It has been said that the Second Vatican Council, in its endeavor to prime renewal in and of the Church, created a broadened understanding of many church realities by re-collocating them, – from a more inner-ecclesiastical and juridical perspective, to a more comprehensive "integral faith and history of salvation" perspective. For the renewal of the sacrament of penance, often "newly referred to as the sacrament of reconciliation," the Council called for a revision of the rite which would more clearly express both the nature and the effects of the sacrament." (On the Sacred Liturgy, SC, #72).

The Canadian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, in an authorized commentary on the renewed 1973 Rite of Penance (RP), gave the reasons for the revision in these terms:

To show its relationship with Christ’s paschal mystery;
to point out its ecclesial dimensions;
to give proper place to God’s Word [in the Scriptures];
to make the rite more expressive, understandable, and
thus to increase meaningful participation;
to be [more clearly] a celebration of faith;
to leave room for proper adaptation to diverse cultures and situations;
[all this] to bring out more clearly the nature and the effects of this sacrament.

(New Bulletin on Liturgy 9 (1976) 13.

In this context we might contrast the more juridical language of the Council of Trent, describing the situation of sinners after baptism as [standing] before this tribunal in the role of the accused, in order that they may be freed by the sentence of the priest, and this – not once only, but so often as they admit their sins and have recourse thereto as penitents." (DzS 1671), and the more biblical language of reconciliation and pardon used by Vatican II: "Those who approach the sacrament of penance obtain pardon from the mercy of God for offenses committed against him. They are at the same time reconciled with the Church, which they have wounded by their sins, and which by charity, example and prayer, collaborates in their conversion." Lumen Gentium, 11.

This basic theme of conversion is firmly reasserted in the New Rite of Penance (RP): "Thus the people of God becomes in the world a sign of conversion to God. All this the Church expresses in its life and celebrates in the liturgy when the faithful confess that they are sinners and ask pardon of God and their brothers and sisters. This happens in penitential services, in the proclamation of the word of God, in prayer, and in the penitential aspects of the eucharistic celebration." (RP, par. 4). In this understanding of the sacrament, we note that the reality and personal nature of sin are stated clearly, but there is also a clear recognition of the ecclesial dimensions and social aspects of both sin and conversion (RP, #5).

A few points to notice here: new accents, shifts of emphasis. First, that "contrition and repentance now not only embody sorrow for sin, but are placed within the broader context of ongoing conversion." Contrition and repentance are part of a larger process: in grace, a progressive moving away from sin and a growth in life toward increasing obedience to the Holy Spirit. (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 1427-29).

Secondly, the understanding that sin is never merely a "private matter", as unfortunately (it seems) a good number of Christians think, those who have a very narrow understanding of their Christian vocation. – This truncated view is completed with the realization of sin’s ecclesial dimensions. Sin wounds, sin harms and damages in ways both known and unknown to us, the community which is the Body of Christ. Our own sins and sinfulness make of the church "a church with sins and with sinners within her"; "a community in ongoing need of purification and reform," lacking in that holiness and unity it ought to have, by vocation and mission.

Repentance and reconciliation have ecclesial dimensions: they help bring about the purification and sanctification of the entire community – a community which is the primary community of reconciliation. Our reconciliation with God issues in a reconciliation with the Church and a strengthening of her communion in the Spirit. And in turn this actual greater oneness and holiness of the ecclesial community witnesses to the real and effective power of God’s salvation and grace operative in the world and history. The Church, – which is to be present in the world (as stated above) as the primary community of reconciliation, – brings the Spirit’s redeeming outreach into the social relationships and structures with their entrenched sin, bias, self-interest and injustice.

The Franciscan sacramental theologian Regis Duffy says: "A privatized notion of penance has been replaced by one of reconciliation with the community which first received us into the new life of Christian initiation in baptism, confirmation and eucharist." This recovered linking of initiation (specially baptism) and penance is also significant. One aspect: "Just as the initiation takes place in the midst of the church, so – in an important sense – do penance and reconciliation." This theological truth grounds the practice of public celebrations of penance. The New Rite of Penance, promulgated in 1973, provided for communal celebrations with individual confession and absolution, and in certain situations, with general confession and absolution.

We must repeat that this ecclesial approach in no way diminishes the personal dimension of sin and repentance, with which much contemporary mentality is all at ease, and which it prefers to set aside. But this dimension is situated in the larger context of the salvific work of the Church in realizing Christ’s redemption and in the building up of the Kingdom of God. The New Rite speaks of "the social dimension of grace and sin, whose effect is this: in some way the actions of individuals affect the whole body of the Church." (RP, 25c)

In 1983 (29 September to 29 October), the Bishops’ Synod on reconciliation and Penance was held, and from its deliberations, the Holy Father wrote the apostolic exhortation Reconciliatio et Poenitentia. The document develops a renewed theology for the sacrament and its pastoral practice, stressing the reality of sin (personal sin, first of all) and its very real consequences. In it, the Pope gives an assessment of the concrete contemporary status of sacramental practice of reconciliation, with the notable decline of individual confession especially in the West and the consequences of this for Christian life and for the quest for holiness in the Church. He also calls for a renewal practice of individual confession. In his annual Letter to Priests of Holy Thursday this year, the Holy Father calls for priests’ more reflective attention to the sacrament of reconciliation in their own lives and those of the faithful, stressing the over-riding theme of God’s great mercy, which is God’s own preferential and compassionate presence and action in the world, – a world so desperately in need of conversion.

