Jesus himself instituted the Sacrament of Reconciliation when he showed himself to his apostles on Easter day and commanded them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20:22a), but how did the Church interpret this?
The Early Church
A glance at the history of this sacrament makes it clear that Penance has had a lively and varied past. The primary sacrament of forgiveness in the early Church was baptism. To the first Christians, most of whom were adults at baptism, it seemed unthinkable that anyone who had been converted to Christ would return to sin after they had been baptised. However, even the most committed Christians were capable of human weakness, so a solution needed to be found.
When the Sacrament of Reconciliation was introduced in the early Church, it could be received only once in a lifetime and you had to complete your penance before you could receive absolution. The penances assigned were often very long and severe, sometimes lasting several years. During this time penitents usually had special places in church, wore special clothes, and commonly left the Sunday liturgy after the homily, and were not allowed to take part in the Eucharist. In 325, this changed, so that you could receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation again on your deathbed, to prepare you for entry to heaven.
For centuries penitents were required to do their assigned penance and then return to receive absolution. Practical difficulties with this became apparent when the confessor was a wandering missionary and when the penances sometimes took the penitent on a pilgrimage to foreign lands and so the Irish initiated a change to the sacrament in the 7th century, whereby, absolution was given after the confession of sins, and a penance was imposed which was to be performed afterwards. As time passed, this became universal.
The Contemporary Approach
Through the centuries the Church has continued to develop in its understanding of this sacrament so it can be more responsive to the needs of the people and more meaningful in their lives. During the twentieth century most people thought they should go to confession before receiving Communion, even though they had no serious problem with their lives. As Communion became more frequent, so did confession. The Second Vatican Council reformed the Sacrament of Reconciliation to have three rites, where the sacrament could be held individually, as a community or communally.
The contemporary approach to the sacrament focuses on the Gospels and the life and mission of Jesus. Jesus always went about out of his way to speak to the broken, the lost, the suffering- he called them to tell him about themselves and then spoke openly to them in return. He forgave them all and in the Gospel stories, these people always left Jesus feeling good about themselves and prepared to begin life anew. This is the approach we should take with our children today.
The Early Church
A glance at the history of this sacrament makes it clear that Penance has had a lively and varied past. The primary sacrament of forgiveness in the early Church was baptism. To the first Christians, most of whom were adults at baptism, it seemed unthinkable that anyone who had been converted to Christ would return to sin after they had been baptised. However, even the most committed Christians were capable of human weakness, so a solution needed to be found.
When the Sacrament of Reconciliation was introduced in the early Church, it could be received only once in a lifetime and you had to complete your penance before you could receive absolution. The penances assigned were often very long and severe, sometimes lasting several years. During this time penitents usually had special places in church, wore special clothes, and commonly left the Sunday liturgy after the homily, and were not allowed to take part in the Eucharist. In 325, this changed, so that you could receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation again on your deathbed, to prepare you for entry to heaven.
For centuries penitents were required to do their assigned penance and then return to receive absolution. Practical difficulties with this became apparent when the confessor was a wandering missionary and when the penances sometimes took the penitent on a pilgrimage to foreign lands and so the Irish initiated a change to the sacrament in the 7th century, whereby, absolution was given after the confession of sins, and a penance was imposed which was to be performed afterwards. As time passed, this became universal.
The Contemporary Approach
Through the centuries the Church has continued to develop in its understanding of this sacrament so it can be more responsive to the needs of the people and more meaningful in their lives. During the twentieth century most people thought they should go to confession before receiving Communion, even though they had no serious problem with their lives. As Communion became more frequent, so did confession. The Second Vatican Council reformed the Sacrament of Reconciliation to have three rites, where the sacrament could be held individually, as a community or communally.
The contemporary approach to the sacrament focuses on the Gospels and the life and mission of Jesus. Jesus always went about out of his way to speak to the broken, the lost, the suffering- he called them to tell him about themselves and then spoke openly to them in return. He forgave them all and in the Gospel stories, these people always left Jesus feeling good about themselves and prepared to begin life anew. This is the approach we should take with our children today.