Confession Explained

The following is my commentary on paragraphs 1450-1460 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The Sacrament of Penance (“confession” or “reconciliation”) is the sacramental absolution (lit. emancipation) of sin, whether mortal or venial, via a valid priest.

1450: A penitent is to "endure all things willingly," coming from the Gospel of St. Matthew xxiv. 13, where Christ says, "But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved." Similarly, in the Gospel of St. Luke ix. 23, Christ says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." All men ought to endure to the end for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, let him carry his cross. One must have contrition for his sins, as in the Acts of the Apostles ii. 38, St. Peter says, “Do penance, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins: and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Contrition leads to repentance. Moreover, he confesses because he ought to according to St. James v. 16, “Confess therefore your sins one to another,” and also, I St. John i. 9, where he says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.” He is humble because he ought to humble himself before God (Jms. iv. 10), and is “fruitfully satisfied” because he will, now being absolved, bring forth the fruit of the spirit (Gal. v. 22-23) and the love of God due to his repentance. Fruit is properly yielded without hindrance; thus, this fruit is piety and the hindrance is sin.

1451: Contrition occupies first because it is the mover. Because a person is contrite, he will do what is pious and what is the will of God in order to repair his iniquity, all because he is contrite. Contrition must include the resolution to not sin again. This resolution is not realistic, but neither is attempting to be a perfect follower of Christ. Because Christ is the perfect exemplar, we try to achieve his perfection. The times we do not try to be perfect, we sin. If we do not try to be perfect, we will be worse than if we did try. Therefore, because we try to be perfect as Christ, we must firmly resolve not to sin, by God’s grace as aid.

1452: Perfect contrition is the “contrition of love.” This contrition is brought up solely because of one’s love for God, not because of any fear. It is called “perfect” because this is what the apostle St. John calls it in I St. John iv. 18. He writes, “perfect charity casteth out fear.” He names it “perfect” because it is love in its truest form: it is perfected. This kind of contrition has the ability to remit one of sin if he does not have access to the Sacrament of Penance. Here is a hypothetical: a man has no access to a confessor, and therefore, no access to the Sacrament. What this man does have, however, is perfect contrition. Because he has no access, he will be remitted via the fact he has perfect love and contrition. The sin he has can be either venial and/or mortal.

1453: The other kind of contrition is “imperfect”; the “contrition of fear.” The contrition is based on one’s fear of damnation and separation from God. Not that the sinner does not love God, but it is not perfect love. For if it were perfect love it would bring forth perfect contrition. Because this is not perfected love and contrition, the one with this kind of contrition may not be remitted of sin when having no access to the Sacrament of Penance. To be remitted when having no access, he must perfect his love and contrition. 

1454: A moral reflection called the “examination of conscience” ought to be used in preparation for the confession. The Decalogue is useful because all mortal sin pertains to the Decalogue. For gravity constitutes mortality, and what constitutes gravity is the Decalogue (CCC 1858). Moreover, the Sermon on the Mount (Mt. v-vii) speaks of the beatitudes (v. 3-11), the ways to live in order to be blessed; and also giving us many commandments on how to live, e.g., “...when thou dost an almsdeed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets…(vi. 2)."

1455: The confession is the disclosure of sin, which should not be done with shame (Sira. iv.  31). Confession sets us free, as seen in I St. John i. Ix. We spew out of us what is filthy. A man looks at his sins with guilt and sorrow, but confesses them because he wants to be set free; he hates sin, so he wants the sin to  be obliterated. He does this for a “new future,” and also forgets the things that are behind, and stretches forth himself to those that are before (Phil. iii. 13).

1456: Confessing to a confessor is “essential” to the sacrament. Moreover, “all mortal sins” must be confessed since the prior sacramental absolution. These mortal sins are recalled from the earlier “self examination,” a reflection of the sins committed. It goes on to say even the “most secret” and those in violation of the “last two precepts of the Decalogue,” used to emphasize the importance of confessing all mortal sin which is recalled. Even the ones wanted to be kept secret and those which are of the most disgusting nature ought to be disclosed. The one confessing places the sins before the “divine mercy for pardon,” that pardon being absolution. When it says “those who fail to do so place nothing,” it means that there is no valid absolution if not all mortal sins are confessed. They place “nothing” before God; this is very explicit on this fact. If every mortal sin recalled to mind is not confessed, if even one is omitted, that person confessing is not granted valid absolution because he placed nothing before the divine mercy for pardon. The Council of Trent makes a very understandable analogy by saying, “if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.” Simply, the priest cannot absolve what he does not know. 

