By Suzanne Haugh

Staff Writer

ATLANTA—Participating in the sacrament of penance is spiritual exercise. For some who have regularly worked out, the habit has become a way of life that strengthens the union of mind, body and spirit. Others, for one or more reasons, may need a jumpstart in getting back into spiritual shape. The good news is, that in either case, the end result of one visit to the confessional is the same: complete forgiveness of all sins and the reception of God’s grace, which guides us on our journey.

Before one even takes his place in the confessional line to receive the sacrament of penance, also referred to as confession or reconciliation, Father John Hopkins, LC, chaplain at The Donnellan School, Atlanta, advised remembering to what the sacrament calls us.

“Confession is about your personal relationship with Jesus. It’s not just some type of act ... It’s the direct infusion of the Holy Spirit into someone to strengthen that relationship, to strengthen one’s soul and to start over.”

Many things may keep us from the chance to be reconciled with the church, each other and with ourselves.

Too often, Father Hopkins said, people approach the sacrament of penance with a “Protestant attitude, that confession sort of covers our sins,” he said. “... We are transformed. Grace transforms us ... If we can’t forgive ourselves, we need to ask ourselves why not. (Often times) it’s pure pride. We don’t believe in the sacrament.”

Other reasons get in the way. “We’re distracted, we run away, we’re fearful of the demands of God, but we can’t outdo God in generosity ... (And) some may be afraid the priest will judge them.”

But judgment is the furthest thing from Father Hopkins’ mind. “I concentrate on this person being transformed. The image I see is of the saint walking out, not the sinner walking in.”

He said people might ask him about things they confessed weeks earlier but he honestly doesn’t remember hearing them because he’s concentrating on how the sacrament instills grace. He likened it to the relationship of a cancer patient to his doctor.

“Does the doctor take out the tumor, put it in a jar and look at it? Does he think about the tumor or about how well the person is now?”

When a person enters the confessional and sits before the priest, it’s as if the person sits before Jesus himself.

“We’re a telephone line,” Father Hopkins said. “We represent Christ, in persona Christi. If we’re not a reflection of God’s love, his transforming love, then we’re not being faithful to our vocation as priests.”

The church makes the sacrament of penance available weekly, usually on Saturdays at many parishes, or at other times. There are often “the regulars” who participate in the sacrament of penance on Saturdays and others who schedule appointments to meet with a priest.

Penance services scheduled during Advent and Lent are for many an opportunity to experience the healing powers of the sacrament. Father Frank McNamee, administrator of St. Peter Chanel Mission, Roswell, encourages people to attend these services since there are usually a number of priests available.

“People often make a special effort to attend penance services. They become a family event as well,” Father McNamee said.

Father Hopkins encourages people to schedule a time to meet with a priest for confession whenever necessary.

“As a priest I feel honored to be asked to hear confessions. Outside of the Eucharist, it’s the greatest honor to bring grace back into someone’s soul. Also, everybody has the right to demand confession.”

He urged those who may be fearful about going to confession to ‘just do it.’

“The longer you take to go to confession, the harder it is and the foggier the confession may be. The more you go, the easier it is and the more sensitive one is to how he’s hurt his relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Preparing for confession includes an examination of conscience, an honest inventory of how a person’s actions have hurt his relationship with God, his neighbor and himself.

“People just need to take the time from their busy lives to think about who they are and what they are and look at their relationship with God and others,” Father McNamee said. “The majority of people have a great sense of where they need work and the areas of struggle in their lives.”

Father Hopkins said the Ten Commandments are a good tool to use when looking at one’s sins, but what’s most important is to discern “what’s at the root of the behavior.”

“I need to understand where pride, where vanity come in and what’s causing them. That’s really, really important ... Behind an act is an attitude. Behind an attitude, there’s a bigger sin ... I’ve got to go to the real root.”

The order of the sacrament has the penitent passing through three phases: confession, contrition and satisfaction, or making restitution for one’s sins. The priest will then grant absolution, healing the sinner and reconciling him with the church.

Upon entering the confessional, it is appropriate to tell the priest how long it has been since one’s last confession. Father Hopkins explained that this is not to pass judgment on someone who may have been away for awhile, but to put the confession in the proper context.

“First of all, when I ask someone how long it’s been since their last confession and they say it’s been two or 20 years, I look into their eyes and say, ‘Welcome home.’”

His attitude is one of compassion toward those who have been away from the sacrament.

“I need to help them along ... I start off with friendly conversation ... It’s absolutely critical to be able to put them at ease.”

The actual confession of sins is “like having a conversation,” Father McNamee said.

“The priest is there to help. It’s a sacrament of healing. Some may experience fear or anxiety because they may have had a bad experience before ... (But) the priest is there to help them walk through and experience Jesus’ healing love and mercy.”

“For if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot heal what it does not know.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1456).

