-  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                               By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

Not only is the theology of the sacrament of reconciliation rooted in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, but its practice can be traced back through history, that is, from the early Church to the 21st Century Church. The Lord Jesus Christ, who promised to be with His Church to the end of the world, could not have gone back on His words. It was in the 16th century that the Protestant Reformation changed it. Christ Jesus could not have left His Church in error for many more centuries over such an essential aspect of Christian life. If we said that He did, we would be accusing the Lord of being a liar.

Psychological Dimension

From the psychological view point, the sacrament of reconciliation is very therapeutic. Let us start with a simple example. When we have something bothering us, we will feel much more relieved if we could confide it to someone. When we have sins, we will be ashamed to tell them to another person. In practice, we seldom tell another our personal sins. Yet we need to "unload" this guilt. As psychologists will tell us, guilt is one of the stumbling blocks to our growth as human beings.

The Lord Jesus Christ knows our psychological need and has provided us, in the Church, with a means by which we can get rid of our guilt feelings so that we can grow to be better human beings. When we go to the priest, representative of Christ Jesus and the Church, and confess our sins, we meet the Lord Jesus Christ in His Church. We express in a concrete human way our desire to mend the "strained or broken" relationships between God and us between you (Community) and us and between us and ourselves. When the priest absolves us with Christ's authority in the ministry of His Church, by the power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Christ's love is poured into us we we open the gate and we feel His forgiveness and the forgiveness of the Church. We come out not only feeling relieved but also filled with new vigour - the strength of Christ's love, to live a new life. When the priest utters the words of Christ and His Church's forgiveness, as he lifts his hand to make the sign of the cross, we feel the confirmation of forgiveness. Human beings need an outward sign of an inward reality. You may know that I love you. But when I say to you: "I love you" and express it in a concrete way by embracing you, you not only know but feel confirmed about it. You feel much happier. How is a person confirmed as a Christian and as a member of Christ's Body? He and She is so confirmed when he/she is baptized by a human person in the name of the triune God. Our sacrament of reconciliation is not only psychological; it is basically spiritual. It is a spiritual healing that flows into our psychological make-up. Psychological help remains psychological. Spiritual healing goes deep into our inner being, changes us and affects our psychological make-up.

Conclusion - From my treatment of the sacrament of reconciliation above, it can be seen that our sacrament has its basis not only in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and in the history of the Church but also in the nature of human beings. The priest is there as a representative of the body of Christ, the Church and the Head, Christ Jesus. He is there not to judge but to dispense God's infinite love in forgiveness and in strengthening. Through this act, a Catholic Christian can go forth strengthened to build stronger bridges of relationship.

Objection - Did not confession as practiced by the Catholic Church lead to abuses in the Middle Ages - the indulgence scandal?

Response - Yes. Facts are facts. Truth must be faced squarely. The Irish Missionary Monks worked out a sort of "price list" or "Tariff" of penances for different sins. Herewith I listed a few examples: (1) for murder - three years exile on bread and water, plus three more years as servant to the victim's family. (2) for drunkenness - three weeks on bread and water, etc... In the later part of the Middle Ages, the custom of offering prayers instead of doing physical penances became popular. Then an offering was given to a priest for prayers in Mass. Money given to build Churches was practiced as a penance. Here is where the abuse came in. The rich began to pay others to do their penance. For instance, a man with a penance for seven years on bread and water would pay 12 men to fast three days plus 120 men to fast three days, but 7 times: [(12X3) + (120X7X3)] = 2,556 days = 7 years. Such abuses and related questions on indulgences and other causes brought the Reformation.

The Church knew about it and tried to eradicate it but it took quite a long time before she succeeded. the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 already condemned the abuses. Although the Council of Trent enacted the disciplinary measures to correct abuses, they were not eradicated. Finally, in 1567 His Holiness Pope St. Pius V, seeing the ineffectiveness of the disciplinary measures of the Council of Trent struck at the root of the abuses by abrogating every indulgence that had a monetary abused. This killed the abuses. Anything good can be abused. This is due to the perverted mind of human beings or to ignorance. love is good. Yet, how many people make use of it to commit adultery, to steal other people's wives and to smother the growth of others (especially children?) The abuse of a thing does not make the thing bad. It is the abuse that is evil. A knife is good if I employ it to cut things - for examples: vegetables for food - for the use of Man. But a knife becomes bad if I use it to kill another person. A car is good because it is a means of transportation. Just because some people abuse it by driving recklessly and killing themselves and others, it does not mean that we must scrap the car. the Sacrament of Reconciliation is good if it is not abused. Even religion which teaches good, can be utilized for evil ends - to split people to gain votes, etc.

 Objection - The priest is only a human being and he is also sinful and therefore unworthy.

