Transcript

Have you ever been nervous about going to the sacrament of penance?

Plenty of people are.

Confessing your sins can be a daunting task.

When you add in the difficulty of finding a convenient time and establishing a regular habit, it's no surprise that many Catholics simply don't do it, and yet, it's the way we're meant to deal definitively with post-baptismal sin.

Conscious of this, the church tries to make confession as easy as possible.

There's a screen, so you don't have to show your face.

There's a formula, so you don't have to make up prayers.

And there's a seal, so you don't have to worry about your secrets getting out.

In this episode, we'll consult St. Thomas Aquinas to learn more about what's at stake in the sacrament of penance by meditating upon the power of the keys and the sacramental seal.

When talking about the sacrament of penance, theologians and canonists sometimes refer to the power of the keys.

We think here of the keys given to St. Peter in Matthew 16.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

The imagery can seem strange, perhaps less strange if you know some of the Old Testament background.

Nevertheless, the intent is clear.

Loosed on earth, loosed in heaven, bound on earth, bound in heaven.

Earthly sin has the power to keep us from heavenly life if we let it, but God has the power to save us if we let him.

In effect, we come into this world shut out from salvation, on the wrong side of the door giving unto divine life.

God has the power to unlock this door.

In fact, he has already done so in the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he holds this door open to each of us in the life of the sacraments.

Christ entrusts his power, the power of the keys, to the ministers of the church, so that they might bring us through the door.

The sacrament of penance works to address the obstacles which keep us locked out from God.

To partake of this power, we need only approach with sincerity, with a desire to be loosed, to deal with sin rather than hold onto it, and we can rely upon the ministers of the church to help us in this effort by forming our consciences, eliciting our contrition, and calling us back to relationship with God.

This is decidedly good news, news to be shouted from the rooftops.

And certainly, the tremendous grace of the sacrament ought to feature prominently in Christian teaching and preaching.

Still, there are parts of our sacramental practice which are guarded with a certain secrecy.

Here, we turn to the seal of confession.

The Code of Canon Law, paragraph 983 says, The sacramental seal is inviolable.

Therefore, it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.

The next paragraph adds, A confessor is prohibited completely from using knowledge acquired from confession to the detriment of the penitent, even when any danger of revelation is excluded.

What exactly does this mean, practically speaking?

You might think to yourself, I've heard plenty of priests describe how someone came back to confession after 50 or 60 years, or share anonymous anecdotes from the confessional.

What's shareable and what's not?

The key lies in understanding what it means to betray or to use knowledge to the detriment of the penitent.

In effect, a priest is forbidden from connecting the penitent with what he or she confesses.

A priest cannot let on that this person committed that sin in any way, shape, or form.

So say, for instance, that a priest is called to a hospital to hear a confession.

Grandpa is near to death and there's a sinful situation still lingering in his life that his family wants him to resolve.

The priest enters the room.

After several minutes have passed, he leaves the room.

The family asks whether Grandpa confessed that thing that everyone knows about.

Can he, the priest, comfort them with a positive assurance?

No, he cannot.

Or say that a penitent confesses to stealing from her last employer.

She's a skilled accountant, she wanted some extra spending money, so she cooked the books.

It just so happened that during the confession, the priest recognized her voice.

She's a parishioner.

What if, a couple of months later, she applies for the business manager opening at the parish?

Can the priest use the information gained from the sacrament as part of the hiring process?

No, he cannot.

The church will go so far as to say that the priest shouldn't even confirm or deny that a penitent came to him for confession.

The sacramental seal is so sacred that the church assigns one of her harshest punishments to those who betray it.

The priest in question is automatically excommunicated, and he cannot resume his ministry as a priest until he deals with the sin and its effects in his life.

The church assigns the same punishment to those who desecrate the blessed sacrament and to those who procure an abortion, just to give you a sense for the severity of the sin.

You might say to yourself, Wow, that's pretty intense.

Perhaps a bit too intense?

In her wisdom, though, the church knows that this kind of stricture is of service to the salvation of souls.

Without the assurance that their secrets are safe, many would find the sacrament odious and avoid it at all costs.

So you see, the church assigns the punishment for you.

It upholds the secrecy of the sacramental seal for you.

This gets to the very heart of God's purpose in the sacrament of penance.

We read in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 'Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?' says the Lord God.

'And not rather that he should turn from his way and live?' God, we profess, is merciful.

He desires to reconcile sinners to himself and to the Christian community.

Christ institutes the sacrament of penance to bring about this transformation.

If someone has committed a grievous crime, it is more important that he confess his sin and receive forgiveness than that he be discovered by the authorities.

Though the knowledge gained by a priest in the confessional might be used to a good end, like apprehending a criminal, there is nothing better than saving a soul.

The sacrament is instituted and the seal prescribed precisely to ensure that this work of salvation proceed without hindrance.

In his obedience to the church's law, the priest is made like God, of whom the prophet Isaiah writes, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

For ultimately, it is God who keeps our sins secret, even as he pardons them, thereby removing every obstacle to communion with him.

By this mercy, we gain confidence to pass through the door unto heaven, the door who is Christ the Lord.

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