What is Communal Reconciliation

It’s easy to get confused and bogged down in terminology, especially church terminology and the changes we’ve experienced since Vatican II. A few of those changes were in the understanding of the two sacraments of healing: Anointing of the Sick and Reconciliation, formerly known as Confession or Penance.

Before Vatican II, Anointing of the Sick was only given when death was near, so it became synonymous with the Last Rites, and this is why there is confusion today. Vatican II, however, returned us to an earlier understanding of the sacrament: that it was to be done both for the dying and for those seriously sick.

Changes also came about in the sacrament we now call Reconciliation. This sacrament has evolved over the centuries. In Baptism, of course, all sins are forgiven. In the early Church, sins committed after Baptism were forgiven by prayer, almsgiving, fasting, self-denial, and especially by the Eucharist. But there were times when baptized Christians committed grave sins, and so the Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, developed sacramental rites to help these sinners repent, convert, and be re-admitted to the Eucharist.

Contrary to popular belief, Vatican II did not get rid of either sin or confession! The Second Vatican Council did revise the Rite of Penance. So why are we calling it Reconciliation instead of Confession or Penance? The name change is because reconciling with God and community is the goal: we want to be in right relationship with our Creator and with our brothers and sisters. Confession is simply part of the process that gets us to that Reconciliation, along with conversion and penance.

The new ritual contains several ways of celebrating the sacrament, including communally. At a Communal Reconciliation Service, like the one at Risen Savior on Monday, March 5^th, the community gathers for a true liturgical celebration. We hear those biblical stories that tell of God’s abundant love and forgiveness. As we reflect on this, we realize that we have not loved God back nearly as much as He has loved us. This realization is called “the sense of sin.” It comes not from hearing a list of possible sins that we might have committed but rather from hearing about God’s love. And that draws us to conversion.

Then, just as you come forward to receive Communion at Mass, you come forward at Reconciliation to receive individual absolution. You sit with a priest and confess your sinfulness. He, in turn, places his hands on your head and says the prayer of absolution. You are assured of God’s love and forgiveness, and you are now at peace, reconciled with your creator and your community.