By Enda Conlon
“The forgiveness of sins”.
The book of Genesis records a great awakening of human awareness. We became aware of the mystery and grandeur
of our intellects and of our free wills ; of our right and our awesome responsibility of exercising stewardship over the
earth and authority over other living creatures ; of our relationship with God and our sense of being made in His image
and likeness.
Most dramatically and mysteriously Genesis sees our disposition to evil and sinfulness of the world as resulting from an
aboriginal act of defiance of God - Adam and Eve’s eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
because they had been tempted by the words of the serpent :
“No, you will not die . God knows that the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing
good from evil”.
Genesis goes on to relate that their eyes were indeed opened and they became ashamed of their nakedness and they
sought to hide themselves from God. When God saw what they had done he said to the woman:
“I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception ; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children and thy desire shall be
to thy husband and he shall rule over thee”
and to the man God addressed the bleak words
“ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust
thou art and unto dust thou shalt return”.
In a few vivid phrases Genesis describes life as it is experienced by most men and women in most generations most of
the time.
The story of Genesis is the starting point of the Church’s understanding of the human condition – of the actual terms
on which life on this earth is given to us. We have crossed a watershed of intelligence and moral awareness and there
is no going back. We live in the certain knowledge that we shall die. We ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil and our eyes were indeed opened. Our first reactions were to be ashamed of our nakedness and to hide
ourselves from God. Our capacity to sin is intimately and painfully connected with those same human faculties in
which we are most like God. Not only are we the only creatures that can be drawn into a relationship of loving the
Lord, Our God but we are also the only creatures that can sin against the most high God. This is the taproot from
which springs both the joy and the pity of human existence.
After Genesis the Bible is the story of mankind - first the Jewish people and then all nations – being invited – back -
into a relationship with God . We are invited as we now are, not as we might have been before our eyes were opened to
our sinfulness. Because we are aware of our sinfulness we are aware of our need for the mercy of God which expresses
itself in forgiveness. Our acknowledgment of our sinfulness does not lead us into self hatred or self disgust – in fact
the sin of despair is one of the great sins against the Holy Spirit - but into a certain humility of spirit where we confess
our failings and rely on the mercy of God. The piety of some of the psalms is suffused with this spirit.
Psalm 90.
Out of the depths have I cried unto you, O Lord
Lord, hear my voice
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleading.
If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt
Lord who would survive
But with you is found forgiveness
For this we revere you.
Psalm 40
O Lord you will not withhold
your compassion from me
Your merciful love and your truth
will always guard me
For I am beset with evils
too many to be counted
My sins have fallen upon me
And my sight fails me
They are more than the hairs of my head
And my heart sinks.
Above all Psalm 50
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness
In your compassion blot out my offence
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin
My offences truly I know them
my sin is always before me
Against you, you alone, have I sinned
what is evil in your sight have I done.
In the New Testament the Church’s understanding of sin and forgiveness is deepened in a number of ways.
The Church expects its members to maintain an honest and unflinching attitude to our personal sinfulness. The
Confiteor said at the beginning of mass drives this home : it is said in the first person singular. Each of us says “I have
sinned exceedingly in what I have thought, what I have said, what I have done and in what I have failed to do –
through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”. My sinfulness is not the fault of my upbringing,
or of society at large or is it nobody’s fault but it is my fault. The Christian can of course see and criticise “structures
of sinfulness” operating in our wider society – like the pornography industry or the drugs business – which coarsen,
diminish and corrupt us. However we do not do this at the expense of neglecting the state of our own souls. Only on
the basis of candid and clear headed acknowledgement of our own sins can we expect to be forgiven.
The Christian good news is that forgiveness is always available. The Church teaches that the sacrifice of Calvary
expiated the sins of the world. The meaning of the sentence “Christ died so that sins may be forgiven” is that Christ’s
redeeming sacrifice guarantees that God will extend His forgiveness to the sincerely repentant sinner. There are no
unforgivable sins. The mercy and forgiveness of God is available to all men in all places at all times. There is no action
which, once done, cuts us off from the mercy of God and the possibility of forgiveness. We are only cut off from the
mercy of God by a deliberate act of our free will not to seek His forgiveness. We can seek forgiveness and
reconciliation with God at any time until we die.
We cannot expect, for those sins, which are also legal crimes, to escape the social or penal consequences of our
sinfulness. But, through the merits of Christ we can expect to be forgiven by God if we repent. Thus for the Christian
honest awareness of our failings does not lead to self hatred or to the sin of despair but to a deeper sense of our need
for the mercy of God. Likewise we should not despair of the possibility of ultimate redemption for any of our fellow
men. Appalled as we may justly be by the evil that men do, phrases , that appear to write people off as beyond
redemption, like “the scum of the earth” , “human garbage” , “lock him up and throw away the key” do not express
the Christian mind.
