The Confession in the Penitential Rite of Divine Worship: a meditation.

Among the many precious gems to be found in Divine Worship: the Missal, the Mass of the Personal Ordinariates established under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, is the Confession in the Penitential Rite.

For those unfamiliar with Divine Worship, the Penitential Rite follows the Prayers of the People after the Credo. The Rite includes a beautiful prayer, one among many in the Missal.

ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all men: We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty, provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; the remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Bit by Bit

ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, maker of all things, judge of all men:

God is all-knowing, all-seeing. We acknowledge His sovereignty over our lives. He is Lord; He is loving Father. He knows the full content of our hearts. What might cause us to recoil in horror - and so we should when confronted with our sins - is trumped by God's mercy. God does not lie to us about the condition of our souls. He wants us to be truly free so that we may love truly. A proper and detailed examination of conscience (e.g., in the pew before Mass, facing the Blessed Sacrament) invites God the Holy Spirit to help us see clearly those areas of our life that contradict the will of God (John 8:32).

We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we from time to time most grievously have committed, by thought, word, and deed, against thy divine majesty,

To acknowledge our sins is to acknowledge we have chosen a disease, embraced an addiction, have chosen an idol over God, and thereby acknowledge we want to be free of said impediments to God and the life and hope and joy and peace that He offers. We acknowledge that our transgressions defy numbering. The number of our small minded acts of self preservation at the expense of another, of our placing obstacles in the way of love of God and neighbour, is beyond our ability to recall. So, we must honestly admit that our offences against charity and truth are manifold. The many little "uglies", those acidic cataracts, blind us to the beauty of God and others created in His image.

provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us.

God's wrath may very well be expressed by His allowing us to experience the full consequences of our sinful acts (Romans 1:24-25).

We do earnestly repent, and are heartily sorry for these our misdoings;

"Perfect contrition (also called contrition of charity) is a repentance for sin that is motivated by faith and the love of God. It contrasts with imperfect contrition, which arises from a less pure motive, such as common decency or fear of Hell (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed.)." By surrendering all pretense, i.e., by admitting the fault of our misdoings (sins of commission and omission) is solely our own, we expose our hearts to a thorough cleansing, to a restoration and peace that only God can and does give. 

the remembrance of them is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable.

We remember our sins - and it is far too easy to remember the sins of others - and are prone to despairing over those seemingly unconquerable sins (Romans 7). As many times as we may fall, God will - if we allow Him - hoist us up out of our sins and conquer our despair with His life-restoring mercy.

Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; for thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, forgive us all that is past;

When we confess our sins, God no longer remembers those sins. And, the devil can no longer use those sins against us. God consigns to oblivion all sins absolved in the Sacrament of Penance. What we recall and confess in the Penitential Rite of the Mass, those venial or lesser sins that damage our relationship with God and which can, if not confessed, lead to mortal sin that destroys our relationship with God, those venial sins are wiped away "by receiving Communion and by the other intercessory prayers of Mass." (See the end note below: Fr. McNamara)

and grant that we may ever hereafter serve and please thee in newness of life, to the honour and glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our hope is graced by God. We dispose ourselves to God and invite Him to sustain in us that hope and trust in Him, that He provide us with the strength to attain to the perfect love of God and neighbour. After all, only God can give us the gift of Himself, His very life in and through Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and man - for he alone is the God-man like us in all things but sin - so that we may offer fitting praise to God. When we offer praise to God, that too disposes us to His perfection. He desires that we love as He loves. It is the mission of the disciple of Christ to announce the Kingdom of God, that perfect Kingdom of love for which Jesus lived and died, that Kingdom Jesus embodies and communicates to us every Mass: in the proclaimed word (Holy Scripture); in the person of the priest; in the congregation (Matthew 18:20); and most profoundly in the Holy Eucharist. If we are to lovingly consume the Body and Blood of Christ, we must allow ourselves to be consumed by Christ. We can only do that if we cooperate with God. That cooperation necessarily requires that we submit our thoughts and actions to scrutiny and invite God to loose us from sin.

Notes

Father Edward McNamara, Professor of Liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University (2005):

No. 51 of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal 

51. After this, the Priest calls upon the whole community to take part in the Penitential Act, which, after a brief pause for silence, it does by means of a formula of general confession. The rite concludes with the Priest’s absolution, which, however, lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance.

Thus it is clear that the absolution formula that concludes the act of penance is not sacramental absolution and in no way dispenses from the obligation of confessing grave sins before receiving Communion.

The non-absolutory nature of the penitential rite does not mean that venial sins are not forgiven during this rite; they are also forgiven by receiving Communion and by the other intercessory prayers of Mass.