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            [A priest in the confessional is like a continuous call from God to sinners. His presence there preaches the availability of God's mercy.]

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            Is Penance on the decline? Well, it seems undeniable that the frequentation of the Sacrament of Penance is on the decline almost everywhere. The facts speak for themselves: deserted confessionals, reduced hours for hearing confessions, priests saying people do not come for Confession, people saying that priests are not available for Confessions...

            How important is this? Of course, as has been remarked, if the reduction in the numbers of those going to Confession were the consequence of a reduction in the number of sins being committed, then the phenomenon we are considering might be viewed calmly enough. Nevertheless, if our theological perspectives are clear, a lessened frequentation of a Sacrament always means a lessened encounter with Christ: an encounter that, in the case of the Sacrament of Penance, brings with it a restoration of sanctifying grace if this has been lost through serious sin; or, if there has only been venial sin, an increase of grace in the soul. (It is surprising to find some priests discounting the value of the sacramental encounter with Christ in the latter case.)

            In the Bull proclaiming the Jubilee Year, Pope John Paul makes a further point. "The practice of sacramental confession," he says, "is an act of faith in the mystery of Redemption and of its realization in the Church" (no. 6). Therefore faith in the Redemption is lessened when people go less to Confession. Redemption, for them, is less personalized.

            This could lead us to formulate our opening question in another way. Is the practice of the virtue of penance on the decline? In other words, are people becoming less sorry for their sins? This might seem harder to judge. But it is certainly true that modern society does not help people to be aware of sin. On the contrary, many actions that the Christian conscience has always regarded as seriously sinful are being condoned, advocated or legalized today: abortion, extra-marital sex, political violence, open revenge, terrorism. And one cannot avoid a general impression that consciences are becoming less and less sensitive to these, and other, sins.

            From the Christian point of view, from the point of view of the Redemption, this is calamitous. After all, it is not the number of sins that a person may have, or even their gravity, that is so serious, but the lack of sorrow. One cannot lightly say that a society is worse because of an increasing number of sins committed; if people repent, it is not necessarily worse. But one can quite definitely say that a society is worse if its members are not sorry for their sins. After all, it is not simply sin that brings about the loss of souls, it is unforgiven sin. And unforgiven sin means unrepented sin, for God always forgives the repentant sinner. What brings about the loss of a soul are his unredeemed sins, i.e., his sins to which the fruit of the Redemption has not been applied. The Redemption is superabundant. It can make up for all the sins of the world. But the Redemption is not forced on anyone. Its fruits have to be applied to each individual sin. And it is repentance which makes this application possible. But if a person doesn't acknowledge his sins, and therefore does not repent of them!...

Sorrow requires sensitivity

            We can easily pinpoint the cultural cause of this decline in penance: a whole civilization where selfishness, materialism and hedonism are the predominant values, and where the very concept of sin - of personal sin - is taboo. Undoubtedly some sort of "theological" support has been created for this by writers who practically reduce sin to defects of group, class or structures, and almost exclusively in the area of justice: unjust structures, group exploitation, political corruption or oppression. It is not my purpose to go into this - beyond remarking on one point. If we teach people to feel victimized and exploited, if we tell them they are the sufferers of wrong without reminding them that they are also doers of wrong - we all are - , then we are encouraging them to fall into self-pity. And self-pity almost always leads to self-righteousness — which is probably the greatest block to grace and salvation.

            What should be our pastoral response to this situation? Perhaps, in our continuing evangelization, it is simply a question of imitating Our Lord more closely. In the Gospel we are told that his preaching began with a call to penance: "The time has come, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News" (Mark 1:15). Only the repentant heart can understand the good news of the Gospel. And the Apostles, under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit, began their preaching with the same call to repentance (cf. Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31).

            Are we preaching the virtue of penance sufficiently? Are we preaching sufficiently on the nature and gravity of sin? Are we preaching sufficiently on the goodness and mercy of God? I am inclined to think that we are not.

            Perhaps some priests fear being considered "negative" if they preach on sin. Do doctors have such a complex? Are they afraid they will be considered negative if they warn people about diseases and try to get them to know the symptoms of disease? They are held back by no such hesitations, because they know that diseases do exist, and they also know that they have the cure; they know too that ignorance can stop people coming to be cured.

            Sin exists. And we have the cure. Christ in us has the cure. But we have to convince people that this is so. We will never get them to come to be cured unless we first help them to recognize the nature and symptoms of sin. The symptoms are there: that lack of peace in the world, that lack of peace in men's hearts. Our preaching has to help people realize that sin - personal sin - is the cause of this malignant interior unrest, and that penance — virtue and sacrament - is the cure.

