Religion CPT: Sacrament of Reconciliation The Sacrament of Reconciliation is when we receive mercy and forgiveness for the sins we commit against God and the people around us. It is a frequently practiced sacrament in the Catholic community often helping many people around us release the guilt inside us and seek help to solve our problems. The Sacrament of Reconciliation has many symbols involved within and has many benefits to it, allowing us to bond and connect with God. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also known as the Sacrament of Penance or Confession. It shows that God is forgiving and loving, and that every time we confess our sins, we reconcile with God. Many Catholics participate in this Sacrament because after they confess, they experience great feelings such as relief, peace, freedom, and love. Public sins are confessed within a group, publicly. However, private sins are confessed during private confessions in which the sinner is anonymous to the priest and they would confess individually. There are five main symbols included in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The first symbol is a single key or a pair of keys where they are normally crisscrossed to form To 2 an “X”. This symbol came from the time where Jesus talked to Peter and said, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” (Matthew 16:19) This showed that Jesus
The second rite of reconciliation is a celebration that is split into two parts: communal celebration and individual confession. During communal celebration, they would have a ceremony which included homily, prayers and readings from the gospel. They would then all say together the examination of conscience which is a reflection of their sins and then each person would have an individual confession with the priest to clear their sins that they had committed. Individual confession gives people a chance to reconnect with God by seeking guidance and forgiveness from a priest. Through this process the penitent would ask for reconciliation, confess their sins and promise not to sin again. To complete, the priest would need to give them a penance which is something the person would need to do to repair the damage done by sin.
The act of forgiveness may appear to be a simple task. Well, it is not.
“The Church as Forgiving Community: An Initial Model,” by Chad M. Magnuson and Robert D. Enright is a research article based on the study of forgiveness. This article guides the reader through steps on how to work towards forgiveness as an individual, through the church, and into the community, and also how to then sustain the forgiving community that has been built through this forgiveness education. Magnuson and Enright propose a three-tiered holistic psycho-educational approach to forgiveness education called “The Forgiving Communities.” They state, “The goal of The Forgiving Communities is to deepen
There are many stories that revolve around God that if you do something wrong, it seems that you hurt God in the process because they watch over you and are always around you. Our souls are spiritually connected to them when we pray. When we ask for forgiveness from God(s), it gets rid of the negativity you are carrying within your soul. Others think of Forgiveness as a cleansing
For example, Edmund was forgiven by his siblings and Aslan. The way Edmund shows redemption is when he changes his loyalty to Aslan’s side and smashes the White Witch’s wand. For the text states, “ And when he reache[s] her he [has] sense to bring sword smashing down of her wand instead of trying to go for her directly and simply getting made a statue himself for his pains.” (Lewis 196). Another example, would be when Tumnus is forgiven by Lucy for trying to kidnap her. for Tumnus confessed to trying to kidnap her and agreed to not turn her in. Then from Lucy forgiving Tumnus they grow a friendship between each other. For the Tumnus’s exact words were “ I’m a kidnapper for her, that’s what I am. Look at me, Daughter of Eve. Would you believe that I’m the sort of Faun to meet a poor innocent child in the wood, one that had never done any harm, and pretend to be friendly with it, and invite it home to my cave, all for the sake of lulling it asleep and then handing it over to the White Witch.” (Lewis
She writes that by becoming aware of our small-minded arrogance, alienation, and loss of meaning and replacing it will faith and grace just as Jesus demonstrates throughout the Bible, then the path to forgiveness and reconciliation will be open. Smyth suggestion that faith in Christ and the utilization of His grace as our example to forgiveness and reconciliation may seem a simple answer, but sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer. Smyth’s suggestion to take the time to understand other religions without judgment and with an open mind will open the door to various understandings of forgiveness. It is forgiveness that is, “an attribute of the divine, an expression of Gods freedom and grace made visible in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ” (p.146). As Smyth points out, the words “I forgive” do not come easy. There is a price that comes with those words. Successful reconciliation can only occur if forgiveness is given and to really forgive means to make ourselves acknowledge that we must let go of the past and accept/create a healthier way to look at the
To begin with, forgiving people who wronged you comes in handy since it helps you live a longer and healthier life. According to the informational text “Understanding Forgiveness” written by PBS, it states that people who forgive have “ [f]ewer stress-related health issues” and their
153-154). I agree with Shiver here because it is impossible to selectively “delete” events from a victim’s memory. How do we learn from the past if we make such a great effort to forget it? The act of repentance is taking the appropriate actions to do a 180 from the sin in question in the quest to seek forgiveness. An example of this would be in 1990 when President George Bush passed on a $20,000 check to Japanese-American survivors of the “interment camps of 1940-45” (Helmick & Petersen, 2001, p. 164). By admitting a wrong the nation had restored its integrity and hopefully the trust of the victims, which in return, opened a path for both parties to heal from past mistakes. It opened the path to reconciliation. I am not arguing that reparation amends is ideal in all situations, but rather that the public act or seeking forgiveness by our highest political leader on behalf of all America was a monumental moment for reuniting us. Is this not what God teaches us? “Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3, ESV). The process of reconciliation really depends on the attitude of the offender, the depth of betrayal, and in some instances, the pattern of offensives. “Whoever conceals his transgression will not prosper, but he who confesses and
This in turn leads to the idea in which forgiveness is a cancellation of a debt and the offended party no longer expects repayment for the pain caused (Pettigrove, 2012). Additionally, forgiveness is the release of bitterness or anger as an effect of an apparent offense while ceasing to demand punishment (Pettigrove, 2012). Furthermore, it begins by accepting what has happened and choosing to let go by making a decision to forgive and love the offender by canceling the debt (Pettigrove, 2012). Likewise, it releases judgement as well as thoughts of revenge or ill-will to the one who caused harm while resuming some form of a relationship with those who caused the hardship (Pettigrove, 2012). What is more, it is taking the responsibility for one’s own feelings while taking back control of one’s life instead of allowing those feelings complete control (Pettigrove, 2012). Finally, it allows God the room to move and work within our lives as He begins to heal the brokenness.