In the time given us we can only mention that in contemporary pastoral theology and practice, the sacramental rites – the acts of the penitent which are part of the process of conversion, and the confessor’s role as strongly that of medicus and healer (more than "judge" in a courtroom) – instrument of the loving Father, dives in misericordia– all these are to be integrated within a true "celebration" of the Church’s liturgy. The sacramental rite is to be so realized that it is always "an act in which the Church proclaims its faith, gives thanks to God for the freedom with which God has made us free, and offers its life as a spiritual sacrifice in praise of God’s Glory, as it hastens to meet the Lord Jesus." (RP, #7)

ANOINTING OF THE SICK

Catholics of an older generation knew "the seventh sacrament" as Extreme Unction, which they also recognized as "almost exclusively the official sacrament for those dying or at the point of death," – even if in fact the official teaching of the Church on the sacrament was not as restrictive as most people thought. The Second Vatican Council Bishops (patres) urged that the name of the sacrament be changed and that the rites be revised to be more faithful to the ancient mind and tradition of the Church. "Viaticum was restored as the true sacrament of the dying, and the anointing of the sick was restored as a sacrament for those seriously ill even if not at the point of death." (Walter H. Cuenin).

The history of the rite shows a shift of objective, from a concern primarily for bodily healing – which seems so evident in the Letter of
James, 5: 13-15 and in the early Christian community – to that of the spiritual healing of someone already expecting death. The Second Vatican Council indicated that viaticum should be regarded as the true sacrament of the dying, and the anointing of the sick was rather to be seen as an expression of God’s presence in the midst of human illness and Christ’s healing power and concern for all those who are seriously sick. Lumen Gentium (#11) reads: "By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests, the whole Church commands those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them. And indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the passion and death of Christ."

The text just cited once again enlarges the understanding of the sacrament. The Council of Trent had said that "this anointing is to be used for the sick, but especially for those who are dangerously ill (infirmi) as to seem near to death." Trent gave the specific effect of "Extreme Unction" as the grace of the Holy Spirit, with the spiritual, psychological and physical dimensions of illness and dying affected. We know that in actual practice, the period between Trent and Vatican II witnessed a broadening of the interpretation of "danger of death" which was required for the anointing, and increasingly there was a moving towards the notion – really a retrieval – that "Extreme Unction" was really an anointing for sick people for their comfort and healing. Yet, among most Catholics, here certainly in our country, the understanding that the sacrament was for people in their final hours prevailed, and the coming of the priests to administer the sacrament was dreaded by so many, individuals and families alike. Thus the priest was not called, often enough, until the patient had lapsed into coma or was no longer fully conscious.

The official document on "Anointing and the Pastoral Care of the Sick" was issued under Pope Paul VI in 1972; it was nearly ten years later that the ICEL published its more definitive text. "The revised rites for the sick and dying highlight the pastoral ministry to the sick, recover the original tradition of anointing the sick, and make a clear differentiation between pastoral care of the sick and pastoral care of the dying." (Charles Gusmer).

With the "new face" of this sacrament, there has been a good, and in some places, a wonderfully rich development of other rites for the pastoral care of the sick. For instance, "the communion of the sick sees the ailing Christian joined in faith and hope by his brothers and sisters in the eucharistic assembly." Canon 1002 of the new Code of Canon Law endorses the celebration of communal anointing with members of the local (often, parish) community devotedly present and participating.

The sacrament of the anointing is now often administered in an authentic "celebration" which gives illness (and dying also) a true and beautiful Christian context. The faithful discover through their experience of the rites, the saving presence and mystery of God within the serious illness of Christians. They receive God’s courage and peace, and in diverse ways, God’s own healing and strength. They are inspired and moved by the conviction that they can join their illness and pain to the redemptive suffering of Jesus, and the crucified and risen Lord enters into this phase of their lives to join it to his own paschal mystery, his own Saving Deed. There is, we might say, an implicit theology of Christian suffering "behind" this sacrament. In the secularized times in which we all live, celebration of this sacrament – unveils the distinctively Christian meaning of illness and pain.

As we have earlier indicated, viaticum (food for the journey) must be rightly regarded as the sacrament of the dying: the Body of Christ as provision for the final journey the Christian makes. We are encouraged to celebrate viaticum within a eucharistic gathering, joined to a renewed profession of faith, with communion given under both species. Does this not tell us that viaticum is to be given earlier on, once the patient and his loved ones have come to realize and accept impending death? The celebration of viaticum can be seen as the "readying of the pilgrim" for his/her going to the true Homeland where there is life and love everlasting, and our hearts find the rest for which they were created.

A few final points on the Sacrament of Anointing: The newer Church documents allow for a wider range of sick subjects to be anointed, including all those greatly weakened by illness and old age; those about to undergo surgery for serious illness; even sick children with sufficient use of reason; persons who are mentally ill (a new provision). Surely there should not be indiscriminate anointing of those who are not truly seriously ill, but pastoral charity would urge that we do not unduly restrict the conferral of this sacrament which can be of great help to the faithful as they grapple with graver forms of illness and suffering. A reflective reading of what the order of anointing tells us about the grace of this sacrament will yield a deeper grasp of what the sacrament is for:

"This sacrament gives the grace of the Holy Spirit to those who are sick. By this grace the whole person is helped and saved, sustained by trust in God, and strengthened against the temptations of the Evil One and against anxiety over death. Thus the sick person is able not only to bear suffering bravely, but also to fight against it. A return to physical health may follow the reception of this sacrament, if it will be beneficial to the sick person’s salvation. If necessary, the sacrament also provides the sick person with the forgiveness of sins and the completion of Christian penance." (On the Pastoral Care of the Sick, par. 6)