SACRAMENTS OF HEALING discovery and transformation.

Christ’s teaching
on the whole process of conversion is best
exemplified in his parable of the Prodigal Son, or
“Conversion” here means not only an individual
the “Forgiving Father” (cf. Lk 15:11-32). It brings
act, but also the whole life-long process of
out God’s special concern and unconditional love
moving toward closer union with Christ our
for the sinner, and the human process of
Savior, in his community, the Church, away from
acknowledging one’s sin and turning back.
sinful ways and habits (cf. CCC 1430-31). Hence
Clearly no sin is beyond the mercy of God.
it does not refer only to a single act of moving
Nothing we do can ever change or diminish God’s
from atheism to belief in God, nor from one
incredible love for each of us. But we must
religion to another. As a life-long call to
respond.
repentance and turning back to God, conversion
is a constant theme throughout the Bible.
Developmental process in community
Authentic conversion then is not something we
Conversion in the Bible
can accomplish in a moment, all by ourselves. On
1. Old Testament
the contrary, it takes time and we need the help
of our family, our friends, and fellow members in
In the Old Testament, three themes predominate.
our Christian community, to sustain us in our
First, the insistence on a real conversion of the
personal effort to turn away from sin,
heart, inspired by love and true knowledge of
selfishness, pride, and toward Christ and God our
God (cf. Hos 6:1-6). Second, an equally strong
Father.
demand for a radical change in behavior. “Put
away your misdeeds: . . . cease doing evil; learn
Moreover, authentic Christian conversion
to do good. Make justice your aim; redress the
involves restoring our relationships with the
wronged” (Is 1:16f). Third, the sharp realization
other members of our Christian community.
that it is God who effects true conversion: “a
Christ taught his apostles to forgive “not seven
clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast
times, but seventy times seven times” (Mt
spirit renew within me” (Ps 51:12; cf. Ez
18:22). We are all responsible to our fellow-
36:26ff).
Christians for how we give witness to our
common Faith. We are all called to be “ministers
These themes are sharply etched in David’s
of reconciliation” to one another, in our own
conversion which presents a paradigm of the
little ways, not judging others’ interior motives,
conversion process (cf. 2 Sam 12). It begins with
but instead, witnessing to the unconditional love
the conflict between David’s covenant with God
and acceptance of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
and his grave sins of adultery and murder. There
Conversion and the Understanding of Sin
follows the encounter with Nathan the prophet
Notion of Sin
who brings David to self-discovery (“I have
sinned against the Lord”) and to opening himself
to the transformation worked by God’s pardon.
The biblical notion of conversion developed
together with the understanding of sin. Likewise,
New Testament
to renew our celebration of the Sacrament of
Jesus continued and deepened this call to the
Reconciliation we need to know: what really is
same conversion process. “I have not come to
SIN? Unfortunately, confessional practice
invite the self-righteous to change of heart but
sometimes drifted into routine, without
sinners” (Lk 5:32). Coming as a source of life and
developing a deeper understanding of sin in the
light with his simple goodness and love shining
penitents. Real sin — that biblical mystery of
through his every act, Jesus naturally drew
iniquity which cost the life of God’s only Son —
sinners into a process of conversion. The
can only be really grasped at the foot of the
penitent woman, Zacchaeus the tax collector,
Cross. Loss of the “sense of sin” is really a loss of
Peter himself __ all were brought through
the realistic awareness of the actual damage and
conflict and encounter with Christ to true self-
evil caused by sin — an awareness that is
actually a grace grounded in faith in Christ’s
redeeming love for us.
1. Christian Sense of Sin
A genuine “Christian sense of sin” is the opposite
of a “guilt complex.” Its source point of reference
is God, not ourselves. Since Filipinos are so
person-minded, we only really recognize the
“shadow of sin” in our lives when it is contrasted
directly to the Person of Jesus Christ, our
personal Savior, the true Light coming into the
world, the Light which enlightens everyone and
offers the “light of life” (Jn 1:9;8:12).
2. Talking about Sin
Frequently, the more we “talk about” sin, the less
we really grasp its reality. In fact just the way we
talk about sin manifests sinful attitudes. For
example, some speak of sin in a way that passes
the blame on to others and denies our own
responsibility, or in a way that stirs up irrational
guilt anxieties in ourselves and in others. Others
picture sin as only breaking some impersonal
law rather than as violating our basic
relationships of respect and love with our fellow
persons and with God. Still others cynically view
sin as more powerful than Christ’s redeeming
grace. In brief, our talking about sin can be sinful
when we fail utterly to grasp its true evil in our
very selves, standing before God and the
community, and thus lack all repentance,
purpose of amendment, and any desire to share
the Good News of conversion in Christ.
