By Fr. Joseph B Francis –
God is ever ready to forgive the repentant sinner
The Niceno-Constantinople Creed (381 AD) has a variation here: “I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” One of the most consoling things for us human beings is the fact that God forgives if but we truly repent and ask his forgiveness. I cannot force him to forgive me but in humility, when I surrender to him and declare my helplessness, he forgives me. This forgiveness is granted in and through Jesus Christ.
Luke at the end of his Gospel describes the last scene before the ascension of Jesus: “…repentance and forgiveness should be preached in his name to all nations ” (Lk 24.47) and in the Acts of the Apostles also written by Luke we note that when the people in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, touched by the sermon of St. Peter ask what they should do, answers: “…Repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2.38).
The true meaning of baptism and the meaning of sin
From what has been said we should not think that the main purpose of baptism is forgiveness of sins. Many do not even understand clearly what sin means. For some it means breaking the commandments of God as a result of which my life is tarnished or some guilt sticks to me or some burden weighs down upon my conscience which I should try to get rid of by repentance etc. Today we put all these into the category of relations and they become more meaningful.
By sin i.e., knowingly and willingly (if these two are totally absent there can never be sin!) I go against what God wants, offend him and break the loving relation that should be there between me and God. Sometimes that break of relation can be serious and total or at other times strained relationship though we have not left him for good. To think of baptism as primarily forgiving sins is like putting the cart before the horse.
Rather we should say that by baptism in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we have become related to them; we have become their disciples; and they now dwell in our hearts and lives. So if God himself is present in us and with us in a loving relationship where can there be sin? It has disappeared.
The consequences, however, of original sin continue in us and we have to struggle against these but they could be progressively overcome by the power of God living in us and assisting us to resist by the use of the sacraments and prayers of the “Communion of Saints.” One of the consequences that persist is inclination to sin, which inclination could be great or less depending on how much he/she yields to the allurement of sin i.e., the choice of self rather than God and the individual’s responses to the call of God. But we believe that this life long struggle will be overcome by the power of the Risen Lord, the Lamb of God as the book of Revelation portrays in its visions (Rev 5.9-10; 14.3; 15.3).
Why baptism is given only once?
But why does the Niceno-Constantinople Creed say “One baptism” for the forgiveness of sins? Baptism is a once for all choice we make of God and God makes of us. It is an eternal covenant of the New Testament. An indelible mark is put on that individual which is normally called a character or a seal which we will carry life-long and into eternity.
Therefore it cannot be cancelled nor repeated (one who “leaves” the Church or apostatizes, when he comes back is not baptized once again. We do not also baptize those who were validly baptized in some other Church if and when they join the Catholic Church). The problem crops up: what to do if I happen to sin i.e., break my relation with God seriously and go away from him? Is there no pardon at all? Though baptism cannot be repeated, we have the sacrament of reconciliation whereby our sins could be remitted and the broken relation with God could be mended.
The early practice in the Church regarding the sacrament of reconciliation
Church history tells us that in the first three centuries of Christianity there were not only martyrs and confessors (those who suffered for being Christians but were not put to death) there were also those who fell away during persecution, handing over the sacred books to be burnt and were called as “traditores” (literally those who handed over; it is from this, the word ‘traitor’ is derived). If these and others who led scandalous lives repented, how to reconcile them to God and the community was the question.
The sacrament of penance or reconciliation was probably done in this fashion: the sinners presented themselves wearing sack cloth on Ash Wednesday and acknowledged their sins before God and the community. Ashes were imposed on them and they were put out of the Church for the next 40 days of Lent during which they have to stand outside till the Gospel and sermon and also request those who came to the Church to pray for them sinners. At the end of these severe penance and humiliation, they were reconciled to God and Community through the sacramental absolution and wearing white clothes received Holy Communion. Quite a number hesitated to undertake such an arduous penance and postponed it to their death bed.
Only once in a life time?
There was another problem. It was in the beginning thought that even this sacrament of penance or reconciliation could be received only once in our life time. Consequently, some wanted to keep open this chance till death bed. The Church came to realize that given the existential situation of the human being’s weakness and inclination to sin and the frequency of falling away, such an important sacrament as reconciliation needs to be more available.
The custom developed that instead of confessing one’s sins before the whole community, confession could be made to an authorized priest. The authorized priest here represented both Jesus (as a minister of God) and the community (the priest is also a Christian and a member of the community!) and the absolution he gave was also both in the name of God and the community. Notice that when one receives baptism no confession is made because one is not yet a member of the Christian community and the person’s sins are against God only but after baptism and having become a member of the Christian Community, all subsequent sins are both against God and Community and therefore pardon is to be received from both. This is the reason why we make confession to an authorized priest who represents the Lord and the Community.
To make clear this teaching that forgiveness of sins is readily available to all Christians any number of times, the Apostles’ Creed declared: “(I believe) in the forgiveness of sins.” One must not neglect this sacrament and should have recourse to it frequently. It makes us humble, helps us to be realistic in our life acknowledging our sinfulness and our need for God constantly. Such humility always draws down God’s blessings.