A friend recently told me that you don’t really need to go to Confession since the penitential rite at the beginning of Mass forgives sins. Is this true?
This is a good question, and I suspect many people think the same way as your friend.
But I also suspect that the underlying reason for the question in some people is a reluctance to go to Confession and that this, in turn, moves them to find theological reasons to justify their position.
Let us recall what we do in the penitential rite. The rite begins with the invitation from the priest to “acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries”.
It is only fitting at the beginning of any sacred ceremony, especially the Mass where we are in intimate communion with God, to begin by acknowledging our unworthiness and calling to mind our sins.
This expression of humility makes us at least somewhat more worthy to enter into God’s presence.
This is followed by a short time of silence, where we can make a brief examination of conscience and call to mind our most recent sins or perhaps our most serious sins of the past.
In this way our act of sorrow will be based on the awareness of particular sins.
For this reason it is important that the celebrant leaves more than just a few perfunctory seconds for this time of silence and examination.
It is not just a ritual but a real opportunity to call to mind our sins.
Then the whole congregation, including the priest, expresses its sorrow in one of a number of prescribed ways found in the missal.
The most expressive is undoubtedly the Confiteor, or “I confess”: “I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault …”
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal calls this a “general confession”.
It says that “the priest invites those present to take part in the Act of Penitence, which, after a brief pause for silence, the entire community carries out through a formula of general confession” (GIRM 51).
“General confession” means a generic confession of sins, both those of commission (“what I have done”) and those of omission (“what I have failed to do”), but without mentioning any particular sins, such as lying, showing impatience, etc.
This confession should be sincere, as we express in the words: “I have greatly sinned … through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”.
On saying these words we beat our breast, as the publican did in the temple. He “beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” (Lk 18:13).
The Confiteor concludes by asking for the prayers of the saints and of the Church on earth: “… therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.”
When we say “you, my brothers and sisters”, we are referring not just to those present in the Mass but to all our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
After the Confiteor the priest asks God to forgive everyone, including himself: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life”.
Here the priest is acting not in the person of Christ the head, as he does in other parts of the Mass, but rather as leader of the congregation.
He does not say “I absolve you” as he does in the Sacrament of Penance, but rather asks God to absolve everyone, including himself.
Whether they are absolved will depend on their sorrow.
Does this prayer forgive sins, taking into account that the priest is asking God to have mercy on us and to forgive our sins?
It is certain that the very expression of sorrow in the Confiteor accompanied by true interior repentance does forgive venial sins, as does any sincere act of contrition, or many other acts, including the reception of Communion in Mass.
But the rite of itself does not forgive mortal sins.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal makes this clear: “The rite concludes with the priest’s absolution, which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance” (GIRM 51).
Therefore, before receiving Communion, a person in mortal sin must first receive absolution in the Sacrament of Penance (cf Catechism of the Catholic Church 1457).
As we can see, the penitential rite of the Mass is a powerful expression of sorrow, but it does not have the same efficacy as the Sacrament of Penance, which we should still receive regularly, especially if we have committed mortal sins.