Response - Of course he is only a human being and he is sinful. But who is worthy? Jesus Christ chose Saint Peter who denied Him thrice to be the leader of His Church - Luke 22:31-32 - Worthiness comes basically from being chosen by God and from His power. Saint Paul says: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us" - 2 Corinthians 4:7 - A priest represent not himself but Christ and His Church. Who baptizes and cleanses us from sin? A man chosen by God to be a leader (priest) of His people. Can anyone who baptizes say that he is worthy? No. He does it in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that is, God uses him as an instrument of His power.

Objection - You Catholics go to confession and come out committing the same sins. It looks as if you use the confessional to salve your guilty conscience only so that you can go and commit more sins.

Response - This accusation comes from an ignorance of what is the sacrament of reconciliation and what it is to be human. (1) Catholics who go to the sacrament of reconciliation without a firm desire and resolution to change, have not the right disposition to receive the sacrament. The Church has always laid this down as a necessary condition for the reception of the sacrament. How can a person who goes to meet God, Christ Jesus in the sacrament tell a lie? On the one hand he says, "Lord forgive me. I am sorry for my sins," and on the other hand harbours in his/her heart the determination to sin again. This means that he/she is saying sorry and not really being sorry. In other words: It is a lie. (2) Everyone knows, unless he or she is a liar, that in spite of all the goodwill, all of us fall again because "the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak." Therefore "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation." - Matthew 26:41 - The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a watchfulness and a prayer. It is hoped that, gradually, through constant examination of our conscience and a determination to change (The Sacrament of Reconciliation) we will slowly change, with the Lord Jesus Christ help and ourselves. 

Indeed, from my priestly experience, those who come to the 'Sacrament' frequently are generally those who are better or holier people. This is not a hypothesis. It is a fact. You cannot being see yourself ugly and do nothing about it. It is just not human. - P A G E  T H R E E -         

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -        

                                     -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

The Lord Jesus Christ, who made us and knew our need, gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation (traditionally called "Confession") a concrete confirmation, in a way that we poor humans can understand it, of the healing of the three "broken" relationships.

Jesus, although God, as a human being forgave sins to the scandal of the Pharisees. He gave this authority to forgive sins to Peter when He said, "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 16:19 - To His other disciples Jesus also said the same thing - Matthew 18:18 - After His resurrection Jesus appeared to His apostles and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." - John 20:22-23 -

The forgiveness of God is always there for us. Christ Jesus forgives us even before we ask Him for it. In the story of the Prodigal Son, - Luke 15:11-32 - the loving father, as soon as he saw his son, "yet at a distance..., he ran and embraced him and kissed him," even before the prodigal son could open his mouth and apologize. Does this not show that our Father in heaven has forgiven us even before we ask Him? When the prodigal son confessed his sins, the loving father did not seem to hear it at all. he said immediately to His servants, "Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him; and put a ring on his right hand and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry,..." Not only does our Father in Heaven seem not to hear our strings of sins. He appears in a hurry to "make merry". God not only has forgiven us from eternity. He waits for us to "make merry": a forgiveness that has been eternally granted with willingness and joy because it comes from Love Himself. How different God is from us!

If God has already forgiven us, why ask for forgiveness or go to the the sacrament of reconciliation? Because forgiveness is not for God; it is for us. We have freely broken the relationships with Him, it is for us. We have freely broken the relationships with Him, with others and with ourselves. And it is up to our free will to decide if we want to mend the relationships or not. I can walk out of the house of my parents and my parents can long for me to come back but if I do not want to come back, not even my parents' longing can make me come back. The sacrament reconciliation is not for God, our Father. It is for us sinners. This eternal forgiveness of God, because He is love, must be expressed in a way that we poor humans, so tied down to 'matter' that can be understand. And so, His Son Jesus Christ died for us to show us how much He loves us and that we are forgiven. To show us His unlimited love, Jesus not only died for us, He gave us His own life in the Holy Eucharist to strengthen us so that we can live like true human beings for which He has made us.

It is in the context of this external love and forgiveness of God, our Father, that we must look at the sacrament of reconciliation. The Lord Jesus Christ knows that as humans we need at all times some "material expressions" of our sorrow and our desire to change. Hence, Jesus gave first to His Church (for all who are believers, in Him) the authority to accept our human expression of sorrow and desire to mend the broken relationships. Jesus said to His disciples: "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." - Matthew 18:18 -

Before we discuss the specific Sacrament of Reconciliation, it is appropriate to mention that the Church is conscious of the constant presence of God's forgiveness in her. The early Christians were aware of God's forgiveness in baptism, anointing of the sick, martyrdom, the Eucharist, reading of the Scriptures, fraternal correction, charity that covers a multitude of sins, alms, works of piety, vigils, pilgrimages, etc. All these are concrete human experiences of sorrow and of God's forgiveness. There is a specific human expression of forgiveness mentioned in Saint James. He encouraged his apostles to "confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." - John 5:16 - But again the confession of my sin to the person against whom I have sinned takes into account only one aspect of the "broken relationship": my relationship with the person whom I have wronged. How about the relationships with the Church, the Body of Christ and with God?