3. Descriptions of Sin
Sin is variously described as breaking God’s law,
or our love relationship with Him and others, or
as going against one’s conscience, and the like.
While expressing some aspect of sin, all these
descriptions remain abstract notions in the head,
with little power to portray sin’s reality. As John
Paul II wrote: “It is not possible to deal with sin
and conversion only in abstract terms” (RP 13).
But what, then, is sin in the concrete, specifically
in relation to the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
The ongoing renewal of confessional practice has
helped to form a more accurate view of sin. Sin
as faced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation can
be described in terms of its basic reality, its
structure, and its degree. In each division, we are
concerned with how a truer, more accurate
grasp of sin can foster a deeper contrition of
heart and, more fruitful celebration of the
Sacrament. By correcting common false,
erroneous notions of sin, we remove one major
factor that has contributed greatly to making
past confessional practice ineffective and
“routine.”
Dimensions of Sin
1. Reality
All moral reality is made up of the objective
nature of the act/attitude, the intention of the
agent, and the circumstances. Sin as a moral
reality is an attitude, an action or failure to act,
or a power or force that leads us into evil. Sin
separates us from, alienates us from, i.e., makes
us strangers (aliens) from . . . what? From our
true selves (intra-personal), our neighbors
(inter-personal), the larger community
(societal), and God, the ground and source of all
three (cf. NCDP 259-63).
Real sin hurts us and our loved ones. Real sin is
no joke; contrary to how it is often portrayed in
movies, TV, paperbacks, and comic books, sin is
not glamorous at all. Just the opposite __ it really
destroys, injures, dishonors, perverts, poisons,
corrupts. Yet sin often has a compulsive aspect to
it. We seem to be “caught in it” and “addicted,”
like an illness that weakens us and keeps us in
the dark, with its own kind of pain. The real sin,
then, is not just a chance slip, or a momentary
mistaken act that happened unnoticed. Real sin
has roots that involve the objective moral order
and our fundamental moral stance, that is, how
we view what is good and what is evil for all, and
our commitment to do the good.
2. Structure
Sin, taken strictly, is always personal. But in a
larger sense we speak of social and structural
sin. These are distinguished by their proper
structures and remedies.
Personal sin is never just “private,” with no effect
on anyone else. Rather, just as all “persons”are
relational, always affecting others and the
community in everything they do, and likewise
being affected by what others do, so personal sin
is neither committed nor overcome in “private.”
The grace of personal conversion and
repentance always involves a community
dimension.
Social sin refers to negative moral attitudes and
acts or failure to act that are common to a
community or particular society. Its remedy is to
change what is negative or lacking in the
community’s moral acts or attitudes into what is
positive and graced.
Structural “sin” is not a question of a particular
person’s or a community’s moral knowledge,
attitudes and responsibility. Rather, it refers to
existing structures that condition society in a
harmful and unjust way, such as long-standing
racial or sexist prejudicial structures, unjust
economic taxation systems, established military
and political customs, and unfair immigration
legalities. These need to be reformed by a long
tedious process of concerted social moral effort.
Therefore, since sin is never just a private,
individualistic mistake, but always injures the
community, it should not be confessed as some
kind of superficial slip. Rather, we must go after
the root causes of sin in our lives, like selfishness
and pride, and with God’s grace perseveringly
work against them.
3. Degree
Sin can be venial or mortal depending on the
different levels of MORAL EVIL involved.
Traditionally, sin is defined as “mortal” when its
nature, intention and circumstances involve
grave matter, sufficient knowledge, and full
consent of the will. Precisely because the act
involved is serious in itself and we act with
sufficient knowledge, profoundly engaging our
freedom, such acts cannot be dismissed as
merely superficial or as not really affecting our
relation with God. They clearly involve a degree
of personal commitment that touches the roots
of our freedom where basic decisions about our
life’s values and orientations are made through
the choice or avoidance of a single
act.
Mortal sins __ or sins which lead to death, the
loss of true or “eternal life” __ “exclude from the
Kingdom of God” (cf. 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21;
Eph 5:5). They are mortal because they kill the
over all LOVE pattern of our relation to God, our
fundamental core freedom as related to God. By
such sins, a person “freely rejects God, his law,
the covenant of love God offers, preferring to
turn in on himself or to some created and finite
reality, something contrary to the divine will”
(RP 17). Such sins must be confessed in the
sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation (cf. CJC
988, 1; 989).