1457: A person of the age of reason is obliged to confess his sins at least once per year (CIC 989), with the age of reason being at 7 years of age (CIC 11). A person consciously aware of being in a state of mortal sin must abstain from holy Eucharist, for the apostle said, “whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord (I Cor. xi. 27).” Mortal sin makes you unworthy of God, and therefore, holy Euchrist, the true presence of the Son. “Even if he experiences deep contrition,” he must abstain. Contrition does not change the fact one’s state of mortal sin, for contrition should have been present before committing the mortal sin in order to prevent it. There is, however, an exception for one not having access to the Sacrament of Penance, but does have access to the holy Eucharist. If he, willing to be absolved, and is perfectly contrite, he may partake in the reception of the holy Eucharist because he had no access to the Sacrament of Penance. There is another precept; this one regarding the necessity of sacramental absolution prior to the reception of one’s first communion. This is, for the same reason as the prior reception of holy Eucharist in general, also regards I Corinthians xi. 27, because the one must be made clean and worthy for his first communion.

1458: Simply, the faithful are encouraged to receive the mercy of God through the Sacrament of Penance often, not merely after committing mortal sin, but also after being stained with “everyday faults,” which are only venial sins. Venial sin still affects a man, for sin is lawlessness (I Jn. iii. iv), and lawlessness, when piled, will bring more and more. As a heap of garbage, so are our sins. Both have the necessity of being cleaned out, so that filth may not build up. These venial sins are hindrances. So after any absolution, they no longer hinder us, for we are set free and they are obliterated. If not going to the Sacrament of Penance, then, going to mass and receiving the holy Eucharist, so that venial sin may be remitted (CCC 1394). The quote of St. Augustine is, “Man and sinner are…two realities…man…is what God has made…sinner…is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made…” As the Lord Jesus has said, “the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, and those things defile a man.” Sin is what defiles a man, not God. Blemish comes from the bad, but blemish can be blotted out and replaced with goodness, which constitutes something that  is unblemished. We ought to rid ourselves of defilement, for defilement is the worst of all. Again, confession is the spewing out of evil. Moreover, we accuse ourselves of our iniquity and our utter filth. If we do not see the defilement within us, we will never see what is undefiled within us.

1459: If a sin we commit is one that wrongs another, we ought to fix it. If we steal, we return. If we hurt, we heal. If we give anger, we give joy. If we hate, we love. The absolution remits sin, though, it does not repair the disorders thereof. That is to say, the medicine may heal a man, but if he does not do what is necessary with that medicine, it will not be beneficial. Penance is satisfaction, and thus, expiatory sacrifice. Not the sacrifice, i.e., Christ, but a sacrifice from us (Rom. xii. 1). Because of our love for Him, we offer him our repentance. We shall sin no more (Jn. viii. 11). Moreover, we shall bear its fruit and those fruits being prayer, alms, fasting (Mt. vi. 2, 5, 16), and all that is good. God finds what we do when we love him as pleasing. We ought to satisfy God in all we do and do all for Him (I Cor. x. 31).

1460: The confessor is to perform penance according to the gravity of the penitent’s confession. The confessor does good for the sake of the remission of the bad. We are being “configured” with Christ through penance, for expiation creates good friendship. The more penance, the further reconciliation. If we suffer along with Christ, if we do not leave him in his cruel passion, if we do not fail to love him, if we are the faithful disciple at the foot of the cross, we will be a son unto Him. We do not remit our sins, but the Sacrifice does, that of the divine Word. There are no works we can do in order to be reconciled with Him, and furthermore, be friends with Him. For only one did do a work that is acceptable for reconciliation (Jn. vi. 29, I Tim. ii. v). Since He is the only one who sanctifies us, we have nothing to boast of besides Christ (Rom. xi. 18), for we are merely creatures, covered in filth. Since Christ is perfect, and needs no repentance, we find penance in the one who bore no penance because he is sinless. Since he is the exemplar of penance, his example pleases God. The sinlessness and blood brought forth by Him is the most perfect expiation of all. If we can share in this expiation, we shall bring forth good penance. 

All glory shall go to God, the one who was, who is, and will be, forever and ever, for who is greater than He? May we be penitants all our lives.