Day 195: Penance and Reconciliation

[T]he new life received in Christian initiation has not abolished the frailty and weakness of human nature, nor the inclination to sin that tradition calls concupiscence, which remains in the baptized such that with the help of the grace of Christ they may prove themselves in the struggle of Christian life. This is the struggle of conversion directed toward holiness and eternal life to which the Lord never ceases to call us. CCC 1426

The Catechism introduces the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation in today's reading. This can also be called by other names, such as the Sacrament of Conversion, the Sacrament of Confession, and the Sacrament of Forgiveness (CCC 1423-1424). Though we were "buried... with him by baptism into death" (Rom 6:3-4), and became a "new creation" (2 Cor 5:17) by His grace who have "put on Christ" (Gal 3:27), we still struggle with concupiscence in this life and therefore may fall into sin. As the Apostle John says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 Jn 1:8). Hence the need for this Sacrament to reconcile ourselves in repentance to Christ and the promises given to us in baptism. 

The Catechism Compendium summarizes why both the sacraments of Penance and the Anointing of the Sick were instituted by Christ:

Christ, the physician of our soul and body, instituted these sacraments because the new life that he gives us in the sacraments of Christian initiation can be weakened and even lost because of sin. Therefore, Christ willed that his Church should continue his work of healing and salvation by means of these two sacraments. (#295)

The Catechism Companion, Vol II has some good commentary on the blessings of this sacrament:

Our sins not only offend God but also injure the Church and our brothers and sisters. Confession is a sacrament of repentance and a change of heart, acknowledging and praising the holiness of God and his mercy toward sinners. In the sacrament of Reconciliation, our sins are absolved and forgiven; it restores our relationship with God and the Church. The struggle against sin and the pursuit of holiness is a lifelong process that God continually calls us to. (p. 154) 

The need for repentance and confession of our sins, and the grace they can give us, reminds me of something a Christian would dread to hear upon facing our Lord after death: "I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers" (Matt 7:21-23). Instead, by these sacraments and through His grace, we long to say the same as St. Paul: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" and by rewarded by the Lord with a "crown of righteousness" (2 Tim 4:7-8). 

The reproach of Nathan and the penance of King David 

(Paris Psalter, 10th century).