Sins called venial (from “venia”, meaning pardon
or forgiveness) are “excusable” sins which do not
involve the person’s fundamental freedom nor
lead to spiritual death. “All wrong doing is sin,
but not all sin is deadly” (1 Jn 5:17). Venial sins
harm our relationships with God and others by
undermining the fervor of our life of charity, and
can gradually lead to mortal sins.
Though venial sins are by definition pardonable,
they should not be taken lightly, for they offend
God. Some are clearly more serious than others
because of the damage done to the person
involved or others. Moreover, carelessness with
regard to them, especially when a habit develops,
can lead to mortal sin. Our Lord warned us
against ‘lukewarmness,’ saying to the church of
Laodicea, “Because you are lukewarm, neither
cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth”
(Rv. 3:16).
As Catholics we are obliged to confess all mortal
sins committed after Baptism, and are
encouraged to confess venial sins as well (CJC,
Can. 988). Frequent confession can be a very
valuable means for the ongoing conversion
process of clarifying and purifying our minds and
hearts, thereby fostering real growth in our
spiritual lives. We should use confession to judge
not only our acts but also the underlying
attitudes which those acts represent. Thus, the
Sacrament can help us with its grace to better
root out the deep-seated habits of sin and con-
cupiscence which trouble our relationship with
God. Confession can open us up to an ever more
complete awareness of our sinfulness, our need
for God’s grace, and most of all, the tremendous
love of God for us sinners. Consequently, it will
empower us, out of a sense of utang-na-loob
(gratitude) to God’s incredible love, to dedicate
our lives more profoundly to Him.
C. SACRAMENT OF PENANCE OR
RECONCILIATION
The Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession
now appears more communal and less
individualistic, more liturgical and less legalistic,
more focused on the ongoing conversion process
and less on simply the confession of sins and
absolution. Basically, the revised Rite focuses on
the necessity of the “inner conversion of heart”
which goes deeper than a change in external
behavior.
These emphases respond well to what was
lacking in the “routine confessions” of the past.
“Confession” is now better integrated with the
other means the Church offers for reconciliation.
The whole developmental process of on-going
conversion with its essential communitarian
dimensions now appears more clearly, while the
legalistic idea of sin is overcome by the insistent
demand for a real change of heart against sin in
its true evil, including its social dimensions.
Parts of the Sacrament
As followers of Christ, we come to the Sacrament
of Penance to be converted to Christ with our
whole hearts. Such inner conversion of heart
embraces three essential acts of the penitent:
1) contrition or heartfelt sorrow (cf. CCC
1451-54);
2) confession of all grave/mortal sins to the
priest, minister of the Church, acting in
the person of Christ (cf. CCC 1455-58);
and
3) penance/satisfaction for sins committed,
by restitution and reparation of injury,
and firm purpose of renewal of life (cf.
CCC 1461ff).
The essential act of the priest is absolution which
is the efficacious sign of God’s pardon.
The act of penance proposed by the priest
“should serve not only to make up for the past,
but also to help the penitent begin a new life and
provide him with an antidote to weakness. This
act of penance should correspond to the
seriousness and nature of the sins, taking the
form of prayer, selfdenial, and especially service
of one’s neighbor and works of mercy. These
underline the social aspect of sin and
forgiveness” (RPen. 18; cf. CCC 1460).
Then the penitent prays an act of contrition and
resolution of amendment, asking for God’s
pardon, and the priest confessor extends his
hand over the head of the penitent and
pronounces the words of absolution:
God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and resurrection of
His Son
has reconciled the world to Himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
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.
To which the penitent answers: “Amen”
( R Pen. 46).
Effects of the Sacrament
For all who receive the Sacrament with a contrite
heart and authentic religious disposition, the
basic effect is reconciliation with God and the
Christian community, the Church (cf. CCC 1468-
70). But “just as the wound of sin is varied and
multiple in the life of individuals and of the
community, so too the healing which penance
provides is varied. Those who by grave sin have
withdrawn from the communion of love with
God are called back . . . to the life they have lost”
( R Pen. 7). Others, through frequent and careful
celebration of the Sacrament, find a useful
remedy for venial sins, drawing strength to
overcome their daily weaknesses and gain the
full freedom of the children of God. By this, thus
seriously striving to perfect the grace of their
Baptism, and become more closely conformed to
Christ and to follow more attentively the voice of
the Spirit, they are moved to more fervent
service of God and neighbor (cf. R. Pen. 7,b).