Eucharist is when we receive the body and blood of Christ through the symbols of bread and wine. It further extends the initiation that took place at baptism “to enter fully into the heart of Christian faith through participation in the Eucharist” (catholic.org,2017). Confirmation is the final step of initiation. It is receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit that unites us more firmly with Christ and strengthens our bond with the Church. The remaining four Sacraments guide us through the rest of our life. The Sacrament of Penance is received regularly to confess our sins and seek forgiveness so that we may remain in God’s grace. The Sacrament of Marriage takes place when two people commit to spend the rest of their life together, anointing of the sick is when a priest anoints a sick person with oil and offers prayers, and Holy Orders is the sacrament that takes place with the ordination of a bishop, priest, or deacon into ministry (Molloy, M., 2010).
Forgiveness can mean so many things when everyone in the world has a different bird 's eye view of it. Some people think it happens once after someone hurts you others think it take a very prestigious amount of time to forgive. Your worldview, your morals can also have a big affect on the way you perceive forgiveness. When thinking of forgiveness do you think the meaning of it comes from the bible or an emotion in everyday life scientifically or maybe both? In our last step , step 5 of our integration project we will pick apart and elaborate on the steps to integration, the steps to resolving conflict, what forgiveness means to different type of human being with a christian worldview from a biblical viewpoint. We will talk about the agreements and conflicts of the different viewpoints, some diffrent evidence that the different sides brings. I also will bring my own personal experiences with integration. The main thing we which to get out of the last step is understanding something fully by using special and general revelation.
Forgiveness is not just practiced by saints and not only benefits its recipients but have strong connection with person’s physical, mental and spiritual health. It plays a great role in the health of families, communities and nations. Forgiveness provides common ground for love, acceptance, harmony and true happiness Most spiritual and religious leaders of the world will agree that forgiveness of oneself and others is one way to clear the mind, heart and soul and may result in a feeling of increased peace and happiness.
Myth of history of Catholicism can be translated into symbols to represent its transcendent, complex, and paradoxical insights and meanings. Throughout the church, I noticed the crucifix, statues of Christ the King, Mother Mary, and Saint Joseph. The crucifix is transcendent because "the symbol points to something beyond itself." ("Symbols", Bond). Jesus' final words were "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" (Luke 23:46, ESV). Which represents hope not despair because "Gospel do not allow despair to be the final words" (Esposito, 160). Adherents can apply this spiritual symbolism into their religious life to live with hope knowing that the despair will not be final but they would be resurrected as well (Esposito, 161). The crucifix
Asking for forgiveness and forgiving to many is the hardest thing to do but we must remember in the book of Matthew (18:21-22) Peter said to the Lord: “Lord if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” In this paper, the chosen case study will give the reader a better understanding of what forgiveness is to Jesus. Forgiveness is a big part of the Bible and if Jesus forgives us of our sins we too must learn to be as forgiving as him.
Reconciliation is stated as “restoration of a state of peace to the relationship, where the entities are at least not harming each other, and can begin to be trusted not to do so in future, which means that revenge is foregone as an option” (Santa-Barbara, 174). This definition is a starting point in understanding reconciliation but does not address the spirit of forgiveness involved. It is important to recognize harms that others have done but it becomes necessary to portray these in a positive and understanding manner. This supplies the persecutor with an image that is not so negative and “monster-like” but also provides for the victim acknowledgement that there has been harm done. For reconciliation to take place, all parties involved