The Penitential Rite of the Mass
The Penitential Rite of the Mass is a series of prayers that begin with the priest saying, “Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries,” and ending with the Collect Prayer said immediately before the First Reading.
As the opening prayer of the Penitential Rite observes, there is a specific goal to penance: We are preparing ourselves to “celebrate the sacred mysteries.” What “mysteries” are we celebrating? We are, of course, celebrating all the mysteries of our creation and salvation. But more specifically we’re celebrating the “great mystery” that St. Paul talks about in his Letter to the Ephesians (cf. Eph. 5:21 – 32) – the mystery of our call to total communion with God, made real in our reception of Holy Communion at the Mass.
With this “call to communion” in mind, the Penitential Rite progresses through a three-fold movement that is the model for the spiritual life in general. We begin by acknowledging the fact that we have fallen short of God’s purpose for creating us from the beginning. We then move on to seek for His mercy and forgiveness. Finally, we receive the peace that comes not only with forgiveness, but with bringing our lives into conformity once more with God’s plan.
Acknowledge Your Failings
We often think of “sin” as the violation of some arbitrary commandment. However, the origin of the word “sin” is actually a term from archery that means “to miss the mark.” When you sin, you’re actually “missing the mark” of what it means to be fully human according to God’s plan from the beginning.
As the Confiteor from the Penitential Rite shows us, there are four ways in which you can “miss the mark” of God’s plan for you:
1) In my thoughts. Every one of your actions begins as a thought. Jesus tells us, “From within people, from their hearts, come… all these evils.” (cf. Mk. 7:21 – 23). This is why He declares the pure of heart “blessed,” because they have no evil thoughts that can lead to evil actions.
2) In my words. The saints recognized that we sin more often with our tongues than we do in any other way. That’s what led King David to pray in the Psalms, “Set a guard, Lord, before my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).
3) In what I have done. These are the sins that we are most familiar with, and are traditionally called “sins of commission.” Most Examination of Conscience pamphlets that you use before going to Reconciliation focus primarily on these sins of commission.
4) In what I have failed to do. Did you know that you can “miss the mark” simply by doing nothing? The Church traditionally calls this a “sin of omission.” Think of the story of the Last Judgment where Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me” (Mt. 25:42-43).
Lord, have mercy
It’s overwhelming to look at how easy it is to fall into sin in your thoughts, your words, your actions, or your failure to act. If you remained in that guilt you’d be quickly led to despair. But here’s the Good News, God did not leave you in that guilt. He sent His Son for the forgiveness of your sins.
That’s why the next movement of the Penitential Rite is a movement from guilt to hope – Lord, have mercy. The very act of seeking forgiveness means that we have hope in Christ of actually receiving God’s forgiveness. This is a cause for great joy.
Peace to people of good will
Finally, the Penitential Rite moves from forgiveness to peace. Our first act after receiving God’s mercy and forgiveness is to join with the angels in singing His glory: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will."
You feel peace when you’ve received forgiveness from a loved one. It’s a peace that restores relationships. But there’s more to this peace than just feeling relief. Notice that peace is something given to “people of good will.” Peace demands conversion. It only comes when we conform our lives to the Gospel.
Now that we’ve entered into Lent, I invite you to dive deeper into the glories of Mass by joining our Lenten Parish Study, “The Mass” by Bishop Robert Barron. I also invite you to experience the full power of God’s mercy forgiveness by coming to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.