226 THE CALL TO HOLINESS IN THE CHURCH

YOUCAT Lesson 226

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

226  But we have Baptism, which reconciles us with God; why then do we need a special sacrament of Reconciliation?

Baptism does snatch us from the power of sin and death and brings us into the new life of the children of God, but it does not free us from human weakness and the inclination to sin.  That is why we need a place where we can be reconciled with God again and again.  That place is confession.  [1425-1426]

 

Art: …..The repentant  Mary Magdaline is traditionally depicted with a vessel of ointment, in reference to the Anointing of Jesus.  Art by Jan van Scorel. …..226

It does not seem like a modern thing to go to confession; it can be difficult and may cost a great deal of effort at first.  But it is one of the greatest graces that we can receive again and again in our life—it truly renews the soul, completely unburdens it, leaving it without the debts of the past, accepted in love and equipped with new strength.  God is merciful, and he desires nothing more earnestly than for us, too, to lay claim to his mercy.  Someone who has gone to confession turns a clean, new page in the book of his life.  67-70

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  1 John 1:8

And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”  But the father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe, and put in on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.”  Luke 15:21-22

WHY A SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION AFTER BAPTISM?

…….1425   "You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."(1 Corinthians 6:11.)⁹    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."(Galatians 3:27.)¹⁰    But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."(1 John 1:8.)¹¹    And the Lord himself taught us to pray: "Forgive us our trespasses," (compare Luke 11:4; Matthew 6:12 )¹²   linking our forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our sins that God will grant us. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1426   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."(compare Ephsians 1:4; Eph 5:27.)¹³    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.(compare Council of Trent (1546): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1515.)¹⁴    This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us.(compare Council of Trent (1547): Denzinger-Schönmetzer 1545; Lumen Gentium 40.)¹⁵ --CCC

LUMEN GENTIUM   Chapter V  

THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS IN THE CHURCH

40. The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and everyone of His disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consumator of this holiness of life: "Be you therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect".(216)(2*) Indeed He sent the Holy Spirit upon all men that He might move them inwardly to love God with their whole heart and their whole soul, with all their mind and all their strength(217) and that they might love each other as Christ loves them.(218) The followers of Christ are called by God, not because of their works, but according to His own purpose and grace. They are justified in the Lord Jesus, because in the baptism of faith they truly become sons of God and sharers in the divine nature. In this way they are really made holy. Then too, by God's gift, they must hold on to and complete in their lives this holiness they have received. They are warned by the Apostle to live "as becomes saints",(219) and to put on "as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved a heart of mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience",(220) and to possess the fruit of the Spirit in holiness.(221) Since truly we all offend in many things (222) we all need God's mercies continually and we all must daily pray: "Forgive us our debts"(223)(3*)