The sacrament of penance or reconciliation , God ’ s people are healed , “ restored through true penitence ” to unity with Him . 122 One of two planks of “ human salvation ,” the first being baptism and the second penance …
This charge I commit to you , Timothy , my son , in accordance with the prophetic utterances which pointed to you , that inspired by them you may wage the good warfare , holding faith and a good conscience . By rejecting the conscience , certain persons have made shipwreck of their faith … ( RSV , 1 Tim 1:18-19 )
The unbaptized person “ floundering around shipwrecked in a sea of faithlessness and sin ,” saved only by God ’ s grace through the plank of Baptism . Once illuminated in the waters of new life , God ’ s people can , through concupiscence , “ lose their grip on the plank ,” transgress against God . The Lord gifts His people with a second plank to grasp on to , the plank of penance , reconciliation with God . 123 The sacrament of reconciliation offers God ’ s people a way to regain the purity of their baptism so to be in relationship with the Lord , to become like Him , to live a life in Him , “ I acknowledged my sin to you , and I did not hide my iniquity ; I said , ‘ I will confess my transgressions to the Lord ’; then you forgave the guilt of my sin ” ( RSV , Ps 32:5 ). While Baptism is received only once by God ’ s people who are sealed in His great love , the sacrament of penance is to repeated often , “’ Lord , how often shall my brother sin against me , and I forgive him ? As many as seven times ’ Jesus said to him [ Peter ], ‘ I do not say to you seven times , but seventy times seven ’” ( RSV , Mt 18:21-22 ). The perfected offered a monthly confession for “ minor faults .” The perfected did not commit mortal sins for in doing so they would find themselves once again lost in the evil world of matter . Whereas the penitent in God ’ s church seeks through the deepest sorrow and sincerest contrition to “ reinstate himself in the favor and friendship of God whom he has offended and whose hatred he has earned by the turpitude of
122 Fourth Lateran Council , http :// www . papalencyclicals . net / Councils / ecum12-2 . htm , accessed , February 5 , 2016 , n . 1 . 123 David M . Coffey , The Sacrament of Reconciliation , ( MN : Liturgical Press , 2001 ), 57 .