You Believe What?!

The Reconciliation of a Penitent (aka Private Confession)

One of the subjects that make many people want to check the "other" box when trying to figure out whether Anglicans are Protestant or Catholic is the Anglican approach to private confession. Confession to a priest is offered in many Anglican churches and therefore may need a bit of explanation.

In short the Anglican approach to private confession is: always, sometimes, never.

Confession is ALWAYS available. If there is a burden of sin that you are carrying and you wish to confess to a trusted confidant - seek out your priest and make an appointment! He will listen, without judgment. He may offer spiritual direction and make recommendation about making restitution or simply a first step in walking again in the path of righteousness.

Confession is SOMETIMES a REALLY good idea. For those who have gotten stuck in that cycle of sin, confess to God, sin again, confess to God again...sin again, confess to God again... It may be helpful to confront your sin by having to name it out loud. Further, for those who have confessed their sin in the past but are still haunted by feelings of guilt - hearing a priest proclaim Christ's absolution may be an incredibly healing moment.

Confession, privately to a priest is NEVER required to participate in the sacramental life of the Church. This is where Anglicans differ from both Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches and where we show our true Protestant colors. Both of those other Communions require sacramental confession as a prerequisite to being considered eligible to receive communion. In Anglicanism we adopted the Reformation practice of including a General Confession in the liturgy whereby all the faithful can confess their sins directly to God and still receive a declaration of absolution from the priest in preparation of celebrating the sacraments.

Here are a few other notes about confession from the preface to the office for the reconciliation of a penitent in the Book of Common Prayer.

"The ministry of reconciliation, which has been committed by Christ to his

Church, is exercised through the care each Christian has for others,

through the common prayer of Christians assembled for public worship,

and through the priesthood of the Church and its ministers declaring

absolution...

The Reconciliation of a Penitent is available for all who desire it. It is not

restricted to times of sickness. Confessions may be heard anytime and

anywhere...

When the penitent has confessed all serious sins troubling the conscience

and has given evidence of due contrition, the priest gives such counsel

and encouragement as are needed and pronounces absolution. Before

giving absolution, the priest may assign to the penitent a psalm, prayer,

or hymn to be said, or something to be done, as a sign of penitence and

act of thanksgiving.

The content of a confession is not normally a matter of subsequent

discussion. The secrecy of a confession is morally absolute for the

confessor, and must under no circumstances be broken."

More on Lent

For those who are interested in learning more about the season of Lent and its observance. You may wish to read this essay which I have posted on my parish blog in years past.

Why do you do that?!

Dear Readers, sorry again for my forced hiatus. It is good to be back up and running. Since tomorrow is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent I thought this post should be about Lent and why (following the Catholic Tradition) we celebrate this season and why we begin it with Ash Wednesday. As I contemplated these questions I came once again to that helpful phrase:

Lex Orandi Lex Credendi (The rule of prayer is the rule of belief)

What better way to explain the season and the day than to begin with what the Book of Common Prayer itself says in its "Invitation to a Holy Lent." Consider,

"Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self- examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

Lent is primarily about preparation. Preparing our hearts and minds for the celebration of Easter. It is a season of preparation for those about to be baptized. It is a season of reconciliation for those who have been in broken communion with the Church to repent and be restored. And, as the invitation says, the way we do all of these things is through self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, self-denial and studying the Scriptures.

As the final sentence of the invitations states: Ash Wednesday as it is commonly called is the Church's gift to the believer to help her start out on the right foot. Just as a Ranger might point you down the correct path to reach the mountain you are hiking toward, the Church helpfully starts us on the right foot down this path of self-reflection, repentance, prayer and fasting. And the beginning act is a reminder, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." This is the perspective that motivates all our Lenten preparations. Not unlike the season of Advent, we are reminded that we are not only preparing to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus at Easter, but we are also preparing to greet the day when we too will be resurrected with him, to stand before him as he sits on his throne of judgment.

Sorry for the Silence

To those who have been awaiting the next Angliwhaat?! post with bated breath I apologize. I have had no less than three bouts with illness in the last two weeks so life has been a bit disrupted. I hope to post again soon.

Pax,

Steve+