Sacraments

Each sacrament is an individual, personal encounter with Christ.

We think back to our experience of Baptism and seeing the priest or deacon pour the water on the head of the infant as the family gathers around the baptismal font to witness this precious moment.

We might call to mind our memory of the priest standing at the bedside of an ill or dying person as the sacrament of the sick is conferred.
 
For many young people, First Holy Communion where a youngster receives Christ for the first time in the Eucharist is a memorable experience.

Each of the other sacraments is also an intimate moment of encounter between Christ and his people—think of marriage or ordination ceremonies in this regard. 

One of the things that drew people to Christ during his ministry was the attention he gave to the individuals he encountered. People came away from an encounter with him knowing they were acknowledged individually. This personal attention was a powerful healing experience in itself for many who were on the margins of society, carrying heavy burdens. Instead of being invisible, they were met with mercy and compassion.

Call to mind people like Matthew the tax collector, who left his lucrative career behind to follow Christ; Zacchaeus, who climbed a tree over the crowd to see Christ with his own eyes and whose life subsequently was changed when Jesus came to his house for dinner; the Samaritan woman at the well who became a disciple after her deep conversation with Christ in the public square. Many of these encounters were times of forgiveness. These personal experience were significant.
 

"One of the things that drew people to Christ during his ministry was the attention he gave to the individuals he encountered."

Today in the Church, we continue to celebrate sacraments as individual encounters with Christ honouring the significance of this personal experience.

I know I feel a sense of renewed hope when I hear the words of the priest to me at the end of the sacrament of reconciliation, knowing he speaks in the place of Christ: “Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace.” Hearing this affirmation of forgiveness given to me from the priest helps me to recognize the new start I have; I depart having no doubt my sins are forgiven.

One of the issues with the celebration of general absolution—a rite that is permitted in truly exceptional circumstances—is that the individual lacks this personal encounter and cannot experience the healing that comes through individual attention.

Historically, the provision for general absolution was intended for an immediate peril where there were too many penitents and not enough priests to hear confessions in a timely fashion. But the provision for general absolution includes the necessity of going to individual confession as soon as possible afterwards. In addition, in case of grave sin, one is not permitted to celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation through general absolution two times in a row without individual confession between them.

One day, a priest recounted how growing up in a diocese where general absolution had become a common practice. He said that he often left general absolution feeling as if “something was missing”. In part, he was experiencing the lack of the individual attention that the sacrament calls for as a healing part of the celebration.

In this difficult time of the pandemic in which the size of gatherings is restricted, parishes are creatively seeking ways to celebrate reconciliation one-on-one as safely as possible. At our Notre Dame cathedral, one of the priests recounted how soon after pandemic restrictions were eased, people came back to reconciliation before each of the Masses in good numbers.

At this time when social contacts are restricted, where people are missing individual, live encounters instead of the second best “virtual” contacts we use to maintain some contact with friends and family, it is important to continue to celebrate this healing sacrament one-on-one as safely as possible.

For those who are concerned that their age or health puts them at increased risk at the present time, they may be reassured that they can delay celebrating the sacrament until the situation improves. If a person cannot make it to confession because of health concerns, the Lord understands: each person can make a sincere act of contrition, asking Jesus for pardon for their sins and promising to do one’s best to make better choices. When the situation changes for the better, it will then be possible to have a personal experience of the blessed peace that is fruit of the sacrament of reconciliation.