VII.

Penitential Act.

Resuming our reflection on the Mass. Last week we saw the greeting.

After being reminded of the gracious love of God in the greeting, we turn to penitence.  The first step in moving toward God and our own betterment is acknowledging honestly where we are right now.

This is the moment when we acknowledge that some of our thoughts, words, and actions have not helped us become the-best-version-of-ourselves, have prevented other people from being all God created them to be, and ultimately have created an obstacle between us and the infinite love of God.

Penitence is hard on our ego-centered false selves. The invitation of the penitential rite is to confess our separation from God and ask God to bridge the gap with his forgiveness.

Penitential rite may be the point in the Mass at which we become automatons. Penitence is genuinely comfortable for no one. Few of us examine our lives before every Mass; so it is easy to repeat the familiar words without consciously entering into them. Yet without a penitent heart we simply cannot have a relationship with God. Penitence and humility hold hands.

If we enter mindfully and heartily into the penitential rite, we will become humble. Humility is recognizing the whole truth about ourselves and about God simultaneously, then living in that awareness of both.

Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, we are all sinners and are all in need of forgiveness. The Penitential Rite draws out a truth that can often be uncomfortable — we have sinned. Therefore, before we can enter into the Sacred Mysteries — encountering Christ in the Scriptures and in the Blessed Sacrament — we must acknowledge that we are indeed sinners. (The scripture shows that there is a holy fear in man to approach God. Isaiah saw the throne of God and shouted out I am a man of unclean lips. And the fire from heavenly altar purified him. Moses saw God in the burning bush… God said: leave your shoes there…the place you stand is holy).

Ritualistically, the priest can choose one of three forms in order for this to be accomplished. Form A is known as the Confiteor, which simply means “I confess.” And that is what we do; we confess as individuals, both to God and to one another, that we are sinners. Both in the things we have done, and the things we have failed to do.

We echo the confession of King David: "Then David said to God, 'I have sinned greatly in doing this thing.'" (1Chr 21:8) and in doing so become aware that all sin, venial or mortal, is greatly offensive to God.

Recognizing our sins, however, is not enough. We must take responsibility for them and so the thrice “mea culpa”  “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault, has been restored to the Confiteor.  In addition to our words, the Church incorporates the gesture of striking the breast as we acknowledge our faults. This corresponding gesture of making a fist and striking our breast three times, however, is not to be seen as an accusatory “finger pointing,” but should be seen as a rock crushing the sin within us — destroying those stumbling blocks that keep us from the Lord and His Altar.

 The recognition of sins is intimately bound to their forgiveness. Therefore, the true focus of the Penitential Rite is the great and eternal mercy of God. When we do repent of our sins and receive the holy communion attending Mass, our venial sins are forgiven.

Will Continue from Gloria next weekend.