Wednesday Liturgy: Follow-up: Appropriate Penances
ROME, SEPT. 17, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
After dealing with the topic of penances (see Sept. 2), I wish to address a couple of related questions.
An Oregon reader asked: "The last time I went to confession the priest intentionally did not give me a penance. What effect, if any, does this have on the sacrament?"
From the point of view of the penitent I believe that there was no negative consequence. For the sacrament to be valid the penitent must accept the penance, that is, he must not refuse to accept it either openly or interiorly. Since this willingness is present in spite of the fact that the priest did not impose the penance, then the person is duly reconciled with God.
However, the priest in this case did not act well. Both as representative of Christ and the Church, and fully respecting the faithful's rights to receive the sacraments, he should follow with all delicacy the steps required for a good confession.
These duties include imposing a penance (even a light one), for its acceptance constitutes one of the three acts of the penitent that make up the quasi-matter of the sacrament of reconciliation: contrition, confession, accepting the penance.
A New York reader inquired: "Recently I read, in a series on the sacrament of reconciliation, that the penance one receives, e.g. three Hail Mary's, removes the temporal punishment incurred by the confessed sins. I had never heard of this before. Is it true?"
This is new for me too. While the penance, just like any prayer, will certainly have some effect in balancing out the effect of our sins, I doubt that one could hold that it completely eliminates all temporal punishment due to the sins confessed.
If this hypothesis were true, a probable consequence would be to render somewhat useless the Church's doctrine and practice regarding the use of indulgences. In this scenario, the confession would obtain by itself the effect that is sought in carrying out the indulgenced practice.
Since Church teachings do not cancel one another out, but rather interconnect in a harmonious whole, I believe that the theory mentioned by our reader does not correspond to sound doctrine.
After dealing with the topic of penances (see Sept. 2), I wish to address a couple of related questions.
An Oregon reader asked: "The last time I went to confession the priest intentionally did not give me a penance. What effect, if any, does this have on the sacrament?"
From the point of view of the penitent I believe that there was no negative consequence. For the sacrament to be valid the penitent must accept the penance, that is, he must not refuse to accept it either openly or interiorly. Since this willingness is present in spite of the fact that the priest did not impose the penance, then the person is duly reconciled with God.
However, the priest in this case did not act well. Both as representative of Christ and the Church, and fully respecting the faithful's rights to receive the sacraments, he should follow with all delicacy the steps required for a good confession.
These duties include imposing a penance (even a light one), for its acceptance constitutes one of the three acts of the penitent that make up the quasi-matter of the sacrament of reconciliation: contrition, confession, accepting the penance.
A New York reader inquired: "Recently I read, in a series on the sacrament of reconciliation, that the penance one receives, e.g. three Hail Mary's, removes the temporal punishment incurred by the confessed sins. I had never heard of this before. Is it true?"
This is new for me too. While the penance, just like any prayer, will certainly have some effect in balancing out the effect of our sins, I doubt that one could hold that it completely eliminates all temporal punishment due to the sins confessed.
If this hypothesis were true, a probable consequence would be to render somewhat useless the Church's doctrine and practice regarding the use of indulgences. In this scenario, the confession would obtain by itself the effect that is sought in carrying out the indulgenced practice.
Since Church teachings do not cancel one another out, but rather interconnect in a harmonious whole, I believe that the theory mentioned by our reader does not correspond to sound doctrine.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
11:52 AM
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