Jesus made the obligation to forgive a central Christian virtue.
“Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us “
To Peter’s question
“Lord, how often must I forgive my brother if he wrongs me : As often as seven times ?”
Jesus replied :
“Not seven I tell you, but seventy times seven”. (Matt 18:20)
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The Mass
By Enda Conlon
The Mass is the central act of worship of the Catholic faith. Today Catholics predominantly celebrate Massaccording to the Roman rite promulgated by Pope Paul VI in the 1970s in the aftermath of the Vatican
Council. Before that the Western Church celebrated the Mass according to the Tridentine rite which was
promulgated by the Council of Trent in the mid 16th century. Mass is still occasionally celebrated according to
the Tridentine rite by some more traditionally minded priests for similarly minded congregations. Additionally
the Church recognises as valid and equal to the Roman rite in dignity and authenticity a number of other rites
- the Byzantine, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian , Maronite and Chaldean. Additionally there are rites specific to
religious orders. For example the Carthusians – whose proud but well-earned boast is “numquam reformata
quod numquam deformata” are not liturgically bound by either Trent or Vatican I or Vatican II and maintain
their own medieval rite. As regards the liturgical forms of the Mass it remains true that “In my Father’s
house there are many mansions” . (John 14)
As with everything else, the Church’s understanding of the Mass is rooted in Scripture and Tradition. The
Church sees intimations of the Mass in the Old Testament. For instance in Genesis 14 we have “And
Melchisideck , king of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high God”.
In the book of Malachi (Mal 1 10-12) we have a prophecy of a universally offered sacrifice: “I have no pleasure
in you, says the Lord of Hosts and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun
to its setting my name is great among nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure
offering; for my name is great among the nations”.
In the New Testament we have the account of the Last Supper (Luke 22) from which the words of Consecration
are taken. “And he took bread and gave thanks and broke it and gave unto them saying ‘This is my body
which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me’. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is
the new testament in my blood which is shed for you’ “and from St. John (Ch 6)
“Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For my
flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I
in him. As the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father so he who eats me will live because of
me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died. He who eats this
bread will live forever”
These are strange, mysterious words and not surprisingly, many of his disciples said “this is a hard saying” and
drew back and went with him no more. St. Paul writes (Corinthians) “And therefore my beloved , shun the
worship of idols. I speak to you as sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ ?. The bread which we break – is it not a participation in the
body of Christ ? Because there is one bread and we who are many are one body for we all partake of one bread.”
The first description of the Mass that is recognisably the same (even including the collection !) as is offered
today is given by Justin writing in the middle of the second century.
“On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or countryside gather in one place and the memoirs of the
apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then when the reader has finished
the president instructs and exhorts them to imitate these good things. The we all rise together and pray …
When our prayer is ended, bread and wine with water are brought forth and the president offers payers and
thanksgivings, according to his ability. The people assent saying Amen and there is a distribution of each of the
eucharistic elements. The deacons carry a portion to those who are absent. Those who are able give willingly
whatever sum they each think appropriate. The money is collected and deposited with the president.”
Justin rather glosses over the central parts of the Mass. This is in accordance with the tradition of the early
Church that the central part of the Mass – in which the Church most intensely expresses its deepest thoughts
and feelings about Jesus Christ through ritual as much as words – should be discussed as confidential and
intimate matters and only within the household of the Faith and should not be lightly or unguardedly disclosed
to those who might not understand or who might wilfully and maliciously misinterpret. The very earliest anti-
Christian polemics, dating from the second century, charged Christian worship with being a cover for ritual
infanticide, cannibalism, orgies, incest and the practice of magic. For Catholics generally to be maligned or
misrepresented is nothing new.
From the earliest times the Mass has been divided into two parts – the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of
the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Word ends with the conclusion of the Creed. The Liturgy of the Word is also
called the “Mass of the Catechumens” because in the early Church candidates for baptism attended only this
part of the Mass. The Liturgy of the Eucharist comprises the Offertory, the Canon, the Communion and the
Blessing . This part of the Mass was also known as the Mass of the Faithful.
