Easter, Sacramental Mercy and the Eucharistic Revival
Catholics can easily recall when Jesus instituted the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist: during the first Mass, which began during the Last Supper with the words of consecration and finished the following afternoon when Jesus gave his body and poured out his blood for us on Calvary.
Far fewer Catholics, however, know when Jesus instituted the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, which may be one of the reasons some today take it for granted. He did it on the evening he rose from the dead, which shows just how crucial Jesus considered it in his salvific mission and manifested what the sacrament of reconciliation is meant to bring about.
Just as in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, whenever we return to the Father’s house through this sacrament, the Father rejoices because his “son who was dead has come to life again” (Luke 15:24). Jesus wanted explicitly to link our resurrection through this sacrament to his resurrection from the dead. Every reconciliation is meant to be a resurrection.
So he walked through the closed doors of the room where the 10 apostles were huddled together. He first words were “Peace be with you.” He had become incarnate to establish the definitive peace treaty between God and the human race through the forgiveness of our sins, and he was about to commission the apostles to continue this very mission.
“Just as the Father sent me,” he said, “so I send you!” Jesus was sent by God the Father as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world, and Jesus was sending the apostles out to forgive sinners of their sins one by one. Since “no one can forgive sins but God alone” (Mark 2:7), however, Jesus had to give them God’s power to fulfill this mission. So he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
Then he gave them instructions and power that point to the structure of the sacrament of confession as we know it: “Those whose sins you forgive are forgiven; those whose sins you retain are retained.” Jesus didn’t give them the ability to read minds or hearts; therefore, the only way that they would know which sins to absolve or hold would be if individual sinners told them their sins.
Just as three days before Jesus had made them his instruments to give us his Body and Blood, so he was making them his ambassadors through whom he would forgive our sins.