It is because the Lord Jesus knew this that He gave Saint Peter and his apostles a special authority to forgive sins because they are concrete leaders or representatives on earth, or concrete leader of His Church. To Saint Peter, whom Jesus had just appointed as leader of His Church - Matthew 16:18 - He said "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven and whatever you bound in heaven. - Matthew 16:19 - After the Lord Jesus resurrection, He appeared to the frightened Apostles hiding in a closed room and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." - John 20:22-23 - This "confession of sins" is not only a continuation but also a perfecting of the confession of sins (John the Baptist (although a prophet, he was still a man) just as the Baptism in Christ is not only a continuation but also a perfection of John the Baptist's baptism in the Jordan - Matthew 3:6 - Whether they want it or not, a group of people will always have someone to represent them. Call him/her by whatever name you want, the fact remains. Socialists will confirm this statement. The Apostles picked and chose their successors. In Saint Paul's letter to the Philippians, he referred to episcopois (bishops) and diakonois (deacons) - Philippians 1:1 - 

At this period, perhaps the distinction of roles was not too clear. But a little later, in Saint Paul's Pastoral Letters, the distinction became clearer. He spoke of deacons - 1 Timothy 3:8 - of elders (also in the plural) and of bishops (in the singular, 1 Timothy 1:7, 11; 1 Timothy 3:1 - The bishop became the representative of the community. Timothy, whom Saint Paul chose, was reminded by Paul of the gift of being a bishop which 1 Timothy received when the council of the elders laid their hands upon him - 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6 -). "At this stage, in the sharing of the apostolic ministry, the phenomenon designated by 'apostolic ministry, the phenomenon designated by 'apostolic succession' was present in all but name.' - Lutheran and Catholics in Dialogue IV: Eucharist and Ministry, U.S. Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C., 1970 - Not only did the Apostles choose their successors to represent the community; they also manifested it through a visible sign - the laying of hands on the chosen. To these successors of theirs, the Apostles handed over the powers they had, of which forgiveness of sins was one.

The earliest forms of a visible sign of forgiveness practiced by the first Christians were baptism and the anointing of the sick - James 5:14-15 - But some apostatized (denied their faith). Afterward, many were sorry and wanted to be readmitted into the Church. Since they could not be re-baptized, a ceremony of forgiveness came into practice. Public confession of three basic community sins - murder, apostasy and adultery - were told to the bishops. The bishops imposed long and severe public penances like fasting, wearing of sackcloth and ashes, etc. After the term of their penances ended, the bishop would officially go out of the "Church" to receive the penitents back into the fold. The Didache or Instructions of the Apostles (in the early Church) speaks of confessing one's sin in the Church. In the writing of Tertullian (A.D. 249-258) we find evidence of a period of mortification and prayer before reconciliation to the Church. Saint Ambrose (A.D. 340-407) said that the Church "possesses both water and tears; the water of baptism and the tears of repentance." Saint Gregory (A.D. 329-389) calls confession "a baptism of tears." Why did the early Church emphasize public confession to a bishop and penances? The Church was aware of Saint Paul's teaching that sin hurts the whole body of Christ, the Church. So the penitent went to the representative of the Church and of Christ, the bishop, to confess publicly (to the whole Church) his/her sin. After he/she had made reparation for his/her sin with public penances , he/she was officially brought back into Communion with the Church.

But this practice was too severe. His Holiness Pope St. Leo (A.D 459) recognized it by saying that it was "a custom that cannot be approved." People feared going to confession. Some even postponed their baptism till at death bed. Saint Augustine (4th Century) urged young people not to receive the sacrament. As a consequence, many people put baptism off till death was imminent. The sacrament almost died out.

Then the early middle ages, the Irish monks introduced a new form of private confession. When it was brought to Europe in the 8th Century, many bishops condemned it. The popularity of this private confession grew, in spite of the censures, until the bishops just could not ignore it any longer. The Fourth Lateran Council in the 13th Century finally approved it. Again, history showed that human beings who believed in the teachings of Christ needed to express in a visible human way of their sorrow for their sins which harmed the Church, themselves and indirectly, God . It was this human need that triumphed over the condemnation of private confession. This private confession was a kind of mixture of "spiritual guidance" and confession. The penitent told either a bishop or a priest his/her sins, not only serious ones: like murder, adultery, apostasy, but also less serious sins (traditionally termed as venial). Absolution was given, followed by a penance for the penitent and we have inherited this form of expression of "sorrow" for sins" and of forgiveness, what we now called the sacrament of reconciliation.

