We tend to associate Shrove Tuesday with pancakes, which in former days were an excellent way of using up eggs, flour, milk and other ingredients before the rigours of Lent, and which remain a welcome source of nourishment before the fasting and abstinence of Ash Wednesday. The name Shrove comes from the Middle English word shriven, because the Tuesday before Lent begins is a suitable time for us to be absolved of our sins (or “shriven”) in the Sacrament of Penance.
The prospect of confession is something that makes many people nervous. The thought of opening the darkest secrets of our hearts to another person can be disagreeable to say the least. Probably this is why even some Catholics are tempted to take the Protestant approach expressed in the sentiment: “I don’t need to confess my sins to a priest, when I can confess them directly to God.”
The truth, of course, is that we can confess our sins directly to God. Venial sins are forgiven through an act of contrition, both privately and in the general confession which we make together at the beginning of Holy Mass. They may also be forgiven through the devout use of the Church’s sacramentals, such as making the sign of the Cross with Holy Water when we come into church. Even mortal sins may be expunged from our souls with an act of perfect contrition. We should pray that those who die without the Sacraments are given and cooperate with the grace of this sort of contrition before their souls depart from their bodies. But we can never really be certain that our own act of contrition involved total sorrow for our sins motivated by the love of God, because only He can read the innermost movements of our heart with absolute clarity. This is why the Church enjoins us to avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Penance at the nearest opportunity if we have sinned mortally, even after making an act of perfect contrition. Sacraments give us certainty.
A mortal sin is one which expunges the flame of Sanctifying Grace that was ignited in our hearts in the Sacrament of Baptism. It must involve grave matter and knowledge of that gravity, and must have been committed freely and willingly. Telling a lie which makes someone look slightly silly is a venial sin that needs repenting of and somehow rectifying. Initiating a calumny that causes serious damage to a neighbour is a mortal sin that requires us being restored to the life of grace, in addition to making restitution by restoring the reputation of our victim. God has ordained that what was given to us in one Sacrament (Sanctifying Grace, in Baptism) is to be restored to us, if lost, in another Sacrament (the Sacrament of Penance, in which we receive sacramental absolution from a priest).
Our Lord instituted the Sacrament of Penance immediately after His Resurrection. The Apostles were hiding in the Upper Room in Jerusalem having abandoned Our Lord during His Passion and in fear for their lives, when He came to them and said: “Peace be to you.” Breathing on them He continued: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain they are retained.” (Jn 20.23) Through the Sacrament of Holy Order, which He had also instituted in that very room at the Last Supper, that same healing, refreshing and restorative breath is breathed into our hearts today when a priest utters over us the words “I absolve you of your sins”. In the Sacrament of Penance, God not only forgives us, but blesses and renews us, and gives us the assurance of His presence and His friendship in our lives.
In a Sacrament, the ‘ingredients’ required on our part are always relatively humble and easy to acquire. In return, God gives us something of inestimable value. In Baptism, the pouring of water brings us everlasting life, and in the Holy Mass bread and wine are transformed into His Living Body and Blood. In Penance, the essential ingredients consist of our contrition, the verbal confession of our sins and satisfaction (our intention to perform the prayer or good work given us by the priest). Ideally, love of God should be our motivation for confessing, but He does not insist that our contrition be perfect. For our sins to be forgiven it is sufficient that we fear their eternal consequences, or wish to be rid of the sense of guilt. In return we are infused with an abundance of Sanctifying Grace. Perseverance in the frequentation of the Sacrament of Penance brings saints ever closer to perfection and helps hardened sinners to break free from the chains which habits of sin have been forging over a lifetime.
As Lent approaches, we should reflect on the use we make of the priceless gift that is the Sacrament of Confession. And when Shrove Tuesday arrives, may we remember the origin of the name Shrove, as well as enjoying our pancakes.
Father Julian Large