By Brendan Walsh
‘Only individual persons can sin. The consequences of sin, however, are both personal and social. Sin ruptures our relationship with God, but it also ruptures our relationships with each other.’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 1868).
From this description of sin above we can recognise as Christians that our own collective sin somehow corrupts not just our souls but also everything around us.
A fading understanding of ‘sin’ shows a fading sense of conscience. When I get ready for confession, I reflect on my actions against God’s love and how I might have hurt others. I also think about times when I should’ve done something but didn’t. Sins of omission.
Some say the Sacrament of Reconciliation is in trouble because many Catholics don’t attend . The problem isn’t the sacrament itself; it’s that we, the ‘people of God,’ don’t often reflect on our actions or the consequences of our actions,
Saint Pope John Paul II said many things cloud our conscience, like ideas that ignore God, changing moral standards, and wrong ideas about guilt. He believes that by understanding sin and God again, we can make things right.
When we sin we do not hurt God. We offend His love. By sinning we hurt ourselves.
Confession isn’t just about saying sorry; it helps heal the pain caused by our mistakes, which often lead us to do wrong. It’s not just personal—collectively the Sacrament of Reconciliation unites the whole Catholic community.
The examination of conscience is one of the healthiest exercises a Christian can do. Why ? Because it maintains a sense of reality. It allows us to measure our thinking as well our actions under the light of the Holy Spirit. It prevents us from falling into delusion because we are regularly examining our thoughts, words as well as our actions against the standard God has given us in order to live well and respond well to one another as Jesus responds to us.
The sacrament of reconciliation brings to us God’ forgiveness and healing. It establishes within us a good self image knowing that we are so loved by God. It brings clarity to our thinking and allows us to respect the dignity of others,
Where regular attendance is not evident – one will always find strife, misunderstanding, negativity, anger, guilt and blame. A conscience darkened is open to every kind of persuasion.
We need to know this in Ireland today – change begins when we return to Christ a transforming change that is so necessary if we are to persevere within what can only be described as being a deteriorating society that compromises human dignity as well as pre born life itself.