Not only is the theology of the sacrament of reconciliation rooted in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, but its practice can be traced back through history, that is, from the early Church to the 21st Century Church. The Lord Jesus Christ, who promised to be with His Church to the end of the world, could not have gone back on His words. It was in the 16th century that the Protestant Reformation changed it. Christ Jesus could not have left His Church in error for many more centuries over such an essential aspect of Christian life. If we said that He did, we would be accusing the Lord of being a liar.    - P A G E  T W O -         

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -        

                                    -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.

Why do Catholic Christians receive only the bread when the Lord Jesus Christ told us to eat his body and drink his blood?

If we think of Christ's body and blood either in the cannibalistic way or in a symbolic way, then we will have a problem. But if we think of of the body and blood of Christ as the life of Christ given to us (and explained, as the Real Presence of Christ) then there is no question of splitting the Life of Christ or the Resurrected Lord into "body" and "blood" as if the "body" or the "blood" by itself does not contain the totality of Christ. The Risen Christ cannot be split. His life is totally present in the bread" as well in the "wine". This was why the early Church could send Christians out carrying only the "host" or "body" of Christ Jesus in their bosom to give it to other Christians. This is another proof that our present Catholic understanding is correct.

This does not mean that Catholics are not allowed to partake of the body and blood. In a small community and when it does not become a complicated affair, we are not only allowed but encouraged to partake of both.

                                                        -  Sacrifice of the Holy Mass  -

Why do you Catholics believe in the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass/Holy Eucharistic celebration? The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says that Christ Jesus was the only acceptable sacrifice offered once and for all for our sins /our iniquity. All other sacrifices are of no use. Hebrews 9:26 says: Christ Jesus "has appeared once and for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Again, Hebrews 10:11-12 says: "And every priests stands at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifice which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God..." Question like: Your Catholic priests offer Holy Mass as a sacrifice. Is it valid? Does your sacrifice take away sins as Christ Jesus sacrifice did once and for all? But even if your Holy Mass is the sacrifice of The Lord Jesus Christ, are you not repeating Christ's sacrifice which was once and for all time? If the Holy Mass is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ would have to die again and again. This is absurd: The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible says that Christ Jesus died and took away our sins once and for all. 

It is wrong to take one or two passages out of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible context and use them to defend one's view and attack an other's position. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible must be treated with great respect and care. It must be interpreted in the textual context in which it is found and it must also be taken as a whole otherwise we distort the message. First and foremost, the texts Hebrews 9:26; 10:11-12 quoted to attack the Catholic Christian position are taken out of its textual context. The author of Hebrews is comparing the sacrifices offered in the Old Testament (the Jewish sacrifices) with the sacrifice of Christ Jesus - Hebrews 9:26 - says "Nor was it to offer himself (Christ) repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world." Obviously, Saint/Apostle Paul compares Christ Jesus to the Old Testament high priest who entered the Holy of holies once a year to offer sacrifice for sins committed by the Jew. - Hebrews 10:1 - says: "For since the laws (Torah) has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never by the same sacrifices which are continually offered year after year, make perfect those who draw near." Again it is a reference to the Jewish high priest who entered the holy of holies once a year to offer sacrifice for sins committed by the Jewish people. Therefore Jesus abolishes the first (Old Testament sacrifice) in order to establish the second - Hebrews 10:9 - Then come the two lines quoted above - Hebrews 10:11-12 - It is evident, Saint Paul is not speaking of Christian sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

Besides, those who attack us do not know what we understand by the sacrifice of the Holy Mass. Our meaning comes from the same text of Hebrews which speaks of Christ's sacrifice. The meaning of Christ's sacrifice in the same textual context is not only Jesus Christ death at Calvary but His whole life in humble obedience to God's will. - Hebrews 10:5-7 - 

Christ Jesus sacrifice is the total commitment to do God's will in His life leading even to the Cross. Jesus sacrifice is not only a taking away of our sins but also a total self-giving to do God's will as always. It is not in "sin offerings" - Hebrews 10:6 - but in the offering of His total life to do God's will which led to the forgiveness of sins.

