By Father Brennan Ferris
Associate pastor, Church of the Holy Cross
“The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps 51:17).
In the Old Testament there were five different kinds of sacrifice. Three of which expressed communion with God and the last two were in place to restore communion with God. Of those that restored communion there was the “sin” offering and then there was the “guilt” offering. It appears that the sin offering was to forgive the sin committed but the guilt offering was to make reparation for the damage caused by sin, or to make satisfaction. If one of these were offered, then what followed was the “peace” offering. It celebrated the communion that was just restored and was a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Thus, prior to celebrating the communion to which God calls his people there needed to be a sacrifice to bring the people back into the community.
The church continues with this same structure. We still have the sacrifice of the Mass, and we are called, as St. Paul writes, to “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1). For any type of sacrifice is the externalized way for the human person to demonstrate the inner offering of the self back to God. But before one can offer themselves wholly at the altar, one must first offer themselves as broken in the confessional.
Therefore, we have the sacrament of Reconciliation. Whereas Communion is to strengthen that communion that one has through sanctifying grace, Reconciliation heals one with the gift of sanctifying grace and the restoration of charity. In Communion one encounters the whole Christ in each particle of the sacred host, but in Reconciliation one encounters the brokenness of Christ in one’s own brokenness. It is here that healing may happen because it is here that one offers his or her wounds to the divine physician who heals by his own wounds.
And how does one become broken? Well, the answer is sin. Sin involves the dis-integration of the human person. Sin involves breaking down, in a manner of speaking, the chain of command. Sin involves separation from God which leads to a disordering of the parts of the soul. St. Paul says it succinctly, “For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate” (Rom 7:15).
However, this is not cause for despair; but, rather, it is a call to recognition of our brokenness. It is to see in our brokenness how God became broken to make us whole (cf.2 Cor 5:21). Thus, our sacrifice is our broken heart and contrite spirit. It is the pure offering of our wounds to our Lord in the sacrament without any pretense free from all delusion and excuses. It is the simple and pure recognition that we have turned away, but at the same time it is the recognition that only Christ can make us whole again. In recognizing our sin, we recognize our need for mercy. In confessing our sin, we ask God to heal us.
Thus, may we offer ourselves broken to God in Reconciliation. May we come before Our Lord stripped of any false sense of self and simply offer our wounds to His. May we offer the sacrifice of a broken heart, so that, in the brokenness of God, Christ our Lord, we may find wholeness, we may find healing, we may find Reconciliation.
Father Brennan Ferris is associate pastor of Church of the Holy Cross in Dover.