The Liturgy of the Word is prefaced by the Penitential rite in which we acknowledge our unworthiness and
seek the mercy of God. The prayer in which we acknowledge our sinfulness is called the Confiteor – the Latin
for “I confess”. Particularly in its older and fuller version it is a very beautiful and very Catholic prayer. In it
we acknowledge calmly rationally and intelligently our personal sinfulness and ask for the prayers of all the
faithful. It is suffused with a very Catholic sense that in seeking holiness we are supported not just by our
Christian brothers and sisters here present but by all the Communion of Saints. The older text was “I confess
to Almighty God, to the blessed Mary ever Virgin, to the blessed Michael the Archangel, to the blessed John the
Baptist, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul and to all the saints and to you, my brothers and sisters that I have
sinned exceedingly in thought, in word in what I have done and in what I have failed to do. Therefore I beseech
the blessed Mary ever Virgin, the blessed Michael the Arch angel, the blessed John the Baptist the holy
apostles Peter and Paul and you my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God.”.
This is followed by the Kyrie (the Greek word for Lord) in which we ask God for mercy. This is followed (on
Sundays and Solemnities, except at penitential times like Advent Lent ) by the solemn and exultant prayer to
the Trinity – the Gloria. This is followed by the Scriptural reading – from parts of Scripture excluding the
Gospels and from the Gospels. The reading from the Gospel is always made by the priest. The Gospel is followed
by the homily – which should be a reflection on the readings of the day. On Sundays and Solemnities the homily
is followed by the saying or singing of the Nicenc Creed in which Christians profess their faith. After this are
the intercessionary prayers of the faithful.
This first part of the Mass is fairly straightforwardly organised and it is easy to understand what is going on.
Among Christians generally the first part of the Mass is not in any way controversial and representatives of
most shades of opinion in the Christian world could, in good faith, take part in it. This is not true of the second
part. The Catholic Church’s understanding of the Mass of the Faithful is one of the major issues that separate
Catholics from their fellow Christians. As with the core doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity the Church
believes that fidelity to the words of Jesus , to the faith of the Apostles and to its own Tradition requires it to
be tenacious of its position. The Church has always therefore resisted any attempts to diminish the significance
of the Eucharistic rite into , say, following the 16th century Protestant Zwingli, a simple commemoration
ceremony of the Last Supper. As with the Trinity, the Church considers the central part of the Mass to be a
mystery ; the Church does not necessarily feel that it has to give all the answers or that it can see all the
perspectives ; it does however feel that it has to be faithful and trust that understanding will unfold with the
passing generations. A number of different themes are interwoven in the Church’s understanding. One of
them is indeed a commemoration of the Last Supper. A theme that used to be more emphasised than today is
that of a Sacrifice.
We are today apt to think of a rite of sacrifice as something primitive and cruel that surely is not relevant in
modern times. The impulse to offer sacrifice is one of the oldest and most universal religious instincts of
human nature – such an impulse – of all men in all places at all times – has a quality of being, in the phrase of
St.Augustine – ever ancient and ever new. The impulse to sacrifice arises in situations where our feelings are
so intense and our intentions so serious that we begin to feel that mere words are an inadequate or even
unworthily cheap way of expressing what we feel. At heart, a rite of sacrifice is a rite of engagement in and
commitment to a relationship. Not necessarily with God. We can usefully think of the social custom of giving an
engagement ring as an act of sacrifice. In a familiar setting this illustrates two points about sacrifices generally.
The first is that the thing sacrificed or given must be precious in the hands of the giver. If one were to
accompany the giving of an engagement ring with an enthusiastic explanation of how cheap of it was, that it was
just plastic and paste, and what a good deal one had got in buying from a second hand shop, one can imagine
the sense of defilement that the intended receiver would feel. The second is that the thing sacrificed must be
dedicated to one purpose – that of being the token of public commitment to a relationship. Similarly it would
not be an added advantage of an engagement ring that it should also be a sort of Swiss penknife and could also
act as a key ring , a bottle opener or a corkscrew. In Israel sacrifices were the means by which the priests
reaffirmed their commitment to the Covenant. Unblemished livestock were a precious commodity. The burning
of the sacrificial offerings put them beyond and human use and dedicated them to the single function of being
tokens of the commitment to the Covenant.
The Mass can be at least partially understood as the Sacrifice of the New Law. In the Offertory, the first part of
the Eucharistic Liturgy, the bread and wine , which are humanly precious as the fruits of the earth and the
work of human hands, are offered by the priest on behalf of the people. The washing of the hands echoes the
rites of purification of the priests in the Temple. He asks the people “Pray , brothers and sisters, that my
sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the almighty Father”. The people respond
“May the Lord accept the sacrifice from your hands …. “ In the most mystical and mysterious of all its beliefs
, the Catholic Church then believes that the elements of the sacrifice offered by the priest - bread and wine -
becomes transformed into the body and blood of Christ – through the words of consecration when the priest
repeats the words of Jesus at the Last Supper - which is then a truly acceptable and redemptive sacrifice to be
offered to Almighty God. The Mass is thus seen as a re-enactment of the sacrifice of Calvary – not just as a
commemoration of the Last Supper.
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