Self-pity gets us off the track

            We need therefore to preach the reality of sin. Pope John Paul tells us, "It is necessary to rediscover the sense of sin" (Jubilee Bull, 6/1/83, no. 8). The accusation has frequently been made against Christianity that it is to blame for first bringing the sense of sin into the world. This is not true, as anyone acquainted with classical literature knows full well. The Romans, and especially the Greeks, had an acute sense of sin, and of the implacable anger of the gods hanging over the sinner. Christianity did not bring the sense of sin, it brought the sense - and the reality - of forgiveness; it brought the good news of God's love and mercy, shown in the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ. If our age seems to have lost the sense of sin, then the first and most urgent task of evangelization is to restore it. The Gospel makes sense, and appears as Good News, only to sinners.

            The sense of sin is not just a sense of personal misery. It is personal misery seen in the light of God's holiness, goodness and mercy. God's love attracts so much more when it is seen as merciful love (cf. Encyc. Dives in Misericordia, passim). We have to preach God's big-heartedness; this can attract and convert so many sinners, as it clearly touched and converted the woman caught in adultery (John 8). The repentant sinner, who causes joy in heaven (Luke 15), also finds joy on earth: joy in having discovered the immense fatherliness and merciful goodness of God.

            We need to preach repentance even when (especially when) we don't feel like preaching it, because the atmosphere seems unfavorable to receiving the message of penance. We have so much to learn from the prophet Jonah!

            We need to preach the special efficacy of the Sacraments, as actions of Christ. A Sacrament is not a vague "salvific event." It is not just an occasion of faith. It is Christ at work directly in our soul, Specifically, in the Sacrament of Penance, Christ touches and cleans our soul, configuring us to himself as he submits to God's judgment for our sins.

            We priests need to renew our consciousness of our role as healers and reconcilers. In this sense there is a special connection between our awareness our role in celebrating Mass and our zeal in administering Penance. If we begin realize how we are Christ in the Holy Mass - we are Christ the mediator, the interceder, the reconciler - we will want to continue being Christ in a tireless work of reconciliation in administering Penance.

Penance is a "second Baptism"

            The early writers of the Church loved to regard Penance as a "second Baptism." The phrase "being born again" has become familiar to many people, though they too often attach a superficial meaning to it. Let us explain how deeply it applies to Penance. Each Confession is a joyous rebirth. We once again become a "new creature" in Christ (2 Cor. 3:17). I think it was Chesterton who said that each soul after Confession is like "a new experiment of the Creator" - who never tires of repeating his merciful and life-restoring experiments with us sinners. The clear consequence of all of this that we have to make the Sacrament of Penance available, always, everywhere, at any cost. Let us try to ensure that whatever reason people have for not coming to Confession, it is not due to the our availability of confessors. Let us then fix generous hours for Confessions, and sit long periods in the confessional. People will come if they know a priest is there. A priest in the confessional, after all, is like a continuous call from God to sinners. His presence there preaches the availability of God's mercy.

            Furthermore, we should draw special confidence from the present world situation. People are miserable if they are not at peace with God. And confident preaching of the Gospel of reconciliation will strike an echo of hope in unhappy hearts. And again, each person we reconcile becomes a witness to the power of reconciliation. In a world where there is no peace, one person at peace stands out, and draws others to the source of peace. What a witness is given by reconciled Christians: presenting themselves not as saints; as sinners, but as repentant - and forgiven — sinners.

            Penance has fittingly been called the Sacrament of Joy. How well simple and uncomplicated people, like children, understand this. When I hear people warn against confessing children, speaking of the "trauma" it can cause them, I wonder how much pastoral experience they have had with children. My experience is just the opposite. Children understand the joy of forgiveness, and they seek it. But, I hear the objection, surely they are not obliged to confess their sins which are normally small? No; they are not obliged to confess those small sins. But they want to; and they do well, and we do well to facilitate their desire. Apart from the sacramental grace which they get from each Confession, there is another strong pastoral consideration in favor of frequent confession for children. If children are not taught now to be sorry for their smaller sins, they may not manage, later on, to be sorry for their bigger ones. If they don't acquire the habit of going to Confession, at 8 or 9 years, when it is easy, are they likely to begin to go, at 16 or 18, when perhaps it is difficult?

            I recall the striking comment of a Seventh Day Adventist boy who felt the attraction of Catholicism. He happened to be in a school where confession is made available at all times, and as a result practically all the Catholic students go frequently. Seeing this drew the boy powerfully. And his comment: "Catholics are holier, because they go to Confession." What theological logic! One's first reaction might be to say, "But if they go to Confession, then it's because they know they are not holy." Precisely. And in going to Confession they are made holy again. That is the main effect of the Sacrament: through the power which Christ wished to give to his Church and her ministers, to restore in us, when we have sinned, that participation in divine life which makes us holy in his sight. In words of Pope John Paul: "The Sacrament of Confession is reproposed ... as a testimony of faith in the dynamic holiness of the Church, which makes saints of sinners" (Address, 23/12/82).