We, being the Body of Christ, share all that the Head is: Christ the High Priest, Prophet and King of Kings - 1 Timothy 6;15 - If the body does not share in/with the Head, it is no longer part of the body. Because we are members of His body, we "are a chosen race, a royal priesthood... - 1 Peter 2:9 - The Book of Revelation said that the Lord Jesus "hast made them (Christians) a Kingdom and priests to our God" - Revelation 5:10 - Our sharing in Christ's sacrifice (priesthood) is, therefore, our total daily life given to do God's will in everything. It is this understanding of sacrifice that permits Saint Paul to say - "I appeal to you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies (whole person) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship." - Romans 12:1 - How to offer ourselves as a sacrifice? To "walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." - Ephesians 5:2 - Sacrifice, therefore, in the New Testament is the offering of our entire life to God in obedience to do His will, that is, to do as God loves us.

This sharing in the mystery of Christ's priesthood must be expressed externally because we are human beings and not pure spirits (chapter 1). This is expressed in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass - our sharing in Christ's sacrifice. For this reason the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic Church tells us that the Holy Mass (not only the priest's) participation in Christ's priesthood. The priest at the altar represents our priesthood in Christ, the High Priest and Christ's priesthood poured into us, His body. Unless we actively participate in the Holy Mass, offering our whole life to God the Father through Christ or the Holy Mass becomes meaningless to us. Unless we try in our daily life to follow God's will (obedience) to love as He loves us, if not, our participation in the Holy Mass will becomes meaningless too. It is because of this understanding of sacrifice that Saint Peter can exhort us: "Come to Him, to that living stone, rejected by men but in God's sight: chosen and precious: and like living stones, to be yourselves that built into a spiritual house and to be a holy priesthood: to offer spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through our Lord Jesus Christ.-  1 Peter 2:4-5 - 

Just as Christ Jesus summed up his sacrifice in the human expression of dying on the cross, so we sum up our sharing in His sacrifice in the human expression of the Holy Mass. The author or Hebrews, like Saint Peter says: "Through Christ then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God." - Hebrews 13:15 - Holy Eucharist or holy Mass in Greek means praise. The continual offering up of a sacrifice of praise, our entire life of sacrifice, is expressed by Catholic Christians in the Holy Eucharist or Holy Mass. It is indeed, a sacrificial offering of praise to God because it is not an empty symbolic gesture through the offering of the blood of animals and other holocausts which have nothing to do with our real lives but it is an actual offering of our whole lives to God in union with the sacrifice of Christ Himself. By this we all share Christ's priesthood.

But we know that we do not fully live up to "doing God's will by loving as He loves us." So we attend and come to Holy Mass/Eucharist to ask (1) for God's and the Christian community's forgiveness and (2) for God's strength (love) to do better His will. It is making "my own" the power that Christ Jesus has gained for me through His eternal sacrifice. It is not a repetition of Christ's sacrifice which is once and for all. It is, rather and appropriating the fruits of Christ's sacrifice.

Remember what I have just stated about the Holy Eucharist/Holy Mass. When Christ Jesus said, "Do this in memory (anamnesis) of me", he meant us to relive in faith the memory of His life, death and resurrection in such a way that the power of His sacrifice of Himself becomes present to us here and now. In other words, it is appropriating in our lives the power of His "once-and-for-all-sacrifice." It is a sharing in His eternal sacrifice. What is the use of Christ's sacrifice if we do not claim it for ourselves? We are free. God made us so. God will not force His sacrifice on us. We have to accept it freely. The Lord Jesus Christ sacrifice is like a power station waiting to be tapped. We have to tap it for it to become effective. It is in making Christ's sacrifice of Himself efficacious in our lives that we proclaim Him. Hence, Saint Paul tells us, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ death until he comes." - 1 Corinthians 11:26 - This is the Catholic Christian meaning of the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass which Saint Peter and Saint Paul exhort us to offer continually.

                                                       -  Sacrament of Reconciliation  -   

All of us who have received Baptism still feel the need for forgiveness because we know that we are still sinful. Although we have renounced "Satan" or Evil and turned to Christ Jesus at our baptism, we still keep falling into sins because we are weak. Hence, we need continually the forgiveness of God. (See the chapter on Sin and Love) Saint/Apostle John in his letter to his Christians said, "If we say we have no sins, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us... but if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;" - 1 John 1:8; 2:1 - Saint/Apostle James also aware of sins committed after Baptism. He exhorted his Christians, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another" - James -5:16 - Why is it that the Old Testament and the New Testament are filled with the awareness of Man's sinfulness? It is because we fall short of God's love. Therefore, we can always say before God, "Lord, forgive me for I am a sinner." There is no real dispute on this point. All of us, if we are truthful, recognize this fact.

The bone of contention is rather "confession to a priest." As someone asked me, "Why can't I confess directly to God? Why must I go to a priest; after all he is only a man like you and I? It is God who forgives, not Man."

