In the awareness of many faithful the sacrament of penance is but a sheer formality, if not a magical way of getting rid of sin. This attitude manifests itself in the way preparation is made for this sacrament. Quite often the major focus is on reading an examination of conscience from a book of prayers and confessing one's sins, whereas the other conditions of adequate and fruitful participation in the sacrament: penitence, contrition, resolution to amend one's life and penance are performed only on a formal level. While preparing the faithful for the sacrament of penance and reconciliation one should, therefore, speak of indirect and direct preparation. As far as the ministry of penance, one can clearly see specific conclusions and tasks. The main source of the present crisis of this sacrament may be found in reducing the whole penance practice solely to individual confession at the cost of non-sacramental forms of taking sins away. The major postulate is therefore to celebrate the liturgy of the sacrament of penance in the context of the whole penance practice of the Church. For the preparation for the sacrament of penance and reconciliation cannot be separated from the holistic context of penance as the major life attitude of everyday conversion understood here as the biblical metanoia. Moreover, the common practise of celebrating the sacrament may make one conclude that the character of penance is purely personal and that the purpose is to re-establish a correct relation between an individual and God. The reality is that a man does not live in perfect isolation from one's brothers and sisters. One's salvation takes place in a human environment. Therefore one can enumerate these most vital pastorał postulates preparing for the sacrament of penance: shaping the sensibility of the faithful to an individual and social character of sin and conversion, emphasizing the communal element in preparation for the liturgy of the sacrament of penance and understanding a confessor's involvement in shaping the social and ecclesial attitude of a penitent.
A confessor is not required to have special knowledge about bioethical issues. In these cases the confessor needs to discern the internal dispositions of the penitent; i.e., their repentance, conversion and the readiness to change. The minister of reconciliation needs to keep in mind that this sacrament was established for men and women who are sinners, and for this reason the confessor should receive penitents and assume their good will to be reconciled with the merciful God who is willing to be born in a humble heart. The attack on human life touches the very core of the human person. In this area there are no light or irrelevant issues and, therefore, the confessor dealing with this problem is in contact with life and death. God is always first in the sacrament of reconciliation. Let every confessor keep in mind that the confessional is not a torture chamber but the place where the penitent experiences God’s mercy and where they receive an invitation to change and to do good. The penitent should always hear the truth and receive the assurance of salvific love which, in a mysterious way, is at work in every human being independently of their shortcomings and shortfalls.
W tym artykule zagłębiamy się w podstawowe zasady programu dwunastu kroków, badając jego podobieństwo do dynamiki sakramentu pojednania w Kościele katolickim. Artykuł rozpoczyna się krótką prezentacją teologicznych podstaw spowiedzi i kontynuuje przedstawieniem zarysu historii programu AA opartego na dwunastu krokach. Główna analiza poświęcona jest wykazaniu i omówieniu podobieństw oraz paraleli w treści dwunastu kroków oraz warunków dobrej spowiedzi. Podobnie jak program dwunastu kroków, również sakrament pojednania zaprasza penitenta do przejścia podobnych etapów: aktu skruchy, rachunku sumienia, wyznania grzechów oraz zadośćuczynienia. Na zakończenie autor rozważa wskazania duszpasterskie mające ułatwić pracę z wierzącymi, którzy zmagają się z różnymi nałogami.
EN
This article ventures into the basic principles of the original Twelve-step program by studying its similarity with the dynamics of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Catholic Church. It begins with a short presentation of the theological foundation of confession, and continues with the history of AA’s Twelve-step recovery program while focusing on the latter’s spiritual dimension and that of similar groups. The major analysis is dedicated to demonstrating and discussing the parallels found in the twelve steps content and the Sacrament of Reconciliation; where the twelve steps have their effectiveness written within themselves, the Sacrament of Reconciliation also requires a progression from contrition, an examination of conscience, the confessing sins and satisfaction. In conclusion, the author presents pastoral suggestions meant to facilitate work with believers struggling with various addictions.
JavaScript jest wyłączony w Twojej przeglądarce internetowej. Włącz go, a następnie odśwież stronę, aby móc w pełni z niej korzystać.