts and words, for all that we have done and failed to do. Others are affected by what we say and do and by what we omit. The consequences of our actions as they touch others bring us face to face with the reality that we do not make our way through life alone.

To speak of social justice, our obligation to one another as part of social structures, brings us into a highly complex area of relationships and obligations. While the specific consequences of social justice are not always as clearly defined as perhaps some of the areas of our personal obligations in relation to individuals, nonetheless they are real. This exhortation holds this up for our examination as we look around us to see if we are truly in right relationship with God, our neighbors and all of God’s creation.

Before concluding his apostolic exhortation the Holy Father encourages priests to be active in the renewal of this sacrament and available for its administration. How often we experience that some of those at Sunday Mass are only vaguely aware of the rich gift of sacramental absolution and need to be both catechized in its fruitfulness and invited into its exercise.

With pastoral insight our Holy Father brings his exhortation “Reconciliatio et Paenitentia” to a conclusion by encouraging its use, catechesis about it and the rich availability of it. Each of us can, in turn, do our part. We should encourage those we know who may have drifted away from the practice of this wonderful sacrament to consider it once again. God is merciful and loving. All we need to do is “repent and believe in the Gospel!”