MY beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
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REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION: AN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
By Archbishop Ioannis Tsaftaridis of Zambia and Malawi
The Mystery (Sacrament) of Repentance is an act of reconciliation with the Church body. It is the possibility, granted by the Church to those who have alienated themselves from the body because of sin, so as to be able to return to it. Repentance is then a complete about-turn or a change of life. It is a sacrament of regeneration as it establishes for us a share in the death and Resurrection of Christ. That is why it is a sacrament through which our baptism is renewed. The Sacrament of Penance or Confession is then a new baptism and is referred to as the Mystery (Sacrament) of the second baptism because it involves the Forgiveness of sins committed after baptism.] However not every sin needs the necessity of sacramental forgiveness since no human is ever completely without sin. There are two distinct types of confession in the Orthodox faith, namely, private confession and then sacramental confession. The Church maintains that Divine forgiveness may be received either by private prayer or by the Sacrament.
In general terms, repentance and confession were the new experiences of man with the love and grace of God the Father. He who repents and confesses offers the Church gathering his personal failure, as well as his sins, and asks for and receives in return the possibility of eternal life.
That is why there is no place for feelings of pity or even the legal remission of sins. It is thus the sacrament of grace and a gift of the transformation of an estranged person into the image of the Son of God (Yannaras, 1984). The Sacrament of Repentance and Confession is a repeatable sacrament in the life of the Church since it is the continual therapy of the spiritual illness which the members of the Church body can incur. It revolves around the issue of the constant remembrance of God and for mourning due to the loss of God in one's life and ultimately the rediscovering of the love of God. The Sacrament is one of the most healing and most active as far as healing the 'suffering body' is concerned. It is also the Sacrament upon which ascetic and monastic life is based (Matsoukas, 1964).
Father Alexander Schmemann states the following concerning the Sacrament of Repentance:
"However, for us who ceaselessly depart from Christ and excommunicate ourselves from His life, it is necessary that we return to Him and receive again and again the gift which He gave us once and for all. Remission is the sign that this return has been realized and completed. And, as the Eucharist is not simply a single repetition, but our elevation and reception to the same eternal feast, so the Sacrament of Repentance, is not a repetition of our baptism, but a return to the newness of life which God offered us once and for all" (Fr. A. Schmemann, 1963).
The Mysterion (Sacrament) has its origin in the ancient Church. Public Confession was the norm at that time and it constituted a part of the Holy Eucharist. The Confession of sins was an imperative aspect before the Holy Eucharist. The aim of this ancient ecclesiastical practice was the return of the sinful person to the body of the Church and naturally has an essentially liturgical character. It was in a sense a readmission to the Liturgy and life of the Eucharist gathering.
The meaning of the Greek word, 'metanoia' for 'repentance' means, making amends (for guilt, including changing our attitudes) and effecting positive change. We are called to consider the moral implications of sin in our life, which includes a reformation of our ways. This is what it means to be truly repentant. Our heartfelt and mindful awareness is in accordance with God's will and will result in salvation. When we have come to this place of unhappiness due to our actions, and reflect upon what we have done, we repent of our sins, and we should then confess our sin to God.
We need to acknowledge the Sacrament of Repentance in the dimension of one's free admission of one's failures when it comes to accepting fully the love and grace of God. We essentially participate in the death and resurrection of the Lord and it becomes one of our personal struggles to be transformed into the image of God. It is only then that we can truly experience the Sacrament which is far removed from the Western notion which uses it as a simple implementation of legal justification and it becomes a place of judicial demands and is not the sacrament of a return to the Kingdom of God. The Orthodox perspective of the Sacrament (Mysterion) emphasizes that the love of God is necessary and that our approach to this should be therapeutic, as we request the 'medication of healing' and not merely seek to obtain impressive penalties or punishments.
Christ desires us to return to Him and that is why the Sacrament can be nothing other than the Sacrament of ineffable attrition as well as great joy as we return to the embrace of God the Father. Repentance must be experienced as a mystery in which Divine grace and human freedom operate with one another. The sinner's intention or admission of guilt is simply not enough. Sacramental remission is required, by grace, which destroys evil and brings forth purity, which removes guilt and offers healing (Kardamakis, 1993). The Sacrament of Repentance is important as it is sin plunges that the soul into the abyss and into darkness. Saint John the Evangelist, tells us that if we have no sin, we mislead ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8), for everyone sins and falls short before the glory of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ says, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand" (St. Matthew 3:2). He expects from us a sincere earnest faith and true repentance. Our heartfelt remorse is, according to Saint Paul, a godly grief that produces a repentance that leads to our final salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10). Prayer and fasting, and especially agape (love) soften our hardened hearts and dispose of our soul to true repentance. When we repent we can, without shame or fear, confess our sins with faith to our Father God.
Repentance and confession are indeed necessary today and needs to once find its true content. It needs to cease being viewed as a simple remission of sins and a prerequisite for Holy Communion, and once again, assume an important role in one's constant struggle for internal transformation, spiritual rebirth, and of course, reconciliation with God. It is also an essential aspect for a return to the Church. Repentance and Confession need to become a participation for us in the Cross, the Death and the Resurrection of our Lord. This fact is not the only one for contrition for our fall and our many failures, but rather the prayers and triumph for a true reconciliation with the Risen Christ.
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George