A. ANOINTING OF THE SICK
All sacraments heal in some way. For example,
Marriage heals self-centeredness; Confirmation
heals the fear of witnessing to Christ;
Penance/Reconciliation heals our sinfulness. But
this Sacrament of Anointing is healing in a
special sense: it brings Christ’s compassionate
loving healing to bear on those suffering serious
sickness (cf. CCC 1499).
By “healing” we do not necessarily mean a cure
or the eradication of the disease or defect, which
the medical profession pursues. While some
diseases and evils may be “incurable” in the
medical sense, there can be “healing” by holistic
care that touches the body, soul and spirit of the
sick person (cf. 1 Thes 5:23). Healing, then,
means the process by which persons are helped
to realize their full potential before God and their
fellow men and women. The Good News is
primarily about healing, not “cure” in the current
medical sense.
A. Sickness and Sin
Serious sickness and pain bring before us the
threat of death, and show the power of evil in the
world. Many Filipinos relate sickness directly to
personal sin, much like the disciples did in
asking Jesus: “Rabbi, was it his sin or that of his
parents that caused him to be born blind?’ Jesus
answered ‘Neither. . . it was to let God’s work
show forth in him’ ” (Jn 9:2-3). Christ was
sinless, yet “it was our infirmities he bore, our
sufferings he endured” (Mt 8:17) to free us from
our sins and death. Moreover, Christ still suffers
whenever we suffer, members of his Body, the
Church.
But while a particular sickness is not usually
directly related to a specific sin, sickness and sin
are nevertheless related in a more gene-ral way.
Sickness is the concrete sign of the deeper, more
general spiritual evil in the world. Since sickness
weakens us and pulls us down, it lays bare our
helplessness and our need for care and support.
Thus, sickness becomes the concrete symbol of
our inescapable need for deliverance from the
ultimate evil of everlasting death. It is from this
basic evil that Jesus has liberated us.
B. Christian Attitude to Sickness
As Christians, we realize that first, “it is part of
the plan laid down by God’s Providence that we
should struggle against all sickness and carefully
seek the blessings of good health so that we can
fulfill our role in human society and in the
Church” (IRA 3). Secondly, we realize that
sickness is a sign not of a particular, personal sin,
but of the oppressive presence of evil in our
human situation. Thirdly, this means that all
those who are seriously ill need the special help
of God’s grace lest, hey be broken in spirit and
fall into temptations and the weakening of their
faith (cf. IRA 5). Lastly, by joining our sufferings
with Christ’s, our very sufferings can take on
creative, saving and transforming meaning and
value (cf. SD 24ff).
C. Celebration of the Sacrament
After the initial Greeting, and recommended
Penitential Rite similar to the one used in the
Mass, the Sacrament consists of three distinct
actions. First, “the prayer of faith” in which the
community, the people of God represented by
the priest, the family, friends and others, pray for
those to be anointed. Second, “the laying on of
hands” imitating Jesus’ own gesture of healing
(cf. Lk 4:40), and invoking the coming of the Holy
Spirit who brings the blessing of God’s healing
grace upon the sick person. Third, “Anointing
with oil” made holy by God’s blessing, signifying
the strengthening and healing that comes from
the Spirit. Anointing the forehead and hands of
the sick, the priest prays: Through this holy
anointing may the Lord, in His love and mercy,
help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
May the Lord who frees you from sin save you
and raise you up. Amen (cf. CCC 1513).
D. Effects of the Sacrament
The new rite describes the Sacrament of
Anointing as providing the sick person with the
grace of the Holy Spirit by which the whole
person is brought to health, trust in God is
encouraged, and strength is given to resist the
temptations of the Evil One, and anxiety about
death (Pastoral Care of the Sick 6; cf. CCC 1520).
Sometimes even physical health is restored after
receiving the Sacrament if it will be beneficial to
the sick person’s salvation. When needed, the
sacrament also offers the sick person forgiveness
of sins and completes the salutary penance (cf.
Ibid).
These effects are brought about by uniting the
sick person with the Passion and Death of the
Primordial Sacrament, Christ, the Healer. Thus
the sacrament transforms the meaning and
significance of the sick person’s illness into a
sharing in the saving work of Jesus, the
Redeemer, filling up what is lacking in the
sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the
Church (cf. Col 1:24) and for the salvation of the
world as we look forward to all creation being
set free in the glory of the children of God (IRA 3;
cf. CCC 1521).

This union with Christ is an ecclesial grace, since

the Church both intercedes for the sick person,
and is in turn blessed by the sick person’s self-
offering in faith. Thus the Church exercises its
role as Foundational Sacrament in this
Sacrament of Anointing (cf. CCC 1522).