Father McNamee does not pass judgment on those who may confess the same sins again and again because “that’s where they are.” There are many reasons for this, including a fear of confession that may go back 40 or 50 years, before Vatican II, to a time when the sacrament was treated differently. “I have to be sensitive to that,” he said.

If the penitent, after the confession is over, remembers a venial sin not confessed to the priest, it is forgiven, but he is encouraged to confess it when next receiving the sacrament. Mortal sins, when violating one of the Ten Commandments, however, must be confessed to a priest. “These sins wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1456).

Following the confession of sins, one offers an act of contrition. Some may have one memorized; some may read it from a pamphlet available at the church and others may repeat it after the priest. Father Hopkins stressed that this is not something to get hung up on. Father McNamee said he finds that more and more people create their own act of contrition.

“A person can make a sincere act of contrition, from his own heart and with his own words, that’s very beautiful.”

After the act of contrition, the priest speaks words which include: “through the ministry of the church, may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1449).

Upon the absolution the priest pronounces, “we recover our baptismal innocence,” Father Hopkins said. “It’s awesome.”

Invoking absolution fills him with joy and other emotions that are hard to describe.

“To have someone in front of you, full of grace, ... so holy and so good. It’s very humbling.”

He tries to see them as Christ does, since Christ works through him. “When the priest says, ‘I absolve you from your sins,’ (it embraces) the same power as Jesus saying, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ It’s the same power, the same transforming love that Jesus showed when he healed the paralytic man.”

The priest prescribes a penance for each person after the absolution. Father Hopkins bases the penance on the needs of each individual.

“For some who have been away from the church for a long time, I try not to make it a huge penance but something that makes them understand God’s love.”

He often refers people to certain Psalms that speak to issues that surfaced during confession such as trust or abandonment or loneliness. He has penitents read and meditate on Scripture to feed their relationship with Jesus.

“It’s about giving people the means after confession to go back to Scripture ... to make it a part of their lives and introduce it to them so they might experience it on a daily basis.”

And while our sins are forgiven during the sacrament, one must remember that because sin wounds the Body of Christ, acts of reparation may be required to mend whatever injuries exist.

“If there’s a situation that needs to be made right, the priest wants to challenge the person to do whatever it is (to make it so),” Father McNamee said.

Father Hopkins explained, “If you’ve stolen money, give it back. (But) the biggest reparation for sins is to start having a much more personal relationship with Jesus. There is no greater gift to Christ. Confession challenges us to be more prayerful, more sacramental.”

Hearing confessions gives Father McNamee “a sense of peace. As the Lord’s instrument, I assure people of his peace, love and reconciliation. I see that people leave with peace in their hearts and realize that they’ve made things right with God. They’re renewed and have a sense of hope.”

He has seen many people return to the church. “Many come back to reconciliation after being away 10 or 15 years; a lot has been carried in their hearts. They experience a tremendous peace and (a sense) that it is all in the past.”

The mark of a good confession, which can only be judged by God, is the honest exposure of one’s weakness and brokenness before God and the acceptance of his grace.

“The sincerity of the confession of sins is what’s really important ...When someone comes in and confesses his sins in radical honesty, I’m seeing before my eyes the making of a saint. Through the sacrament of confession we’re transformed into living saints, full of grace. It’s as if right after leaving from a good confession, the angel Gabriel is outside the confessional saying, ‘Hail Jack, full of grace’ or ‘Hail Joanne, full of grace,’” Father Hopkins said.

When a person approaches the sacrament and truly understands what’s offered through it, he should participate in the sacrament, not out of a sense of obligation, but “do it out of excitement,” Father Hopkins said. “We need a whole change of attitude. We have sins. Why wait for forgiveness? Our relationship with Jesus Christ is so important.”

Unfortunately, there are some who have let other things get in the way of regularly going to confession.

“In today’s society we’re so busy with other things that we forget about our relationship with Jesus. What’s more, we’re not remembering the importance of working on that relationship ... There are many who take their spiritual lives seriously. They don’t wait to fall into mortal sin but see the opportunity for the infusion of the Holy Spirit and say, ‘I want it.’”

He likened the experience to participating in the Mass and receiving the Eucharist where “Divinity touches me.” One should be exuberant at the opportunities present in the sacraments, tangible signs of God’s love for us which fuel our faith.

Frequent participation in the sacrament of penance is not intended to make people “scrupulous” about their sins, but rather to keep people focused on how their thoughts and actions harm their relationship with Jesus.

With so much coming at us all the time, staying on course spiritually has positive effects in our other relationships.

“Look at society and see the many problems with marriages, our parents and our children. Confession is an integral part of starting over, especially with loved ones. (Take the time) to start over—our relationships with loved ones may not really improve otherwise.”

Those who have regularly scheduled confession into their lives experience a “progressive conversion,” Father Hopkins said. “Their relationship with Jesus Christ deepens and deepens and matures every day.”

And like a well-toned body, the fortified soul, renewed with grace, can flex some spiritual muscle in a world needing the embrace of a loving God.