Sacraments of healing and vocation
Vocation
One important tenet of a religious view of life is that there is purpose to the universe. God has created everything and especially human beings, for a purpose. The Creator directs life therefore towards discovering and responding to this calling or ‘vocation’. For the Christian, the ultimate vocation is union with God. This is achieved throughout life by responding to particular calls that arise from one's unique circumstances.
The Christian concept of vocation reflects belief in each human being having a personal relationship with God. As a created person an individual’s personal gifts and situation in life suggest ways in which life can believed in ways that are purposeful and fulfilling. Theologians speak of a ‘state of grace’ that God gives to enable each person to respond fruitfully to this calling. Vocation is therefore a religious concept.
A person must discern and freely respond to God's call. It necessarily takes time and sometimes much trial before one discovers one's vocation. There are often practical barriers and disincentives to overcome. The support of family and of personal prayer is important.
Sacraments of Commitment / Service
Married life is a vocation to which most people are called. Through their union in love, the partners assist each other to live out their discipleship. They may also share in God's creative work by handing on life.
For Christians who embrace marriage according to God's purpose, their union becomes a sacrament. It is a sign of the fruitful union between God and his people that is life-giving and that models community. The sacrament of matrimony offers the couple the graces they need to live out their commitment to each other and to raise a family. For this reason, sacramental marriage is an indissoluble and lifelong union.
Within the life of the Church, some are called to serve in particular roles of leadership. The sacrament of Holy Orders consecrates bishops, priests and deacons to serve the people of God. The bishop is entrusted with a threefold ministry of teaching, sanctifying and governing a local Church in communion with the Church universal. The priest is a co-worker with the bishop, and usually serves a community known as a parish. The deacon, who has a more limited liturgical role, assists in the practical works of charity the local Church undertakes.
All baptised persons share in the priesthood of Jesus. In daily life they seek to bring about God's reign and to be instruments of grace to all they meet. Those called to Orders share in a special way in Jesus' priesthood. In the Latin (Roman) tradition of the Church, only males who undertake a celibate lifestyle are ordained. Since Vatican II one the three ordained orders, the diaconate has been made available to married males. Soon after Vatican II many dioceses in the United States ordained married deacons. In more recent times in Australia male, married deacons have been ordained as permanent deacons in some dioceses in Australia. Some of the roles of deacons include preaching, baptising and presiding at funerals.
Healing
The sacramental policy of the Archdiocese of Brisbane recognises a child’s development in understanding sin and repentance. Children are introduced first to a communal form of celebration focusing on reconciliation and only later to individual confession that demands greater understanding of personal responsibility for sin. Penance is a sacrament under-valued by many today and requires positive and careful catechesis.
Admitting responsibility takes courage
St Paul gives voice to the struggle we have to accept responsibility for our sinfulness. ‘I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?’ (Romans 7:23-24) It is one thing to know that we are sinners, another to do something about it. St Paul tells us that only Christ can redeem us from our sin. But for that we must first admit our responsibility and desire forgiveness. Often that requires a radical reshaping of our lives, a letting go of what we have become accustomed to, a commitment to justice that may cost us dearly. The story of the Prodigal Son nicely recognises the courage required to accept responsibility for one’s wantonness and to turn back from sin. The grace of conversion brings with it not just understanding of one’s sin, but also courage and strength of will to accept responsibility for it.
Saying sorry helps restore harmony
Harmony exists only where proper relationships between people are found. Sin destroys this. The process of re-establishing harmony is a human and sometimes complex one. Proper respect for each other and recovery of trust are two important elements in this. Where one person has sinned against another, that person needs to communicate to the other acceptance of responsibility and repentance. Whilst this can be done in any number of ways, speech is our normal and expected way of communicating. The words ‘I am sorry’ when spoken sincerely carry an enormous load of meaning and can have a powerful effect. They indicate to the other a recognition of hurt done, an acceptance of one’s wrongdoing, and a desire to put things right. On the other hand, a failure to ‘say sorry’ can leave one’s repentance unrecognised or in doubt. The importance and power of words in mediating our reality to others should not be underestimated.
Sacrament of Penance
True peace can be experienced in life only when we have received forgiveness for our faults and been reconciled with those we have offended. Jesus knew this well. The gospels show that bringing forgiveness into people’s lives was a major purpose of his ministry. When people sought healing, he first forgave their sins. Only then could they be truly healed in their whole person. Bodily cures alone could not bring lasting peace.
Through the sacrament of Penance the Church continues Jesus’ ministry of forgiveness. The Catechism outlines four elements that combine to constitute the sacrament. On the part of the penitent these are:
- Contrition: Aware of one’s sinfulness, one approaches God’s mercy in a spirit of sorrow for sin.
- Confession: One makes an honest admission of one’s sins. The discipline of the Church requires that all mortal sins be confessed explicitly.
- Satisfaction: Sin both injures others and weakens ourselves. One must make amends for this through repairing harm done or through suitable penance.
- Absolution: We are reminded that Christ died and rose that we might be reconciled with God and obtain forgiveness of all our sins. That forgiveness is assured us: ‘I absolve you from your sins.’
The celebration of the sacrament has been revised in recent times to better reflect the positive nature of the encounter with Christ. The ritual begins with prayer, followed by a reading from Scripture. There is an examination of conscience and confession of sin in the light of God’s word. Absolution and imposition of penance follows and the rite concludes with praise of God’s goodness.
There are rites of reconciliation to meet diverse circumstances. The first rite involves individual celebration and allows for fruitful dialogue between penitent and priest. It may be celebrated face to face or anonymously as desired. The second rite is a communal celebration, which better expresses the social dimension of sin and reconciliation. After prayers, readings, homily and guided examination of conscience, a brief individual meeting with the celebrant for confession and absolution follows.
These are described as Rites of Reconciliation to celebrate the sacrament. They emphasise the dynamic nature of the sacramental encounter. God invites the penitent to repentance through the grace of conversion. God earnestly desires the salvation of every person. The penitent responds to the call to conversion and seeks reunion with God and all those harmed by one’s sins. The result is indeed a joyful reconciliation that puts behind the failures of the past and looks forward in confidence to a future to be lived in fidelity and harmony.