Dear Brothers and Sisters,
1. The journey to the Father, proposed for special reflection
during this year of preparation for the Great Jubilee, also
implies a rediscovery of the sacrament of Penance in its
profound meaning as an encounter with the One who forgives us
through Christ in the Spirit (cf. Tertio millennio adveniente,
n. 50).There are various reasons why a serious reflection on
this sacrament is urgently needed in the Church. It is called
for especially by the message of the Father's love as the basis
of Christian living and acting in the context of contemporary
society, where the ethical vision of human life is often
obscured. If many have lost their perspective on good and evil,
it is because they have lost their sense of God, interpreting
guilt only from a psychological or sociological viewpoint.
Secondly, pastoral ministry must give a new impetus to a journey
of faith growth that stresses the value of the spirit and
practice of penance throughout the Christian life.
2. The biblical message presents this "penitential" dimension as
an ongoing commitment to conversion. Doing works of penance
presupposes a transformation of conscience that is the result of
God's grace. In the New Testament especially, conversion is
required as a fundamental choice of those to whom the kingdom of
God is preached: "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mk 1: 15;
cf. Mt 4: 17). Jesus began his ministry with these words,
announcing the fulfilment of time and the imminence of the
kingdom. "Repent" (in Greek, metanoeîte) is a call to change
one's way of thinking and acting.
3. This invitation to conversion forms the vital conclusion of
the Apostles' preaching after Pentecost. It fully explains the
content of the message: it is no longer generically the
"kingdom", but Jesus' very work as part of the divine plan
foretold by the prophets. The proclamation of what occurred in
Jesus Christ, who died, rose again and now lives in the Father's
glory, is followed by the pressing invitation to "conversion",
to which the forgiveness of sins is also connected. All of this
can be clearly seen in Peter's address in Solomon's portico:
"What God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his
Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent, therefore, and
turn again, that your sins may be blotted out" (Acts 3: 18-19).
In the Old Testament this forgiveness of sins is promised by God
in the context of the "New Covenant" which he will make with his
people (cf. Jer 31: 31-34). God will write his law in their
hearts. From this standpoint, conversion is a requirement of the
definitive Covenant with God as well as a permanent attitude of
those who accept the content of the Gospel message and enter
into the historical and eschatological dynamism of God's
kingdom.
4. The sacrament of Reconciliation conveys and makes visible in
a mysterious way these fundamental values proclaimed by the Word
of God. It reinserts man into the saving context of the Covenant
and opens him again to the Trinitarian life, which is a dialogue
of grace, a circuit of love, the gift and acceptance of the Holy
Spirit.
A careful rereading of the Ordo Paenitentiae will be a great
help during the Jubilee for deepening our understanding of the
essential elements of this sacrament. The maturity of ecclesial
life depends in large part on its rediscovery. The sacrament of
Reconciliation is not limited to the liturgical celebration, but
leads to a penitential attitude of life as an ongoing dimension
of the Christian experience. It is "a drawing near to the
holiness of God, a rediscovery of one's true identity which has
been upset and disturbed by sin, a liberation in the very depth
of self and thus a regaining of lost joy, the joy of being
saved, which the majority of people in our time are no longer
capable of experiencing" (Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, n. 31,
III).
5. For the doctrinal meaning of this sacrament I refer you to
the Apostolic Exhortation Reconciliatio et Paenitentia (cf. nn.
28-34) and to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (cf. nn.
1420-1484), as well as to the other statements of the Church's
Magisterium. Here I would like to recall the importance of the
necessary pastoral care for instilling a greater appreciation of
this sacrament in the People of God, so that the message of
reconciliation, the path of conversion and the very celebration
of the sacrament can more deeply touch the hearts of the men and
women of our day.
In particular, I wish to remind pastors that, to be good
confessors, they themselves must be authentic penitents. Priests
know that they have been entrusted with a power that comes from
on high: the forgiveness imparted by them "is the effective sign
of the intervention of the Father" (Reconciliatio et Paenitentia,
n. 31, III) which brings resurrection from spiritual death.
Therefore, when carrying out such an essential dimension of
their ministry with Gospel humility and simplicity, confessors
should not neglect their own growth and renewal, so that they
will never lack those human and spiritual qualities which are so
necessary for their relationship to consciences.
But along with pastors, the entire Christian community must be
involved in the pastoral renewal of Reconciliation. This is
required by the "ecclesial nature" of the sacrament itself. The
Ecclesial Community is the embrace which welcomes the repentant
and forgiven sinner and, even before, creates a suitable climate
for the journey back to the Father. In a reconciled and
reconciling community, sinners can find the way they had lost
and the help of their brethren. In the end, through the
Christian community it is possible again to mark out a sound
path of charity, which visibly expresses through good works the
forgiveness refound, the evil redressed, the hope of being able
once again to experience the Father's merciful embrace.