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Not many Anglicans know that this sacrament is even a practice in this church, it has been so institutionalised in the Roman Catholic church that the fact that it is an Anglican practice (from BCP, through AAPB, and now APBA p 775) does not even occur to people. People know this as the sacrament of conversion, of confession, of forgiveness or of reconciliation. The final stage is reconciliation with God.
The BCP Catechism and Article 25 tell us that only two sacraments are necessary to salvation. They are obviously Baptism and Eucharist. But we also recognise the other five as sacraments and that includes Reconciliation. The sacrament of Reconciliation is a part of the healing ministry of Jesus. Mk 2. 1-12.
In our Eucharist we allow a space before the confession for this freedom and release. Just as we pray for forgiveness in the Lord's Prayer daily. But often that is not enough. People walk around feeling unforgiven. We need healing but often we will not be honest and admit its our fault! For our journey in faith we need that constant and specific turning to God, realizing that all our help is in him, not our own efforts.
The difference between Jesus' life and ours is that he did not sin, he was in constant harmony with God, being God in perfect communication, united in love. The reason he did not sin is because he was fully human, exactly as God had intended every human being to be. Sin enters our life when we are less than human.
John 20:22-23 'He [Jesus] breathed on them and said to them [the apostles], "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."' The bishop on behalf of the church at a priests ordination says those exact words.
So why confess to a priest? The short answer is - that's what priests are for. This does not place the priest as a judge, for at the end of this service of reconciliation the priest says "please pray for me, a sinner also." James 5:16 "Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed." This is the great advantage to be gained by personal and detailed confession, "so that you may be healed".
For modern advise listen to doctors. Many a doctor has said that they wish they could absolve people of their sins and wipe them away. So many people come to them, and that is their basic problem. Reconciliation is about holiness and wholeness. These two are very closely connected. To be truly holy you need to be truly whole. To be truly whole you need to be like Jesus a true human being.
Very important is the fact that no sin confessed in the service of Reconciliation may be disclosed. No details at all. Not to another priest, not to a bishop. And in fact under NSW as well as Church Canon law details may not be disclosed, to the police or a judge it is totally confidential. In fact making it the only place a person may talk in peace, knowing it stays private, absolutely.
My experience has been that every time I come away from this service I feel again that sense of new life. We are called to be children of the light and not the dark, let our sins come to the light of God and be clean, that purified we may rejoice in the blessings of God's love and peace. Come and be at peace!