To this man, let us call him Mr. X, I will tell him that he has failed to understand what it is to be human, what is the meaning of sin and what it is to be a Christian. At the back of the question posed by Mr. X is the presupposition that sin hurts God: Sin as a direct offence against God, demand a direct forgiveness from Him whom we have hurt. Thus, asking for forgiveness is directed straight at God whom we have hurt and He forgive us directly. There is no need of an intermediary, a priest. But can God be hurt? If He, who is Almighty, Infinite, could be hurt by me with a small dot that disappears practically into nothingness in the Universe, then, He would no longer be Almighty or Infinite - He would be a figment of my own imagination. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible rightly says: "Is it I whom they provoke? says the Lord. Is it not themselves to their own confusion?" - Jeremiah 7:19 - Elihu says, "If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against Him/God? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him/God?... Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself..." - Jobs 35:6-8 - If God is not hurt by my sin, whom does it hurt? It hurts me and my neighbour, as Elihu says. It hurts not only the person whom I have wronged; it hurts also the whole human community. Saint/Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians expressed this idea through the analogy of the human body. This can be understood only in the context of the notion of solidarity (Cf. chapter 1) Because the Body is a unity of many parts, if one part, for example, my hand is hurt, the whole body feels it. And if one part, for example, my heart, is in good conditioned, the whole body profits from it. Since we are all united in the one life of Christ, in His Body, if one of us sins, he/she hurts the whole body of Christ. "If one member is honoured, all rejoice together." - 1 Corinthians 12:26 -

If sin is a refusal to love and by nature I am made to love, sin hurts first and foremost, myself. G. K. Chesterton rightly said that sin is "that whatever I am, I am not myself." - Orthodoxy. Union Books, Sheed & Ward, 1939, p. 273 - Then again, it hurts the person whom I have offended. This has its repercussions and the whole Body of Christ, the Church, is hurt. And only indirectly is God hurt because He who creates us loves us and is "sad" speaking in human terms, that we harm each other. From another point of view, God is indirectly hurt because He is the Source of life, the love that brings forth life and sustains it, any destruction of it affects Him. Sin is a destruction of life. Through my sin, I harm the relationship between me and myself, between the community and me and between God and I. 

Reconciliation is precisely the mending or healing of the "strained" or "broken" relationships. If I were to confess my sorrow directly to God, I would take into account only my relationship with God. How about my relationship to the Christian community? Saint /Apostle John said: "If anyone says, 'I love God', and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." - 1 John 4:20 - Logically, Saint/Apostle John could have continued and said as well, "If anyone says, 'God has forgiven me because I have asked God for forgiveness' and fails to ask for forgiveness of his brother whom he has hurt, he is a liar; for he who sins against his brother and asks not for forgiveness, cannot ask for forgiveness from God whom he has not seen nor hurt directly." Reconciliation taken in its full sense, is the restoration of the three "broken" relationships because Christian love is a three dimensional relationship: God and I, others and I, myself and I. To express fully this sorrow for my sins in a human way, it is necessary to go through a material form (Cf. chapter 1) that takes into account all the three relationships. The Lord Jesus Christ, who made us and knew our need, gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation (traditionally called "Confession") a concrete confirmation,........ - P A G E  O N E -         

    

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -        

- THE CITY OF GOD - BY SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO - "HERE is a book that written over fifteen hundred years ago by a mystic in North Africa. Yet to those who have ears to hear, it has a great deal to say to many of us who are mystic, today in America... THE CITY OF GOD is the autobiography of the Church written by the most CATHOLIC of her GREAT SAINTS....... THE CITY OF GOD, FOR THOSE WHO CAN UNDERSTAND IT CONTAINS THE SECRET OF DEATH AND LIFE, WAR AND PEACE, HEAVEN AND EARTH." -

- Whether those who received heretical baptism, and have afterwards fallen away to wickedness of life; or those who have received catholic baptism but have afterwards passed over to heresy and schism; or those who have remained in the catholic Church in which they were baptised but have continued to live immorally - may hope through the virtue of the sacraments for the remission of eternal punishment -  P A G E  7  -

But let us now reply to those who promise deliverance from eternal fire, not to the devil and his angels (as neither do they of whom we have been speaking) nor even to all men whatever but only to those who have been washed by the baptism of Christ and have become partakers of His body and blood, no matter how they have lived, no matter what heresy or impiety they have fallen into. But they are contradicted by the apostle, where he says, "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft hatred, variances, emulations, wraths, strife, heresies, envy, drunkenness, revellings and the like: of the which I tell you before, shall not inherit the kingdom of God." - Galatians 19:21 - Certainly this sentence of the apostle is false, if such person shall be delivered after any lapse of time and shall then inherit the kingdom of God. But as it is not false, they shall certainly never inherit the kingdom of God. And if they shall never enter that kingdom, then they shall always be retained in eternal punishment; for there is no middle place where he/she may live unpunished who has not been admitted into that kingdom.

