2020.01.26 A Priest & His Holy Orders to Forgive Sins

Overview & Learning Objective(s):

Today was a day for hearing marvelous stories from the Bible about the healing power of forgiveness. Since school was closed last week, we modified this morning's lesson plan to include the Prodigal Son and the Paralytic Man.

The former teaches three important lessons: namely, (1) when we forgive it must be unconditional, (2) when we ask for forgiveness, it must be sincere and from the heart, and (3) when we sin, we are like the Prodigal Son, while the father is like God who welcomes us back, regardless of how far or how long we have wandered. The best way to return home to God is through the sacrament of Reconciliation.

In the Paralytic story, four men bring their sick friend to Jesus so that the man would be healed. What they learned was powerful and clear - Jesus was more interested in the sick man's soul than He was in his paralyzed body. We know that Jesus forgave the man's sins AND commanded him to walk, so He is truly the Divine Healer of both soul and body.

The lesson we learn from this story is that a sick soul is far more serious than a failing mortal body. The healing of a sinful soul is complicated by our free will. It is up to us to form a strong conscience, and work on living a virtuous life. In those times when we fail to do the right thing, we can choose to seek help in the form of the sacrament of Reconciliation.

When we confess our sins to a priest, we hear the same words that Jesus spoke to the Paralytic Man, "your sins are forgiven."  The priest becomes a visible sign of God, in both word and action.  Through him, our sins are forgiven, our souls are cleansed, we are filled with God's grace, and we are given a wonderful opportunity to start over - filled with hope, joy, and determination to do right.

We then moved to a third Bible story - The Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. This is a beautiful illustration of true humility and a contrite heart.  The publican was so perfectly authentic that his words are used to this day as the last three lines of our Communion Prayer recited in the Divine Liturgy. Known as the "Publican's Prayer", it is also used in confession as the Prayer of Contrition (the act of feeling sorry), after we tell our sins to a priest.

Lastly, we retold the story of Jesus, who 50 days after His Resurrection and on the Feast of what we now call Pentecost, appeared to the Apostles saying, "Peace be with you...whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven." John 20:19-23.  As they were anointed by the Holy Spirit, these 12 men became the first priests with the power to forgive sins. This power has been passed on to the present day, where men like Father Ronny also have that same Christ-given power. How blessed we are to know that good men, like our Pastor, have answered the call to Holy Orders.

The power of a priest is remarkable.  We will be spending the next several weeks learning about some of their powers, specifically to forgive sins and through the power of the Holy Spirit, change ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus. This work is done through Reconciliation and the Holy Eucharist - two sacraments that should be received often. They are a source of great grace and position us well to handle the difficulty of living in this world that is filled with the temptation to sin.

New Words:

Pharisee, Publican, Contrition

In Class Activity:

We worked on our Reversible Forgiveness Badges and used white boards to begin privately thinking about our sins. Just as an eraser can wipe the board clean, so too through a good confession, our souls are made clean again. 

At Home Reinforcement Activity:

Practice saying the Publican's Prayer of Contrition:

God, be merciful to me a sinner.
God, cleanse me of my sins and have mercy on me.
I have sinned without number, forgive me, O Lord.

Also, have your child explain the Reversible Forgiveness Badge that we made in class today. Think of ways that it might be used in your home as an instrument of peace and more straight forward communication.