Pope: Confession offers ‘unique moment of grace and God’s forgiveness’

By Devin Watkins

“May this year of preparation for the Jubilee see the Father's mercy blossom in many hearts and places, and so God may be ever more loved, recognized, and praised.”

Pope Francis expressed that hope on Friday as he met with seminarians taking part in a course on the internal forum organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary.

The annual course seeks to guide priests and future priests studying in Rome in the art of administering the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Experiencing ‘sweetness’ of God’s love

In his prepared remarks, the Pope told participants that their task is to help people who come for confession to experience “the sweetness of God’s love.”

“I encourage you,” he said, “to live each confession as a unique and unrepeatable moment of grace and to generously give the Lord's forgiveness, with affability, fatherhood, and I dare say, even with maternal tenderness.”

Pope Francis focused his reflections on three elements of the Act of Contrition, which penitents recite during confession before receiving absolution.

Repenting of our sins, not condemning ourselves in guilt

The Pope first spoke about “repentance,” saying it differs greatly from the psychological sense of guilt.

Repentance, he said, springs “entirely from the awareness of our misery in the face of God's infinite love and his limitless mercy.”

Christian repentance is not self-destructive but rather filled with confidence and trust in God’s forgiveness and fatherhood.

“The sense of sin is directly proportional to the perception of God's infinite love,” he said. “The more we feel his tenderness, the more we desire to be in full communion with Him, and the more evident the ugliness of evil in our lives becomes.”

Trusting in God’s goodness

Pope Francis then turned to the aspect of “trust,” as the Act of Contrition describes God as “all good and deserving of all my love.”

He noted that loving God above all things means putting God at the centre of our lives and entrusting everything to Him.

“This primacy,” he said, “animates every other love: for men and creation, because he who loves God loves his brother and seeks his good, always, in justice and peace.”

Resolving never to sin again, with God’s help

The Pope spoke finally about “resolution,” which is the penitent’s will not to fall again into the sin committed.

This firm will, he said, allows the Christian to pass from “attrition to contrition, from imperfect to perfect sorrow.”

The words—“I firmly resolve with the help of your grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin”—express a resolution, not a promise, said the Pope.

“None of us can promise God never to sin again,” he added, “and what is required to receive forgiveness is not a guarantee of impeccability, but a current intention, made with the right intention at the moment of confession.”

Our commitment to never sin again, said the Pope, is accompanied by our request for God’s help, without whom “no conversion would be possible.”

God shines through in mercy

Mercy, concluded Pope Francis, wraps up the Act of Contrition and expresses an important divine trait.

“Lord, mercy, forgive me,” are the final words of the prayer, he said. “God is mercy; mercy is His name, His face. It is good for us to remember this, always: in every act of mercy, in every act of love, the face of God shines through.”