And therefore we may reasonably inquire how we are to understand these words of the Lord Jesus: "This is the bread which come down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man/woman eat of this bread, he/she shall live forever." - John 6:50-51 - And those indeed, whom we are now answering, are refuted in their interpretation of this passage by whom we are shortly to answer and who do not promise this deliverance to all who have received the sacraments of baptism and the Lord Jesus Christ body but only to the Catholics, however, wickedly they live; for these, say they, have eaten the Lord Jesus body not only sacramentally but really, being constituted members of His body of which the apostle says, "We being many are one bread, one body." - 1 Corinthians 10:17 - He/She then who is in the unity of Christ's body (that is to say, in the Catholic Christian membership) of which body the faithful have been wont to receive the sacrament at the altar, that person is truly said to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ. Consequently, heretics and schismatics being separate from the unity of this body are able to receive the same sacrament but with no profit to themselves - nay, rather to their own hurt, so that they are rather more severely judged than liberated after sometime. For they are not in that bond of peace which is symbolized by that 'Sacrament.'

But again, even those who sufficiently understand that he/she who is not in the body of Christ Jesus cannot be said to eat the body of Christ, are in error when they promise liberation from the fire of eternal punishment to persons who fall away from the unity of that body into heresy or even into heathenish superstition. For in the first place, they ought to consider how intolerable it is and how discordant with sound doctrine, to suppose that many, indeed, or almost all, who have forsaken the Universal/Catholic Church and have originated impious heresies and become heresiarchs, should enjoy a destiny superior to those who never were Catholics but have fallen into the snares of these others; that is to say, if the fact of their Catholic baptism and original reception of the sacrament of the body of Christ in the true body of Christ Jesus is sufficient to deliver these heresiarchs from eternal punishment. For certainly he/she who deserts the faith and from a deserted becomes an assailant, is worse than he/she who has not deserted the faith he/she never held. And in the second place, they are contradicted by the apostle, who after enumerating the works of the flesh, says with reference to heresies, "They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

And therefore neither ought such persons as lead an abandoned and damnable life to be confident of salvation, though they persevere to the end in the communion of the Catholic Church and comfort themselves with the words: "He that endureth to the end shall be saved." By the iniquity of their life they abandon that very righteousness of life which Christ Jesus is to them, whether it be by fornication or by perpetrating in their body the other unclean which the apostle would not so much as mention or by a dissolute luxury or by doing anyone of those things of which he says: "They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Consequently, they who do such things shall not exist anywhere but in eternal punishment since they cannot be in the kingdom of God. While they continue in such things to the very end of life, they cannot be said to abide in Christ Jesus to the end; for to abide in Him is to abide in the faith of Christ Jesus. And this faith, according to the apostle's definition of it - Galatians 5:6 - And "love" as he elsewhere says: do no evil. - Romans 13:10 - Neither can these persons be said to eat the body of Christ, for they cannot even be reckoned among His members. For not to mention other reasons, they cannot be at once the members of Christ and the members of a harlot. In fine, He Himself, when He says: He/She who eat my flesh and drink my blood, dwell in me and I in him/her. - John 6:56 - Accordingly, they who are not baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in other words: They who make themselves members of a harlot, are not members of Christ unless they have penitently abandoned that evil and have returned to this good and to be reconciled to God.              

   - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 - 

                                         -  Straight to Catholics - Why I believe in What I believe  - 

                                                By His Grace Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, S.J. 

                                                  ---              S A C R A M E N T S             ---

This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.

After this, came the miracle of Christ's walking on the waters ( Saint John chapter 6 - vv. 16-21) which to the Jews, was a proof of divine power. Then comes the central message. Christ compared himself to the ancient "manna from heaven" which fed the Jews in the desert, asserting that He is the true bread which comes from God and give live - John 6:33 - The ancestors of the Jews ate "manna in the wilderness and they died" but those who eat the bread from heaven will never die. It is in this context, gradually leading His disciples that Jesus Christ asserted that He is "the bread which came down from heaven" - John 6:41 - Immediately the Jews murmured in protest. Jesus repeated in strong terms, "and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh" - John 6:51 - The Jews became impatient and disputed among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" The Jews were scandalized because the Mosaic Law forbade the drinking of blood. They obviously took Jesus at His words - that Jesus was not speaking in a parable or figuratively. At this point, Jesus did not try to correct them by saying that he was only speaking symbolically or metaphorically. On the contrary, Jesus went much further and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you..." - John 6:53f - Now the Jews took offence - John 6:61 - and Jesus knew it. Still Jesus did not withdraw what He had said. Jesus continued in the same strain and "many of his disciples left him and no longer went about with Him" - John 6:66 - Jesus turned to his Apostles, the closest to him and asked: "Do you wish also to go away?" Jesus did not wave down his assertion. Instead Jesus challenged his closest associates to believe in what He had said. Peter Simon taking the lead among the Apostles said: "Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" - John 6:68 - This was also the confession of faith of Saint John and His disciples. They believed in the true presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in their "breaking of the bread" (the Eucharist).

