Catechism index

1421 THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING The Lord Jesus Christ, physician of our souls and bodies, who forgave the sins of the paralytic and restored him to bodily health, 3 has willed that his Church continue, in the …
1422 THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded …
1423 I. What is This Sacrament Called? It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father 5 from whom one has strayed by sin. …
1424 I. What is This Sacrament Called? It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a …
1425 II. Why a Sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism? "YOU were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." 9 One must appreciate the magnitude of the …
1426 II. Why a Sacrament of Reconciliation after Baptism? Conversion to Christ, the new birth of Baptism, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Body and Blood of Christ received as food have made us "holy and without blemish," just …
1427 III. The Conversion of the Baptized Jesus calls to conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the kingdom: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in …
1428 III. The Conversion of the Baptized Christ's call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, "clasping sinners to her bosom, (is) at once …
1429 III. The Conversion of the Baptized St. Peter's conversion after he had denied his master three times bears witness to this. Jesus' look of infinite mercy drew tears of repentance from Peter and, after the Lord's resurrection, a …
1430 IV. Interior Penance Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the …
1431 IV. Interior Penance Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward …
1432 IV. Interior Penance The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart. 25 Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return …
1433 IV. Interior Penance Since Easter, the Holy Spirit has proved "the world wrong about sin," 29 i.e., proved that the world has not believed in him whom the Father has sent. But this same Spirit …
1434 V. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, 31 which express conversion …
1435 V. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life Conversion is accomplished in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice and right, 33 by the admission of faults to one's brethren, fraternal …
1436 V. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life Eucharist and Penance. Daily conversion and penance find their source and nourishment in the Eucharist, for in it is made present the sacrifice of Christ which has reconciled us with God. Through …
1437 V. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life Reading Sacred Scripture, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Our Father - every sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of conversion and repentance within us and contributes …
1438 V. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life The seasons and days of penance in the course of the liturgical year (Lent, and each Friday in memory of the death of the Lord) are intense moments of the Church's penitential …
1439 V. The Many Forms of Penance in Christian Life The process of conversion and repentance was described by Jesus in the parable of the prodigal son, the center of which is the merciful father: 37 The fascination of illusory freedom, the …
1440 VI. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God's …