The Power of Reconciliation

1. The Power of Reconciliation What do C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church teach us about forgiveness?

2. Forgiveness is not popular! • Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. • Neighbor = Enemy  Forgiving enemy?! • “Every one says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive, as we had during the war” (115). *Examples in film, literature, history of forgiveness being difficult, but done anyways?

3. Does loving your enemies mean thinking they are nice? “I must hate a bad man’s actions, but not hate the bad man: or as they would say, hate the sin but not the sinner” (117). • Christianity does not reduce the hatred we feel for evil.

4. Does loving your enemy mean not punishing them? • “Loving myself does not mean that I ought not to subject myself to punishment-even to death” (118). • “The idea of the knight- the Christian arms for the defence of a good cause- is one of the great Christian ideas” (119). • [Just War Theory] • “War is permissible only to confront a ‘real and certain danger.’ i.e., to protect innocent life, to preserve conditions necessary for decent human existence, and to secure basic human rights” (The Challenge of Peace, no. 86).

5. “Well, if one is allowed to condemn the enemy’s acts, and punish him, and kill him, what difference is left between Christian morality and the ordinary view?” (119) • 1) Christians think man lives for ever. The intention of our actions impacts our souls. • 2) We may kill if necessary, but we must not hate and enjoy hating. • 3) Feelings of resentment and revenge should not be enjoyable.

6. “Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves- to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact to wish his good” (120).

7. God calls Christians to love people who have nothing loveable about them. “…just because we are the things called selves” (120). • Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

8. Pride: The Ultimate Vice Lewis claims that pride leads to every other vice.

9. How is pride the “essential vice?” • Pride is competitive in it’s very nature. • It is the comparison that makes us proud, the pleasure of being above the rest. • Pride drives the wish for power. • Pride is Enmity -A feeling of hostile or ill will, as between enemies. • Between man and man, or man and God. • Pride is a “spiritual cancer” • It eats up the very possibility of love, common sense or contentment. • It can nestle into the very core of our religious center.

10. Four Possible Misunderstandings of Pride 1) Pleasure in being praised is not prideful. • “The pleasure lies not in what you are but in the fact that you have pleased someone you wanted (and rightly wanted) to please” (126). • “The trouble begins when we pass from thinking, ‘I have pleased him; all is well,’ to thinking ‘What a fine person I must be to have done it.’ ” (126).

11. Four Possible Misunderstandings of Pride • Pride is not “a warm-hearted admiration for” (127). • Often times we will say we are “proud” of a country, friends, our children, etc. etc. • Problem arises when we give ourselves airs from the admiration, begin to think less of others.

12. Four Possible Misunderstandings of Pride 3) God does not demand humility because He Himself is proud. *Encourages a life of humility to challenge us to embrace an authentic version of our self.

13. Four Possible Misunderstandings of Pride 4) A man who practice humility is not a “nobody.” *Rather “…a cheerful intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him”( 128).

14. The Sacrament of Reconciliation *is possible and available when we have an awareness of our pride.

15. The Sacrament of Reconciliation The Sacrament through which sins committed after Baptism can be forgiven Also known as: The Sacrament of Penance The Sacrament of Healing The Sacrament of Confession

16. The Seal of Confession The minister of the sacrament CANNOT reveal to ANYONE what is confessed in the sacrament! Many priests have DIED upholding this command! If the seal is broken, the priest can no longer celebrate the sacraments….

17. The penitent (one confessing) goes through 3 steps during the Sacrament of Penance • Contrition – true sorrow for the sins committed, a rejection of the sin committed and a resolve (promise) not to sin again. Perfect contrition- arises out of a pure love of God. Imperfect contrition-arises out of the ugliness of sin and our fear of eternal damnation or other penalties. This allows us to obtain forgiveness but does not give the forgiveness of grave sins

18. 2. Confession – the telling of sins to the priest involves admitting guilt and taking responsibility for the sins we have committed. All grave sins that are remembered through an examination of conscience must be confessed. The confession of venial sins is strongly recommended but is not necessary.

19. This is also known as: 3. Satisfaction – repairing the damage caused by the sin Penance – a voluntary suffering or punishment to show repentance for a wrong doing. Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are the three main ways to perform penance.

20. After we have confessed our sins, said an act of contrition and promised to fulfill an act of penance, the priest can offer us: ABSOLUTION– complete forgiveness of our sins. Acting in the name of Christ, the priest will extend his hands over the penitent and say… God, the father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

21. Why do we have to confess to a priest? Because Christ set it up that way: You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church…I will give you the key to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. -Matt 16:16 The priest is the sign and the instrument of God’s merciful love for a sinner. When we sin we not only hurt God, we hurt ourselves and the body of Christ…the Church. Therefore, we must ask forgiveness from God AND from the Church ….both of them are present in the priest.