Saint Paul also believed in the presence and the real communion of Christ Jesus. "Is not the chalice of benediction which we bless, the communion of the blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ? Is not the bread we break the partaking of the body of Our Lord Jesus?" - 1 Corinthians 10:16 - Only this belief could justify the severity of Saint Paul's warning: "Whoever eats this bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. For he/she who eats and drinks unworthily without discerning (discovering) the body, eats and drinks judgement to himself/herself" - 1 Corinthians 11:27, 29 - To make it more real, Saint Paul compared the Christian Sacrifice and meal to those of the Jews and pagans. Both the Jews and pagans offered real sacrificial victims and shared in the divinity. The Christians were forbid-doing, they shared in the divinity. The Christians were forbidden to participate in the Jewish and pagan sacrifices because they held the one true sacrifice, Christ, which was acceptable to God. There is no evidence that Paul believed in the symbolic presence. If there is any evidence, it is proof to the contrary: the Real communion with the body and blood of Christ.

Besides this, the background to the whole Passover of Christ or as Saint Paul puts it, the New Pasch - 1 Corinthians 10:14, 21 - is the Jewish "Passover" which they celebrate in such a way that God's past saving action becomes present to them here and now. - See article: "Do this in Memory of Me" by Monsignor Peter Coughlan, IF, 1981 - Saint/Apostle Paul chose the Greek word anamnesis to express this reality - 1 Corinthians 11:24, 26 - Unfortunately we do have an equivalent word that captures all the nuances of anamnesis. Hence it is translated as "Do this in memory of me, or in memorial of me". Anamnesis is a Greek word taken from a stage play. When a play is acted out on stage, it becomes alive so much so that the audience seem to live the play. They become so involved emotionally in the play that, at the end, they experience a "purging of their emotions" (Katharsis) and become better people. Of course, when St. Paul used the word anamnesis his background was Jewish rather than Greek. Yet, this was the closest Greek word that he could find to bring out the reality of what Jesus meant. When Jesus said: "Do this in anamnesis of me," he meant to tell us to relive his death and resurrection in the Eucharistic meal. (The Last Supper) in such a way that He/Jesus is present in the bread and wine, that His past saving power is present here and now in the bread and wine, so that we, who go with faith, to receive Him will experience His saving power (making it our own, the power that is His). How are we to translate the richness of the meaning behind the word anamnesis into English?

I, therefore, personally believe that the Catholic understanding of Christ's true presence in the bread and wine is the correct interpretation because it can trace its Tradition right back into the earliest Church, to the New Testament. What other guarantee is there? Anyone can take a passage from the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible and interpret it the way he/she sees it? There are many interpretations. Who is to say which is the right interpretation? Even non-Christians use scriptural texts to attack Christians. Where is the truth if not in the interpretation that can be traced right back into history to the early Church to the New Testament.

There is a further theological point I would like to add. Those Christians who claim that Christ is only symbolically or nominally present have failed to understand the full meaning of God's unlimited love. As I have explained in the previous chapter on the Triune God, God has done the impossible for love of us because He is Infinite (All Powerful) and He is Love. Out of Love for us, He gave His life by dying for us. "No greater love has a man than to lay down his life for us." But we Catholic Christians claim that after laying down His life, He was not satisfied because of his infinite love. He gives, the last that He has of Himself - His own life, his body and blood given to us as food so that we are nourished, then, we will stand up and walk as true human beings for which He has created us. It is the ultimately impossibility: God the Infinite gives His life for us as food. He knows that we as poor humans are weak. So He gives us His very life in order that we may be nourished and be strengthened to live a life worthy of our name as humans. Beyond giving His own life to be eaten by us, there is nothing left. His infinite love for us is completed. His Love is equal to His infinite Power.............   ---  P A G E   T W O  ---  

 .............  This belief of Saint Cyril's sounds like a paraphrase of Saint John's and Saint Paul's teaching on the Eucharist. Saint John's chapter 6 is also a refutation of the docetists' denial of the reality of Christ's human body. It starts with the multiplication of the loaves which has two meanings: (a) nothing is impossible for God to do and (b) symbolic reference to Christ feeding a multitude with His own body and blood.  ---  P A G E   O N E  ---

  - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -