Month of September 2018 -- Vice / Virtue and the Sacrament of Reconciliation

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* 1. What is the greatest sin?

1)  What is the greatest sin?

The answers is: Pride

“Since pride is a direct turning away from God and is a practical act of contempt for God, because it is an unwillingness to be subject to him, it ranks with that actual hatred for God which we have called the very worst of sins. 

“Aversion from God is in all sins, but it is the very essence of pride. Other sins involve this aversion by their nature as sins; pride is this aversion. Aversion from God is consequent upon other sins; in pride this aversion is the sin itself. Hence the first and worst of all sins is the sin of pride; it shares this evil distinction with hatred for God.”  (from CatholicTheology.Info, Tour of the Summa, “162. Pride” by Paul J Glenn ¶6&7:  http://www.catholictheology.info/summa-theologica/summa-part2B.php?q=186)

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* 2. Which virtue is the best remedy for pride?   

2)  Which virtue is the best remedy for pride?   

The answer is:  Humility

“What are the remedies for pride? For openers, the proud person must cultivate a deep sense of humility. He needs to recognize that all the gifts in his life come from God. The proud person must understand his own smallness; he is nothing without God's grace. The prideful person must also recognize his sinfulness, and that this sinfulness rules out any kind of boasting.

“Such a person needs to remind himself constantly of the love and mercy and patience that Christ has shown him. Christ died on a cross for each of us. The prideful person then needs to realize that he is called to imitate Christ's love and mercy and patience toward other people. After all, they too are made in the image of God and are deserving of respect.”  (from SpiritualDirection.com 2010 article, “How Can I Overcome the Root Sin of Pride?” by Father Edward McIlmail, LC: 

https://www.spiritualdirection.com/2010/12/30/how-can-i-overcome-the-root-sin-of-pride)

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* 3. The first precept of Natural Law is to do good and avoid evil.

3)  First precept of Natural Law is to do good and avoid evil.

The answer is:  True:

"'Good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.' This is the first principle of ethical human action as articulated by Saint Thomas Aquinas, who relies on the classical wisdom of Aristotle and represents much of the Catholic tradition (Summa Theologiae I-II, q. 94, a. 2)... It means choosing a morally good object for the sake of a morally good end." (from Dominican Friars Health Care Ministry of New York 2016 article, "Doing Good and Avoiding Evil" by Fr. Jonah Pollock, O.P.:   http://www.dfhcmny.org/reflections/2016/12/15/doing-good-and-avoiding-evil)

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* 4. Every Catholic is encouraged to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation on a regular basis.  Which choice is NOT a reason to go to Confession?

4)  Every Catholic is encouraged to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation on a regular basis.  Which choice is NOT a reason to go to Confession? 

The answer for NOT a reason is:  It makes it okay to decide to sin because we know we will be forgiven.  (This is to sin twice – the second sin is called presumption).

The Church invites “every Catholic to celebrate the sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation or, as we have traditionally said, "go to Confession," on a regular basis. There can be no better way to make progress on our spiritual journey than by returning in humble repentance and love to God, whose forgiveness reestablishes us as his children and restores us to peace with his Church and our neighbors... Finally, it is also called the sacrament of Reconciliation because it reconciles sinners to God and then to each other."  (from EWTN.com, “A Guide to the Sacrament of Penance” from the Bishops of Pennsylvania in 2002:  https://ewtn.com/library/BISHOPS/GUIDEPEN.HTM); also see CCC ¶1423)

According to the Catechism, CCC ¶2092:  "There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).

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* 5. The process for the Sacrament of Reconciliation has not changed since it was instituted by Christ.

1)      The process for the Sacrament of Reconciliation has not changed since it was instituted by Christ.

The answer is: False

“Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the first centuries the reconciliation of Christians who had committed particularly grave sins after their Baptism (for example, idolatry, murder, or adultery) was tied to a very rigorous discipline, according to which penitents had to do public penance for their sins, often for years, before receiving reconciliation. To this ‘order of penitents’ (which concerned only certain grave sins), one was only rarely admitted and in certain regions only once in a lifetime. During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the ‘private’ practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the possibility of repetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of this sacrament. It allowed the forgiveness of grave sins and venial sins to be integrated into one sacramental celebration. In its main lines this is the form of penance that the Church has practiced down to our day” (CCC 1447). (from Archdiocese of Boston 2014 article, “The Light is On For You” Frequently Asked Questions About the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Question #2:  http://www.thelightisonforyou.org/confession/faq/)

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