Sinfulness and Reconciliation

LEARNING STRAND: SACRAMENT AND WORSHIP

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

FOR CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND 10F TEACHER GUIDE THE LOGO The logo is an attempt to express Faith as an inward and outward journey.

This faith journey takes us into our own hearts, into the heart of the world and into the heart of Christ who is God’s love revealed.

In Christ, God transforms our lives. We can respond to his love for us by reaching out and loving one another.

The circle represents our world. White, the colour of light, represents God. Red is for the suffering of Christ. Red also represents the Holy Spirit. Yellow represents the risen Christ.

The direction of the lines is inwards except for the cross, which stretches outwards.

Our lives are embedded in and dependent upon our environment (green and blue) and our cultures (patterns and textures).

Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, is represented by the blue and white pattern.

The blue also represents the Pacific…

Annette Hanrahan RSCJ

The Return of the Prodigal Son, c1668. Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606–1669) GETTY IMAGES

UNDERSTANDING FAITH

YEAR 10

This book is the Teacher Guide to the following topic in the UNDERSTANDING FAITH series

10F SINFULNESS AND RECONCILIATION

TEACHER GUIDE

© Copyright 2003 by National Centre for Religious Studies

No part of this document may be reproduced in any way, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, without prior permission of the publishers.

Imprimatur: † Leonard Boyle DD Bishop of Dunedin Episcopal Deputy for Religious Studies October 2002

Authorised by the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Published by: National Centre for Religious Studies Catholic Centre P O Box 1937 Wellington New Zealand

Printed by: Printlink 33-43 Jackson Street Petone Private Bag 39996 Wellington Mail Centre Lower Hutt 5045

Māori terms are italicised in the text. The first time a

Māori term occurs its English meaning appears in

brackets after it. A Māori glossary at the back of the

book gives a more detailed explanation of these terms and provides a guide for their pronunciation.

CONTENTS

Introduction to the Topic ...... 2

Part One: The Power of Sin ...... 28

Part Two: Seeking Wholeness ...... 42

Part Three: Healing Sin in the Old Testament ...... 49

Part Four: Jesus – The Perfect Healer ...... 56

Part Five: The Church – The Sign of Christ’s Forgiveness ...... 68

Part Six: The Sacrament of Reconciliation ...... 74

Part Seven: Healing Ourselves and Others ...... 86

Glossary of General Terms ...... 100

Glossary of Māori Terms ...... 107

Acknowledgements ...... 111

1

TOPIC 10F: SINFULNESS AND RECONCILIATION

LEARNING STRAND: SACRAMENT AND WORSHIP

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

This book contains the teacher material for Topic 10F “Sinfulness and Reconciliation” which forms the Sacrament and Worship Strand of the Understanding Faith programme at year ten.

The study of topics in the Sacrament and Worship Strand is intended to deepen students’ understanding of the way in which the mysterious reality of Te Atua (God) is revealed through signs of ordinary things and people, and especially through the Sacraments of the Church. It is also intended to promote understanding of public and personal modes of worship.

This teacher material should be read alongside the following:

• The Religious Education Curriculum Statement for Catholic Secondary Schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. • The student resource book for 10F “Sinfulness and Reconciliation”. • The student write-on activities for 10F “Sinfulness and Reconciliation” in the year ten student workbook. • The supplementary material and activities on the website.

This topic deals with two great realities – the presence of sin in human life and God’s freeing us from the power of that sin through the life, death and Te Aranga (Resurrection) of Jesus.

Men and women were created in the image and likeness of Te Atua and given the freedom necessary to love God and love one another. But although “God is infinitely good and all God’s works are good” (CCC 385), brokenness and sin have been an inescapable aspect of human experience from the beginning of history – and the consequence of our misuse of that freedom which God gives us.

The purpose of this topic is to help students understand that although sin has a powerful and destructive hold on our lives and our world, it cannot prevent the building up of God’s reign that was revealed in Hehu Karaiti. Sin’s reach is not infinite – reconciliation and healing do take place, both in the events of our daily lives and through the Church.

The Scriptures present Jesus as the perfect healer and reconciler, the one who came to free people from sin: “… the lamb of God that takes away the

2 sin of the world” (John 1:29). Nga Rongopai (the Gospels) show that Jesus, through his words and actions, has an abiding concern for sin and a readiness to forgive and to heal (Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:5-12; Luke 5:20-26).

Hehu, after the Resurrection, passed on to the disciples – and through them to the Church – this responsibility for freeing people from the grip of sin:

“As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.”

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

“Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” (John 20:21-23)

The importance of the forgiveness of sins in the life of the first Christians can be seen in the emphasis given to it in the preaching of the Apostles (Acts of the Apostles 2:38; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18). Since it began the Church has always been a sign of hohou rongo (healing and reconciliation). Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation – which at different times has been variously known as Penance, Confession, Conversion or Forgiveness – the Church has continued to carry out the healing work of Hehu and be a living sign of God at work in the world.

The Church has always taught that reconciliation with Te Atua requires confession, contrition, penance and absolution. Even when Baptism was the only form of the sacrament, confession was expressed through the baptismal promises, contrition in terms of commitment to Christ, penance in Lenten preparation for the sacrament and absolution in the welcoming into the Church.

Once Reconciliation of Penitents began to be celebrated in the second or third century the emphasis was on Penance. With the shift to private confession the emphasis was on the absolution or reconciliation. Hence the changes in the name of the sacrament over the centuries. Contrition, being an internal matter, has been constantly required whatever external form te hākarameta (the sacrament) took.

ACHIEVEMENT AIMS

In this topic students will gain and apply knowledge, skills, values and attitudes to understand:

1. That brokenness and sin destroy our relationship with Te Atua and one another.

3 2. That through the life, death and Resurrection of Hehu Karaiti, we are freed from the power of sin. 3. The importance given to healing and reconciliation in Scripture, in the life of the Church, and in our lives.

ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

1. Recognise the impact of sin in our world and understand its origins in the misuse of human freedom and the failure to love Te Atua and one another. 2. Develop an understanding of the deep human desire for wholeness, unity and peace and recognise ways in which forgiveness from sins is expressed in different cultures, including the Jewish tradition. 3. Understand that through his life, death and Te Aranga, Jesus freed people from the power of sin and offered them healing and reconciliation. 4. Recognise that Hehu instructed and empowered the Church to be a sign of his healing presence in the world, especially through the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. 5. Develop an understanding of the present forms of the Rite of Reconciliation and their structure. 6. Identify ways in which they can bring Christ’s forgiveness to our world.

CHURCH TEACHINGS AND LINKS WITH CHURCH DOCUMENTS

Underpinning the six achievement objectives for the topic are important teachings of the Church. Where possible direct links with the Catechism of the Catholic Church have been established and quotations used to highlight the relationship between the various achievement objectives and the Church teachings that they embody. On occasions, other Church documents are referred to and quoted.

In all cases the official translations of Church documents have been used, but where necessary changes have been made so that the language is gender inclusive.

Achievement Objective 1

Students will be able to recognise the impact of sin in our world and understand its origins in the misuse of human freedom and the failure to love Te Atua and one another.

Church Teaching

• God is infinitely good and all God’s creation is good.

4 • Sin is an inescapable aspect of human experience which has been present from the beginning of human history. • Sin comes from the misuse of human freedom and the failure to love God and one another. • Scripture presents the consequences of the first sin in the Genesis account of Adam and Eve. • The first (original) sin destroyed the harmony of the relationships between humankind and God, humankind and creation, and among and within humankind themselves – it also brought death to the world. • Following the first sin, Scripture presents a world that is overtaken by sin. • Sin can express itself in words, actions or desires that damage our relationship with Te Atua, ourselves or other people. • Mortal sin involves a complete and deliberate turning away from God’s love and a total break in a person’s relationship with their Creator. • Venial sin is a less serious rejection of God’s aroha (love) – it weakens a person’s relationship with God but does not destroy it.

Catechism and Church Document Links

God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to the limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil. Where does evil come from? "I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution", said St. Augustine, and his own painful quest would only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For "the mystery of lawlessness" is clarified only in the light of the "mystery of our religion". The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of grace. We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror. (CCC 385)

Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must first recognise the profound relation of humankind to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history. (CCC 386)

Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and particularly of the sin committed at humankind's origins. Without the knowledge Revelation gives of God we cannot recognise sin clearly and are tempted to explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc. Only in the knowledge of God's plan for humankind can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another. (CCC 387)

5 Although set by God in a state of righteousness, men and women, enticed by the evil one, abused their freedom at the very start of history. They raised themselves up against God, and tried to attain their goal apart from him. Although they had known God, they did not glorify him as God, but their senseless hearts were darkened, and they served the creature rather than the creator. What revelation makes known to us is confirmed by our own experience. For when people look into their own hearts they find that they are drawn towards what is wrong and are sunk in many evils which cannot have come from their good creator. Often refusing to acknowledge God as their source, men and women have also upset the relationship which should link them to their final destiny; and at the same time they have broken the right order that should exist within themselves as well as between them and other people and all creatures. (The Church in the Modern World 13)

They are therefore divided interiorly. As a result, the entire life of women and men, both individual and social, shows itself to be a struggle, and a dramatic one, between good and evil, between light and darkness. People find that they are unable of themselves to overcome the assaults of evil successfully, so that everyone feels as if in chains. (The Church in the Modern World 13)

These divisions are seen in the relationships between individuals and groups, and also at the level of larger groups: nations against nations and blocs of opposing countries in a headlong quest for domination. At the root of this alienation it is not hard to discern conflicts which, instead of being resolved through dialogue, grow more acute in confrontation and opposition.

Careful observers, studying the elements that cause division, discover reasons of the most widely differing kinds: from the growing disproportion between groups, social classes and countries, to ideological rivalries that are far from dead; from the opposition between economic interests to political polarisation; from tribal differences to discrimination for social and religious reasons. Moreover, certain facts that are obvious to all constitute as it were the pitiful face of the division of which they are the fruit and demonstrate its seriousness in an inescapably concrete way. Among the many other painful social phenomena of our times one can note:

• The trampling upon the basic rights of the human person, the first of these being the right to life and to a worthy quality of life, which is all the more scandalous in that it coexists with a rhetoric never before known on these same rights. • Hidden attacks and pressures against the freedom of individuals and groups, not excluding the freedom which is most offended against and threatened: the freedom to have, profess and practise one's own faith. • The various forms of discrimination: racial, cultural, religious, etc. • Violence and terrorism. • The use of torture and unjust and unlawful methods of repression. • The stockpiling of conventional or atomic weapons, the arms race with the spending on military purposes of sums which could be used to alleviate the undeserved misery of peoples that are socially and economically depressed.

6 • An unfair distribution of the world's resources and of the assets of civilisation, which reaches its highest point in a type of social organisation whereby the distance between the human conditions of the rich and the poor becomes ever greater. The overwhelming power of this division makes the world in which we live a world shattered to its very foundations.

Moreover, the church without identifying herself with the world or being of the world is in the world and is engaged in dialogue with the world. It is therefore not surprising if one notices in the structure of the church herself repercussions and signs of the division affecting human society. Over and above the divisions between the Christian communions that have afflicted her for centuries, the church today is experiencing within herself sporadic divisions among her own members, divisions caused by differing views or options in the doctrinal and pastoral field. These divisions too can at times seem incurable.

However disturbing these divisions may seem at first sight, it is only by a careful examination that one can detect their root: it is to be found in a wound in humankind’s inmost self. In the light of faith we call it sin: beginning with original sin, which all of us bear from birth as an inheritance from our first parents, to the sin which each one of us commits when we abuse our own freedom. (Reconciliation and Penance 2)

Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness. They become afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image – that of a God jealous of his prerogatives. (CCC 399)

The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to humankind. Because of men and women, creation is now subject "to its bondage to decay". Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: men and women will "return to the ground", for out of it they were taken. Death makes its entrance into human history. (CCC 400)

After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin. There is Cain's murder of his brother Abel and the universal corruption which follows in the wake of sin. Likewise, sin frequently manifests itself in the history of Israel, especially as infidelity to the God of the Covenant and as transgression of the Law of Moses. And even after Christ's atonement, sin raises its head in countless ways among Christians. Scripture and the Church's Tradition continually recall the presence and universality of sin in human history. (CCC 401)

Sin is an offence against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbour caused by a perverse attachment to

7 certain goods. It wounds human nature and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law". (CCC 1849)

Sin is an offence against God: "Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in your sight". Sin sets itself against God's love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Like the first sin, it is disobedience, a revolt against God through the will to become "like gods", knowing and determining good and evil. Sin is thus "love of oneself even to contempt of God". In this proud self-exaltation, sin is diametrically opposed to the obedience of Jesus, which achieves our salvation. (CCC 1850)

To choose deliberately – that is, both knowing it and willing it – something gravely contrary to the divine law and to the ultimate end of man is to commit a mortal sin. This destroys in us the charity without which eternal beatitude is impossible. Unrepented, it brings eternal death. (CCC 1874)

Venial sin constitutes a moral disorder that is reparable by charity, which it allows to subsist in us. (CCC 1875)

Achievement Objective 2

Students will be able to develop an understanding of the deep human desire for wholeness, unity and peace and recognise ways in which forgiveness from sins is expressed in different cultures, including the Jewish tradition.

Church Teaching

• Men and women genuinely long to mend divisions, heal wounds, and re-establish unity and peace. • Reconciliation will only be effective and complete when there is a healing of sin – the root of all other wounds. • The Ten Commandments, which set out the responsibilities of men and women to Te Atua and to neighbour, are essential to an understanding of sin in both the Jewish and the Christian traditions. • On the Day of Atonement sacrifices were performed at the Temple in Jerusalem and a scapegoat was released for the forgiveness of sins. • In a number of psalms, King David – or whoever was the psalmist – expressed sorrow for sin and celebrated God’s forgiveness.

Catechism and Church Document Links

Nevertheless, that same inquiring gaze, if it is discerning enough, detects in the very midst of division an unmistakable desire among people of good will and true Christians to mend the divisions, to heal the wounds and to re- establish at all levels an essential unity. This desire arouses in many people a real longing for reconciliation even in cases where there is no actual use of this word.

8 Some consider reconciliation as an impossible dream which ideally might become the lever for a true transformation of society. For others it is to be gained by arduous efforts and therefore a goal to be reached through serious reflection and action. Whatever the case, the longing for sincere and consistent reconciliation is without a shadow of doubt a fundamental driving force in our society, reflecting an irrepressible desire for peace. And it is as strongly so as the factors of division, even though this is a paradox.

But reconciliation cannot be less profound than the division itself. The longing for reconciliation and reconciliation itself will be complete and effective only to the extent that they reach in order to heal it that original wound which is the root of all other wounds: namely sin. (Reconciliation and Penance 3)

The Ten Commandments state what is required in the love of God and love of neighbour. The first three concern love of God, and the other seven love of neighbour. (CCC 2067)

The Ten Commandments belong to God's revelation. At the same time they teach us the true humanity of man. They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights inherent in the nature of the human person. The Decalogue contains a privileged expression of the natural law:

From the beginning, God had implanted in the heart of humankind the precepts of the natural law. Then God was content to remind men and women of them. This was the Decalogue. (CCC 2070)

Jesus acknowledged the Ten Commandments, but he also showed the power of the Spirit at work in their letter. He preached a "righteousness [which] exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees" as well as that of the Gentiles. He unfolded all the demands of the Commandments. "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill' . . . But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment." (CCC 2054)

The Council of Trent teaches that the Ten Commandments are obligatory for Christians and that the justified person is still bound to keep them; the Second Vatican Council confirms: "The bishops, successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord . . . the mission of teaching all peoples, and of preaching the Gospel to every creature, so that all people may attain salvation through faith, Baptism and the observance of the Commandments". (CCC 2068)

… every year on the Day of Atonement the children of Israel ask God's forgiveness for their transgressions of the Law. (CCC 578)

David is par excellence the king "after God's own heart", the shepherd who prays for his people and prays in their name. His submission to the will of God, his praise, and his repentance, will be a model for the prayer of the people. His prayer, the prayer of God's Anointed, is a faithful adherence to the divine promise and expresses a loving and joyful trust in God, the only

9 King and Lord. In the Psalms David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the first prophet of Jewish and Christian prayer. The prayer of Christ, the true Messiah and Son of David, will reveal and fulfil the meaning of this prayer. (CCC 2579)

The Temple of Jerusalem, the house of prayer that David wanted to build, will be the work of his son, Solomon. The prayer at the dedication of the Temple relies on God's promise and covenant, on the active presence of his name among his People, recalling his mighty deeds at the Exodus. The king lifts his hands toward heaven and begs the Lord, on his own behalf, on behalf of the entire people, and of the generations yet to come, for the forgiveness of their sins and for their daily needs, so that the nations may know that He is the only God and that the heart of his people may belong wholly and entirely to him. (CCC 2580)

The Psalter's many forms of prayer take shape both in the liturgy of the Temple and in the human heart. Whether hymns or prayers of lamentation or thanksgiving, whether individual or communal, whether royal chants, songs of pilgrimage or wisdom meditations, the Psalms are a mirror of God's marvellous deeds in the history of his people, as well as reflections of the human experiences of the Psalmist. Though a given psalm may reflect an event of the past, it still possesses such direct simplicity that it can be prayed in truth by men of all times and conditions. (CCC 2588)

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to understand that through his life, death and Resurrection, Jesus freed people from the power of sin and offered them forgiveness, reconciliation and healing.

Church Teaching

• God loves sinners and longs to heal all within us that separates us from Te Atua. • Jesus is the greatest sign of God’s forgiveness. • As the Son of God, Jesus exercised the power to forgive sins. • During his public life Hehu forgave sinners and made it clear they were members of the community of God’s people by sharing meals with them. • In proclaiming the reign of God, Jesus called upon people to repent and believe in Te Rongopai. • Through his death and Resurrection Karaiti frees us from sin and brings us to new life.

Catechism and Church Document Links

Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, "The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" and exercises this divine power: "Your sins are forgiven". Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. (CCC 1441)

10 During his public life Jesus not only forgave sins, but also made plain the effect of this forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God's forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God. (CCC 1443)

Jesus gave scandal above all when he identified his merciful conduct toward sinners with God's own attitude toward them. He went so far as to hint that by sharing the table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. But it was most especially by forgiving sins that Jesus placed the religious authorities of Israel on the horns of a dilemma. Were they not entitled to demand in consternation, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” By forgiving sins Jesus either is blaspheming as a man who made himself God's equal, or is speaking the truth and his person really does make present and reveal God's name. (CCC 589)

Jesus calls to conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the kingdom: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel”. In the Church's preaching this call is addressed first to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel. Also, Baptism is the principal place for the first and fundamental conversion. It is by faith in the Gospel and by Baptism17 that one renounces evil and gains salvation, that is, the forgiveness of all sins and the gift of new life. (CCC 1427)

The Paschal mystery has two aspects: by his death, Christ liberates us from sin; by his Resurrection, he opens for us the way to a new life. This new life is above all justification that reinstates us in God's grace, "so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life". Justification consists in both victory over the death caused by sin and a new participation in grace. It brings about filial adoption so that men become Christ's brethren, as Jesus himself called his disciples after his Resurrection: "Go and tell my brethren". We are brethren not by nature, but by the gift of grace, because that adoptive filiation gains us a real share in the life of the only Son, which was fully revealed in his Resurrection. (CCC 654)

Achievement Objective 4

Students will be able to recognise that Hehu instructed and empowered the Church to be a sign of his healing presence in the world, especially through the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Church Teaching

• The Church is a sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that Christ brings to the world. • By giving the Apostles the power to forgive sins, Hehu gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. • The Church expresses God’s forgiveness of sins liturgically through the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance.

11 Catechism and Church Document Links

Christ has willed that in her prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which he charged with the "ministry of reconciliation". The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God". (CCC 1442)

In imparting to his apostles his own power to forgive sins the Lord also gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. This ecclesial dimension of their task is expressed most notably in Christ's solemn words to Simon Peter: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven". "The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of the apostles united to its head." (CCC 1444)

Sin is before all else an offence against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reason conversion entails both God's forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. (CCC 1440)

Achievement Objective 5

Students will develop an understanding of the present forms of the Rite of Reconciliation and their structure.

Church Teaching

• When people come to the Sacrament of Reconciliation they receive God’s mercy and are reconciled with the Church. • At different times the Sacrament of Reconciliation has been known by different names – Conversion, Penance, Confession, and Forgiveness. • The form in which the Church has celebrated the forgiveness of sins has varied considerably over the centuries. • The fundamental structure of the sacrament has remained essentially the same – the actions of the penitent (contrition, confession and carrying out the penance) and Te Atua acting through the Church as expressed in the person of the priest (the offering of forgiveness, determining the penance, prayer, absolution). • The prayer of absolution expresses the essential aspects of the sacrament. • The Sacrament of Reconciliation usually involves a greeting and blessing, the reading of Te Kupu a Te Ariki (the Word of God), the confession of sins, the giving of a penance, the priest’s absolution, a prayer of thanksgiving and praise, a dismissal and blessing.

12 • The Sacrament of Reconciliation can take three approved forms: individual confession by a penitent to a priest, individual confession within the framework of a communal celebration, and, in the case of grave necessity, a communal celebration of reconciliation with general confession and general absolution

Catechism and Church Document Links

"Those who approach the Sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offence committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labours for their conversion." (CCC 1422)

It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin. (CCC 1423)

It is called the Sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction. (CCC 1423)

It is called the Sacrament of Confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" – acknowledgment and praise – of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man. (CCC 1424)

It is called the Sacrament of Forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace". (CCC 1424)

It is called the Sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the life of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God". He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother". (CCC 1424)

Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the first centuries the reconciliation of Christians who had committed particularly grave sins after their Baptism (for example, idolatry, murder, or adultery) was tied to a very rigorous discipline, according to which penitents had to do public penance for their sins, often for years, before receiving reconciliation. To this "order of penitents" (which concerned only certain grave sins), one was only rarely admitted and in certain regions only once in a lifetime. During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the "private" practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the possibility of repetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of this sacrament. It allowed the forgiveness of grave sins and

13 venial sins to be integrated into one sacramental celebration. In its main lines this is the form of penance that the Church has practised down to our day. (CCC 1447)

Beneath the changes in discipline and celebration that this sacrament has undergone over the centuries, the same fundamental structure is to be discerned. It comprises two equally essential elements: on the one hand, the acts of the person who undergoes conversion through the action of the Holy Spirit: namely, contrition, confession, and satisfaction; on the other, God's action through the intervention of the Church. The Church, who through the bishop and his priests forgives sins in the name of Jesus Christ and determines the manner of satisfaction, also prays for the sinner and does penance with him. Thus the sinner is healed and re-established in ecclesial communion. (CCC 1448)

The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He effects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church: God, the Father of mercies, through the death and the resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (CCC 1449)

Like all the sacraments, Penance is a liturgical action. The elements of the celebration are ordinarily these: a greeting and blessing from the priest, reading the Word of God to illuminate the conscience and elicit contrition, and an exhortation to repentance; the confession, which acknowledges sins and makes them known to the priest; the imposition and acceptance of a penance; the priest's absolution; a prayer of thanksgiving and praise and dismissal with the blessing of the priest. (CCC 1480)

The Sacrament of Penance can also take place in the framework of a communal celebration in which we prepare ourselves together for confession and give thanks together for the forgiveness received. Here, the personal confession of sins and individual absolution are inserted into a liturgy of the Word of God with readings and a homily, an examination of conscience conducted in common, a communal request for forgiveness, the Our Father and a thanksgiving in common. This communal celebration expresses more clearly the ecclesial character of penance. However, regardless of its manner of celebration the Sacrament of Penance is always, by its very nature, a liturgical action, and therefore an ecclesial and public action. (CCC 1482)

14 In case of grave necessity recourse may be had to a communal celebration of reconciliation with general confession and general absolution. Grave necessity of this sort can arise when there is imminent danger of death without sufficient time for the priest or priests to hear each penitent's confession. Grave necessity can also exist when, given the number of penitents, there are not enough confessors to hear individual confessions properly in a reasonable time, so that the penitents through no fault of their own would be deprived of sacramental grace or Holy Communion for a long time. In this case, for the absolution to be valid the faithful must have the intention of individually confessing their grave sins in the time required. The diocesan bishop is the judge of whether or not the conditions required for general absolution exist. A large gathering of the faithful on the occasion of major feasts or pilgrimages does not constitute a case of grave necessity. (CCC 1483)

"Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile themselves with God and the Church, unless physical or moral impossibility excuses from this kind of confession." There are profound reasons for this. Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He personally addresses every sinner: "My son, your sins are forgiven." He is the physician tending each one of the sick who need him to cure them. He raises them up and reintegrates them into fraternal communion. Personal confession is thus the form most expressive of reconciliation with God and with the Church. (CCC 1484)

Achievement Objective 6

Students will be able to identify ways in which they can bring Christ’s forgiveness to our world.

Church Teaching

• We bring Christ’s healing presence to our world when we act as neighbours towards our brothers and sisters, and respect and love our enemies.

Catechism and Church Document Links

Today, there is an inescapable duty to make ourselves the neighbour of every individual, without exception, and to take positive steps to help a neighbour whom we encounter, whether the neighbour be an elderly person abandoned by everyone, a foreign worker who suffers the injustice of being despised, a refugee, an illegitimate child wrongly suffering for a sin of which the child is innocent, or a starving human being who awakens our conscience by calling to mind the words of Christ: “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers or sisters, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). (The Church in the Modern World 27)

The teaching of Christ even demands that we forgive injury, and the precept of love, which is the commandment of the New Law, includes all our enemies:

15 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy’. But I say to you, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you; and pray for those who persecute and calumniate you” (Matthew 5:43-44). (The Church in the Modern World 28)

Christian prayer extends to the forgiveness of enemies, transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of Christian prayer; only hearts attuned to God's compassion can receive the gift of prayer. Forgiveness also bears witness that, in our world, love is stronger than sin. The martyrs of yesterday and today bear this witness to Jesus. Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the reconciliation of the children of God with their Father and of men with one another. (CCC 2844)

ORGANISATION OF THE TOPIC

For teaching purposes the material in this topic is organised into seven sections each of which is linked to one of the achievement objectives:

Part One: The Power of Sin Achievement Objective 1

Part Two: Seeking Wholeness Achievement Objective 2

Part Three: Healing Sin in the Old Testament Achievement Objective 2

Part Four: Jesus – The Perfect Healer Achievement Objective 3

Part Five: The Church – The Sign of Christ’s Forgiveness Achievement Objective 4

Part Six: The Sacrament of Reconciliation Achievement Objective 5

Part Seven: Healing Ourselves and Others Achievement Objective 6

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Each learning outcome for the topic is derived from one or more of the achievement objectives. The learning outcomes identify what students are expected to learn as they work through each section of the topic.

While teachers must ensure that the learning outcomes for the topic are covered so that all of the achievement objectives for the topic are met, it is not intended that students work through every task or activity, nor that every achievement objective is assessed.

Teachers should select a range of tasks appropriate for their students’ interests and abilities and well-matched to their own teaching style.

16 Learning outcomes for each of the seven sections of the topic are listed at the beginning of the appropriate part.

LINKS WITH OTHER LEARNING AREAS

Topic 10F “Sinfulness and Reconciliation” in so far as it deals with relationship issues, has clear links to an area of the New Zealand Curriculum such as Health and Social Sciences.

Teachers of Religious Education are encouraged to establish whether the Achievement Aims and Objectives for this topic can be linked with those of the Health and Social Sciences Curricula as they are delivered at your school.

The co-ordinators of your school’s Health and Social Sciences programmes may have resources that could be useful for teaching this topic.

LINKS WITH OTHER TOPICS IN UNDERSTANDING FAITH

Topic 10F “Sinfulness and Reconciliation” has links with other topics in the Religious Education Curriculum, especially those covered in year nine.

Topic 9E “Creation and Co-Creation” introduces the concept of de-creation by examining those stories in the Book of Genesis which deal with the origin and spread of sin – the disobedience of Adam and Eve, Cain’s murder of Abel, Noah and the Flood, and the Tower of Babel.

Topic 9G “Recognising Signs of God” introduces Penance (Reconciliation) as one of the seven sacraments of the Church.

MĀORI SPIRITUALITY IN THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CURRICULUM

In Aotearoa New Zealand Māori spirituality is an essential dimension of the Religious Education Curriculum.

Māori students in Catholic schools have a right, supported by Church teaching, to have the faith explained to them in a culturally relevant way, using those traditional Māori concepts, beliefs and values which are still part of the life of Māori today. For example, te ao wairua (the spiritual world), Atua, tapu, mana, noa (free from tapu restrictions), hohou rongo (the restoring of tapu and mana), whānau, te wā (time). It is not sufficient to present the faith to them in wholly European terms while ignoring the riches of the Māori religious traditions and their belief system – this would be an alienating experience for Māori. Pope John Paul II himself affirmed the authenticity and integrity of Māori spirituality when speaking to tangata whenua (the people of the land) during his visit to this country in 1986:

17 “It is as Māori that the Lord calls you, it is as Māori that you belong to the Church, the one body of Christ.”

Since 1840 we have been a nation with two streams of culture as expressed in our founding document, Te Tiriti o Waitangi – the Treaty of Waitangi. The partnership, communication and mutual respect implied in the Treaty can only exist if there is mutual understanding. For Pakeha, such an understanding is impossible without an appreciation of the Māori culture’s underlying spirituality. There is also great potential for the enrichment of the spirituality of Pakeha young people when they are given the chance to develop an awareness and understanding of the Māori faith vision and belief system. All young people in Catholic schools, therefore, should be given the opportunity to understand key aspects of the culture and spirituality of Māori.

THE USE OF MĀORI LANGUAGE IN THIS PROGRAMME

The first time a Māori word or phrase appears in a particular topic, either in the teacher material or the student texts, it is followed by its English equivalent which is placed inside brackets. In most cases the meaning of the Māori terms can be worked out from the context in which they appear.

A glossary which gathers together all the Māori terms used in a particular topic is provided. This glossary often explores the Māori concepts in greater depth than is possible in the brief descriptions that appear in the teacher material and student texts.

THE USE OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

In recent years, as it has become clearer to psychologists and educationalists that different students have different strengths and learn best in different ways, the long established view that intelligence is a single underlying general ability characteristic has been challenged. Various theories of multiple intelligences have been proposed. Background material on multiple intelligences and their application in Religious Education is contained in the Curriculum Statement.

The following ideas may be useful for Religious Education teachers who wish to create their own activities and resources across seven of the intelligences.

The ideas have been adapted from Book One of Seven Ways At Once: Classroom Strategies Based on the Seven Intelligences by Helen McGrath and Toni Noble (Melbourne: Longman, 1995). This is an excellent resource that suggests ways in which teachers can translate the theory of multiple intelligences into classroom practice.

An eighth intelligence – naturalist or environmental – has been recognised more recently. Suggested activities for this intelligence are also listed.

18

Word Intelligence

Some Useful Verbs: Write Tell Listen Spell Discuss Read Summarise Brainstorm Re-tell Debate Argue Review Interview Narrate Instruct List Explain

Some Interesting Products: Talk on a topic Myth / legend Story Script Play Poem Essay Menu Newspaper Directions Diary / journal Letter Sentences Dialogue Story reading Review Newsletter Headline News report Headline Limerick Booklet Recipe Slogan Instructions Cartoon caption Word search Book Riddle Definitions Advertisement Report Monologue Proverb Audiotaped story Summary Fax Written interview Brochure text Lyrics Reading circle Anagrams Dictionary Joke Crossword Radio programme Sequel / next episode

Space and Vision Intelligence

Some Useful Verbs: Draw Sketch Construct Sculpt Illustrate Create Design Print Read map Make game Photograph Film Videotape Make Paint Visualise Doodle

Some Interesting Products: Map Sketch Drawing Mural Painting Poster Pop-up book / card Plan Timeline Flowchart Venn diagram Maze Diorama Construction Slideshow Display Guided imagery Photograph Stage set Mobile Illustration Screen printing Overhead Sign Overhead transparency Perspective drawing Collage Story map Tangram Chart Card game Calligraphy Design Graph Diagram Cartoon Symbol Print Logo Board game Videotape Frieze Stage set Colour scheme Scroll Banner Brochure Pamphlet

19

Body Intelligence

Some Useful Verbs:

Act out Mime Dance Move like Interpret Exercise Walk Juggle Choreograph Demonstrate Manipulate Visit Fix Make model Perform Build Construct Find

Some Useful Products:

Charades Floor games Roleplay Mime Creative drama Puppet play Demonstration Models Creative movement Gestures Movements Dance Human sculptures Choreography Body and mouth percussion Excursion Playing musical and non-musical instruments

People Intelligence

Some Useful Verbs:

Co-operate Interview Survey Teach Research (people) Encourage Team up to Lead Organise Perform Play Help Negotiate Mentor Mediate Act Decide together Discuss Work in pairs Listen Communicate Role play Give feedback Tutor Predict (behaviour) Collaborate Take turns Explain Persuade Sell Convince Manage

Some Interesting Products:

Interviews Survey Biography Play Class presentation Morning talk Social skills Speech Groups Group games Co-operative learning Leadership skills Conference Collaborative evaluation sheet Sociogramme Oral presentation Performance Games Class meeting Team logo Advertising campaign Role play Interview Tutoring Dialogue Marketing plan Simulations Mentoring Peer support programme

20

Self Intelligence

Useful Verbs:

Give opinion Rank Choose Record Describe Reflect Self-assess / evaluate Self-analyse State Set goals Meditate Discuss Dream Self-disclosure

Useful Products:

Personal goals Learning Goals Reflection sheet Values Autobiography Self-portrait Opinions Personal timeline Interests list Self-description Personal scrapbook Strengths list Family tree Personal reactions Journal Diary Self-assessment Dreams ‘Think’ book ‘I can’ book Preferences Fears Self-evaluation Personal logo Personal opinions Prayer Learning journal Feelings statements Meditation Similarities and differences to others

Music Intelligence

Some Useful Verbs:

Rhyme Sing Play Compose Hum Beat out Tap Create Chant Whistle Rap Record

Some Useful Products:

Jingle Song Lyrics Sounds Soundscape Sound story Musical mnemonic Chant Composition Sound effects Musical score Hymn Mood music Musical play Musical tape Rap Recording of environmental sounds Sound-off Tune

21

Logic and Maths Intelligence

Some Useful Verbs:

Survey Solve Group Explain Justify Draw to scale Plan Apply Analyse Sequence Carry out Test Experiment Find out Categorise Classify Prove Hypothesise Predict Order

Some Useful Products:

Solution Problem Experiment Pattern Result Estimates Sequence Survey Measurement Code Story ladder Story map Explanation Similarities Differences Data Graph Grid Table Chart Justification Concept map Classification Theme Attributes Scale drawing Prediction Strategy Commonalities Deduction Hypothesis

Naturalist or Environmental Intelligence

Some Useful Activities:

Going on field trips and nature walks Forecasting and tracking the weather Observing the sky, clouds, stars, and space Walking in natural surroundings Reporting on nature videos Listing attributes of objects Recording changes or development over time Photographing nature Devising classifications Sorting and categorising items Caring for plants and animals Using graphic organisers Reconstructing the natural setting in a historical place Predicting the effects of extreme natural phenomena

22 CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING STYLES AND ACTIVITIES

The principles of co-operative learning are compatible with the aims and philosophy of Catholic schools.

The use of co-operative strategies in learning creates an environment in which students work together in ways that encourage and respect the contribution of all, and ensures their success. Meeting the needs of each individual student in this way is central to the Special Character of Catholic schools.

Co-operative learning is becoming a feature of all Essential Learning Areas in the curriculum but it is especially appropriate in Religious Education where its aims and outcomes are particularly desirable.

Simple explanations of co-operative learning activities are outlined below, but there are many excellent publications on this teaching and learning style available from educational bookshops.

The difference between co-operative learning groups and traditional groups is that they are structured in such a way as to ensure the success of each group member. The following elements are essential to co-operative learning.

1. Positive Interdependence – students understand that their individual success depends on the success of the group. 2. Face-to-Face interaction – students face each other so they can both learn from each other and be involved in the interaction. 3. Individual Accountability – all members of the group need to be clear about their task and their role and that they need to contribute their share if the group is to work successfully. 4. Small Group Skills – students learn collaborative skills effectively, that is, they communicate, share and co-operate well. 5. Group processing – students are helped to evaluate how effectively their group worked.

The teacher structures the groups and includes students of a mixed range of abilities in each group. Each person in the group has a part to play. It is important to use Wait Time (3 seconds) after a question has been asked and after a response has been given.

SUGGESTIONS FOR CO-OPERATIVE LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Teachers are encouraged to apply the following co-operative learning activities throughout the topic according to the task requirements and the needs and abilities of the students.

Timed Talking 1. Establish your pairs and nominate 1s and 2s in each pair so they will know the order of speaking.

23 2. Give the pairs the topic or question. 3. Have partners recall the important points of the topic or question in turn on a signal from the teacher. 4. Say “Go” and give the first speaker a fixed time, say 45 seconds. Then say, “change” and the second speaker is given a fixed time. Times and the number of turns can be varied to suit the topic or question and the ability of the class. 5. Pairs share their ideas with the whole group by telling one point they shared until the topic is complete. (Optional)

Think Pair Share 1. Students listen to a question. 2. Students have time to think about what was said. 3. Students turn to a partner and pair their ideas, discuss, ask a question, give an opinion and challenge ideas. 4. Students share ideas with other pairs, then large group.

Think Pair Square 1. Students in squares listen to a question. 2. Students take time to think about the question. 3. Students in their square turn to a partner and share their ideas, discuss, ask a question, give an opinion and challenge ideas. 4. Students share ideas with other pairs, then large group.

Team Reports: Inside / Outside Circle 1. Students work in an even number of groups preparing a presentation. 2. Groups pair off around the room facing each other forming an Inside/Outside Circle. 3. All Inside Circle groups present simultaneously to Outside Circle groups. 4. The Outside Circle groups then give specific feedback to their Inside Circle group stating what they liked and learned. 5. All Outside Circle groups give their presentations followed by feedback from Inside Circle groups. 6. Groups work on own presentation again to make any improvements. 7. Rotate. Teacher asks Outside Circle groups to right face and rotate one ahead to another team. Inside Circle groups stay put. 8. Teams repeat steps 3 – 5.

Team Mates Consult 1. Group appoints reader and checker. 2. All put pens down – preferably in a central container on table. 3. Reader reads first question, and group seeks answer through research or discussion. 4. Checker ensures that the whole team agrees with and understands the answer they have given to the question. 5. With agreement all pick up their pens and write the answer to the question in their own words – no dictation by one student to others.

24 6. Students follow the same process for each question. Those on the left of the previous reader and checker become the new reader and checker. 7. Teacher asks any student to share answers with the class.

Numbered Heads Together 1. One student needs to be a checker in each group. 2. Students are numbered off in groups. 3. Teacher asks question or sets task and time limit. 4. Students put their heads together and work on task – everyone must know the answer – checker asks if everyone understands. 5. Teacher or student calls a number and the child who has that number raises their hand and answers. 6. Further questions can be asked and different numbers called upon to answer but all numbers must be able to answer. 7. Giving students think time before putting heads together is also useful.

Roundtable 1. Students sit in groups of four with a large piece of paper with the question on it. 2. The paper is passed around the table as each student has a turn at writing what they think with help from others if necessary. 3. When the chart has been around the table and all have had a turn students can move on to another group and repeat the process or they can share what they have done with the class.

Team Statements 1. Think Time. Teacher announces topic and allows 20 seconds of Think Time. 2. Pair Discussions. Students pair and discuss their thoughts. 3. Individual Write. Students individually write one sentence on the topic. 4. Roundrobin. Students read their sentences to their team roundrobin with no comments. 5. Team Discussion. Team discusses ideas they have heard. 6. Consensus and Share. Team comes to a consensus on a team statement and shares it with the class. 7. Team Discussion: Compare Statements. Team discusses their statement in relation to other team statements.

Expert Jigsaw 1. Students form groups and number themselves 1, 2, 3 etc. around the group. (Determine the size of these groups according to how many students will profitably work together at the end of the exercise.) 2. All the 1s join together, all the 2s, and the 3s etc. to create new groups. 3. The new group researches a topic or completes an activity.

25 4. Each group has a different aspect of a topic in which to become an expert. 5. 1s, 2s and 3s then return to their original group and present their new knowledge.

Doughnut 1. Sit the group in a circle. 2. Number each person 1, 2, 1, 2, etc. around the circle. 3. Ask them to discuss the question in pairs. 4. After 5 minutes or more (depending on the question) ask the 1s to move two or more positions around the circle and continue the discussion with the partner of the person whose seat / place they now occupy. 5. This can be repeated until the 1s return to their seats. 6. Calculate the number of seats / places to be missed to give four or five moves.

This activity ensures that all class members have to speak and helps them to meet others.

Brain Drain 1. A reporter is appointed in each group. 2. When reporting back the reporter stands up and contributes one idea from their group. 3. The reporter from each group does the same in turn. 4. No ideas can be repeated. 5. The reporter sits down when their “brain is drained”. 6. The teacher records all the contributions.

Back to Back 1. Two students sit back to back. 2. One student has a picture; the other has a pencil and a blank piece of paper. 3. The student with the picture describes slowly in detail what he / she sees in the picture. 4. The student with the pencil and paper sketches what he / she perceives to be the picture – allow 5 to 10 minutes. 5. When the picture is completed students compare the picture and the sketch and discuss what has been included, what has been missed and what the picture is about. 6. An alternative is for one important detail to be left out of the description of the picture. On completion the effect this has had on the picture is discussed.

T Chart 1. Give the chart a heading as indicated in the lesson and draw a large T below it. 2. Below the bar of the T write LOOKS LIKE on the left and SOUNDS LIKE on the right. 3. Students give examples beneath each heading.

26 Telephone Exercise 1. Students form several teams. 2. One student from each team steps out of the room. 3. The teacher reads a short story or article to the class. 4. The students return to the classroom and join their team. 5. Teammates teach the student everything they can about the story or article. 6. That student answers questions about the story or article. 7. The team assesses themselves on how well they listened to, taught and learned about the message of the story or article. 8. Students discuss anything they missed or could do better.

27

PART ONE: THE POWER OF SIN

Achievement Objective 1

Students will be able to recognise the impact of sin in our world and understand its origins in the misuse of human freedom and the failure to love Te Atua and one another.

Church Teaching

• God is infinitely good and all God’s creation is good. • Sin is an inescapable aspect of human experience which has been present from the beginning of human history. • Sin comes from the misuse of human freedom and the failure to love God and one another. • Scripture presents the consequences of the first sin in the Genesis account of Adam and Eve. • The first (original) sin destroyed the harmony of the relationships between humankind and God, humankind and creation, and among and within he tangata (humankind) themselves – it also brought death to the world. • Following the first sin, Scripture presents a world that is overtaken by sin. • Sin can express itself in words, actions or desires that damage our relationship with God, ourselves or other people. • Mortal sin involves a complete and deliberate turning away from God’s aroha and a total break in a person’s relationship with their Creator. • Venial sin is a less serious rejection of God’s love – it weakens a person’s relationship with Te Atua but does not destroy it.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic students will:

• Identify situations where evil is present in our world. • Distinguish between original, personal and social sin and describe their impact on our lives. • Recognise that human emotions in themselves are neither good nor bad but that a person’s response to their feelings can lead to wholeness or brokenness.

Teacher Background

Scripture and Sin The Bible uses many words when speaking of sin. It is described in the Old Testament as hatta (“missing the mark”), pesha (“transgression of orders” or

28 “revolt against superiors”), and awon (“guilt stemming from iniquity”). Jesus himself saw that sin was something that comes from the heart:

“It is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean. For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.” (Mark 7:20-23)

But the essence of all sin is that it is a rejection of God’s values. As a result of sin, people find themselves cut off from Te Atua. Sin is the root cause of all that is wrong in the world.

Original Sin and the Presence of Evil in our World Christians believe that God is infinitely good and that everything God created reflects God’s great goodness. Yet we live in a world where it is impossible to ignore evils on a massive scale – wars, ethnic genocide, bombings, terrorism, famine, and poverty. It is natural for men and women to ask how evil came into the world and into their own lives.

The Catholic Church explains the presence of evil in the world in terms of original sin – a condition of evil into which all men and women are born. According to Scripture, this evil has its source at the beginning of human experience, in the actions of the first humans, Adam and Eve (Genesis 3).

Genesis 3 is a metaphor for how sins alienates. When Adam and Eve accept the temptation offered by the snake, something fundamental goes wrong. What follows from their action is vivid and decisive. Adam and Eve find themselves expelled from Paradise, living east of Eden in a world in which they must work, struggle to survive and where they experience pain. The stories that follow in chapters four to eleven of Genesis describe the deepening consequences. In the next generation the first murder occurs when Adam and Eve’s son Cain kills his brother Abel. Violence and evil soon come to dominate the world to the extent that God decides to send a flood to destroy all life except for that on Noah’s ark, so that creation can be renewed. But the cycle of sin begins again. In the story of the tower of Babel when humans try to build a tower that reaches into the heavens God overturns their effort and humankind is fragmented into a “babble” of different languages.

The events in these chapters of Genesis tell us that something has gone greatly wrong. Though the world is still beautiful, life that began in Paradise is now lived outside the Garden of Eden, in an exile of hard labour, suffering, pain, violence, fragmentation and death.

Over the centuries theologians have given various explanations as to the exact nature of original sin. At its heart the original or first sin involved a decision to turn away from God, the source of life. The consequence of doing so was human alienation – from God, from self, from other humans, and from the environment.

29 Each succeeding generation experiences original sin as a condition of being human, one that causes us to feel that our freedom and our very lives are somehow limited, restricted or incomplete. As Elizabeth Johnson says, we recognise “that we are born into an ambiguous world where the force of sin impinges on us as quickly as the force of love”.

The effect of original sin is expressed in the pull towards selfishness that alienates us from our deeper selves, from others, from the world around us, and from Te Atua. Because of original sin, humans will always experience struggle and suffering as part of life. The doctrine of original sin also tells us that the mystery of evil is greater than our individual selves and that there is more evil in the world than that which we personally cause.

The power of original sin pulls us in the direction of selfishness and separateness, but God continues to be present in our lives and in the world. God’s presence within us moves us to give ourselves to others and to be mutually dependent on them.

While the reality of original sin makes it difficult for us to rise above the power of evil, through God’s aroha, which is active within us, we are able to live lives of justice, truth and peace. This is because, as Saint Paul says, God’s grace is stronger than sin:

“But however much sin increased, grace was always greater …” (Romans 5:20)

For Christians, the power of original sin is decisively overcome by the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who makes it possible for humans to experience once again the fullness of God’s life and love.

Sin as Law-Breaking There was a time when many Catholics thought of sin primarily in terms of breaking the law – God’s law as set out in the Ten Commandments, Church law as contained in the Church’s rules and regulations, or the natural laws as expressed in moral teachings. Sin was like a crime, where the transgression of a law made an action sinful.

Catholic theology now emphasises that this legal model for understanding the moral life and sin is deficient. The demands of being a faithful follower of Jesus, of living according to the vision and values of the Gospel, require more than what can be prescribed by law. Responsibility rather than obligation is the primary characteristic of the moral life.

Laws will always be necessary to help us live together well, but they cannot possibly cover all the decisions that we have to make and don’t by themselves address the important realities of the heart, such as our attitudes, intentions, and ways of seeing things. Jesus reminds us that what comes from the heart is what makes a person sinful. Sinful actions are like the tip of an iceberg being held above the surface by a wayward heart (see Isaiah 29:13; Mark 7:21; Matthew 23:25-26; Luke 6:45).

30 The legal model also tends to make the moral life too centred on the individual self. Sin affects me and my salvation. Saving my soul through obedience is the guiding moral principle according to this model. This, however, neglects the important relational dimensions of sin and conversion. As St. Paul teaches, no one lives for oneself (Romans 14:7). As the Body of Christ, we suffer together and rejoice together (1 Corinthians 12:26-27). Because we share a common world, we are part of a network of relationships that joins each of us in responsibility to others and to all of creation. We violate these relationships when we create discord, dissension, fear, mistrust and alienation.

Sin is Relational Today, Scripture and theology emphasise the importance of covenant, heart and conversion as the primary moral concepts. Responsibility rather than obligation is now the primary characteristic of the moral life. Shifts in philosophy emphasise the dignity of persons and the value of sharing life in society. Together these new understandings support a relational model of the moral life, where personal responsibility is emphasised in order to protect the bonds of peace and justice that sustain human relationships.

Far from doing away with sin, contemporary theology admits that sin is very much with us and touches us more deeply than we realise. Greed, violence, corruption, poverty, hunger, sexism and oppression are too prevalent to ignore.

Sin in its root sense means to be disconnected from Te Atua through the failure to love. Sin begins with a selfish heart and a refusal to care before it shows itself in actions. Because loving God and loving our neighbour are all tied together, sin will always be expressed in and through our relationships.

Every sin, either directly or indirectly, causes harm to others. As Scripture says:

"None of us lives for oneself, and none of us dies for oneself." (Rom 14:7)

"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." (1 Corinthians 12:26-27)

A contemporary approach to sin emphasises how sin affects the quality of life and aroha in our relationships. Sin is any action or omission that hinders, violates or breaks right relationships which support human well-being. While paying attention to another's needs enhances their well-being, sin, by contrast, turns a person away from the needs of others and sets the person against them. Self-serving interests destroy the bonds of peace and justice that ought to sustain us.

31 The following diagram emphasises the contrast between the legal and the relational models of sin:

Legal Understanding of Sin Relational Understanding of Sin

Law oriented Value oriented

Minimalist Quality of relationships

Act centred Conversion

What am I doing? What am I becoming?

Social Sin In the past many Catholics have tended to see sin as something very personal – entirely between oneself and God. The biblical wisdom that sin hurts the life of the entire community has often been forgotten. Now Catholics are becoming more aware that personal sins have social consequences. For example, lying does not just offend God, it also damages the bonds of trust that hold a community such as a family or school together. The Church teaches that personal sins lead to sinful social structures, and sinful social structures encourage personal sins. Whenever there are sinful social structures there is always some agreement among members of the community, usually tacit, to follow a particular sinful practice. People agree to create or maintain structures that do harm. Today, Catholics are paying more attention to those social structures and customs which keep sinful practices in place.

One clear example of a rising social consciousness can be seen in Pope John Paul II's 1995 "Letter to Women." Here he publicly acknowledges sexism as a social sin and then goes on to apologise to women for the ways the Church has complied in denigrating women, misrepresenting them, reducing them to servitude and marginalising them from society.

The term social sin is used to describe human-made structures which offend human dignity by causing people to suffer oppression, exploitation or marginalisation. These include educational systems, housing, employment and immigration policies, tax structures, health-care systems, and the market economy. Once established, social structures and customs take on a life of their own. The social sin of racism, for example, has continued and still continues long after slavery was abolished. Obstacles to adequate education, to housing, to work, sometimes even to voting, still remain.

People learn to live in a world with these structures and presume that the social customs which they hold in place are good, traditional customs. For this reason, social sin is difficult to recognise and to change. Yet the evil of sinful social structures is seen in all forms of discrimination, racism and sexism, in the exploitation of migrant workers, in the illiteracy and

32 homelessness of the poor, in the lack of basic health care for all, in the manipulation of consumers by the manufacturing practices, advertising, pricing policies and packaging of goods, and in many other practices which we continue to support more out of ignorance than evil intent. Social sin prevails to the extent that it does mainly because we fail to name social evils and try to correct them. An element of personal responsibility is at the root of unjust and sinful social structures.

The moral teachings of the prophets (Isaiah 58:6-8) and of Hehu (the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7) tell us that faith and personal piety without active commitment to justice are not what Te Atua wants.

When we become aware of structural evils, we should not be paralysed by the guilt of self-condemnation, but moved to conversion. Conversion from social sin involves, at one level, changing our own lifestyle in ways that will help reform society. We cannot do everything to end the structures that support sexism, for example, but we can do some things, for instance, curbing our use of exclusive and insensitive language. We can influence others' attitudes through the ways we talk to and about one another. At another level, conversion from social sin involves examining existing regulations and practices, reforming those that offend human dignity.

Personal Sin The Church distinguishes the degrees of seriousness of personal sins by using the terms mortal and venial sins.

Catholics traditionally have been taught that for sin to be mortal, three conditions have to be met:

1) serious matter 2) sufficient reflection 3) full consent of the will.

Before we can speak of mortal sin in its truest sense, these criteria need to be applied to the action and to the person involved.

The relational model of the moral life helps us to understand sin primarily as an expression of the person in relationship, not simply as breaking the law.

Mortal sin Mortal sin is a serious break in a relationship of love with God, neighbour, world and self. It is a radical rejection of God and others. It happens when a person refuses to live in a positive, life-giving way. Just as acts of heroism and extraordinary generosity are evidence of a person’s capacity to follow God, so calculated acts committed with evil intentions are evidence of a person’s capacity to reject God at a very deep level. Mortal sin involves a moral evil done by a person who is supremely selfish and committed to making evil, not goodness, the characteristic mark of his or her life.

33 It is easy to look for mortal sin in those who choose to make crime, extortion or greed a way of life, but we are warned by Jesus not to judge the sin of another. No one can ever know for sure just by looking from the sidelines whether a particular act of evil is a mortal sin or not. Only God is in a position to know more about a person's knowledge, freedom and fundamental disposition. The Church has never taught that anyone is, in fact, in hell as a consequence of mortal sin. At the same time the Church acknowledges that we all have the capacity to cut ourselves off from the source of life that is God.

Venial sin While mortal sin radically reverses a person’s relationship with God, the habit of unloving acts can weaken that relationship. Such acts are venial sins.

Venial sin often enters our lives when we fail to show genuine care for others, the environment and ourselves. While these selfish acts do not radically turn us away from God, they are inconsistent with our basic commitment to be for life and for love.

Contemporary notions of sin emphasise the Gospel's call to conversion in and through the web of life's relationships. The more clearly we can recognise God's presence and love in these relationships, the more clearly we can recognise our venial sins, and the more seriously we can take them. Without recognising our sinfulness, we cannot grow in converting to the demands of love.

God is Merciful Balancing the Christian’s awareness of sin is their faith in God's aroha and mercy. Christians do not believe that Te Atua wants us to be weighed down with a distorted sense of guilt and responsibility. Rather, we believe that we are called to participate more fully in the creative power of God calling us to reconciliation, to reconnect with our best selves, with others, with the world and with God.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an opportunity and invitation to heal the brokenness in our lives and to set relationships right.

Links with the Student Text

Workbook Activity: Our Broken World

This activity is a way of introducing students to the prevalence of sin and brokenness in our world. Students are asked to answer the following test, which is printed in their student workbooks, by circling the correct answers. The correct answers are indicated in bold below:

1. In 2001 the number of people died who died of AIDS-related illnesses worldwide was more than the total population of:

a) Aotearoa b) Australia c) Russia

34 2. About this many people die each day in the world from hunger or hunger related causes:

a) 10,000 b) 24,000 c) 56,000

3. The known number of executions in 1999 was 1,813 in 31 countries. The country that “legally” killed the most people was:

a) China b) Iraq c) the USA

4. The number of children under 14 worldwide who work in conditions dangerous to their health is around:

a) 20 million b) 40 million c) 80 million

5. By 2025 around 60,000 of the world’s plant species will be lost through environmental destruction. This amounts to:

a) 10% b) 25% c) 50%

6. Of the world’s major rivers what proportion are going dry or are badly polluted?

a) one-quarter b) around half c) three-quarters

7. The world’s population suffers from poor nutrition to the extent that:

a) 15% are vegetarian b) 25% eat too much c) 30% eat too little

8. Since the Second World War the United States has dropped bombs on:

a) fewer than 5 countries b) 10 countries c) over 20 countries

9. In 1999 the world’s 225 richest people had a combined wealth equal to the annual income of this percentage of the world’s population:

a) around 20% b) about 25% c) close to 50%

10. By the late 1990s the number of children dying worldwide of malaria (a preventable disease) was:

a) 1,000 per day b) 3,000 a day c) 5,000 a day

Workbook Activity: Something To Think About

This follows on from Workbook Activity: Our Broken World.

Students are asked to reflect on the following questions. This could occur individually or as part of a class or group discussion.

• What do these facts tell us about the presence of brokenness and evil in our world? • What responsibility do we each have for improving that part of the world we live in – our home, our school, and our neighbourhood?

35 Task One

Here students are asked to study the page of headlines, indicating the presence of both good and evil in our world, which appears in the Student Resource book.

Students are then asked to find their own headlines from newspapers and magazines that show:

• The presence of goodness in the world. • The presence of evil in the world.

This could be a homework activity or a classroom task. If it is a homework activity the teacher will need to ensure that students have access to newspapers or magazines. If it is a classroom task the teacher will need to provide these resources.

As an alternative homework activity the teacher could ask students to jot down evidence of good and evil from television programmes, such as the news.

Something to Discuss

This discussion follows on from the previous activity. Students are asked to consider the following questions:

• Is it easier to find evidence of good or evidence of evil in the media? • Why is this the case?

The media, including television, radio and newspaper, contains a much greater amount of “bad” news because people are more often attracted to what is negatively sensational – crime, violence, war, natural disasters, etc. What is genuinely good is often regarded as unremarkable or boring and does not usually feature in the media.

Task Two

This task ask students to complete seven statements about original sin by matching each statement’s ending in the right hand column with its beginning in the left hand column. Students should write down the numbers 1 to 7 and next to each put the correct letter of the alphabet.

The answers are as follows:

1. It is natural for people to ask how evil G. entered the world and became a part of human life.

2. Original sin is a way C. of explaining the presence of evil in the world.

36 3. Original sin goes back E. to the beginning of human experience.

4. Stories in the Book of Genesis explain the origins and spread of evil A. but do not give “facts” about what actually happened.

5. Suffering and death are present in human life D. because of original sin.

6. The human tendency to selfishness B. is a result of original sin.

7. Original sin limits our F. human freedom.

Task Three

This task asks students to list some of the ways that sin or brokenness is present in everyday life:

• In their town or city • In their neighbourhood • At school • In their whānau • Among their friends • In themselves.

Task Four

This task deals with material contained in the passage Personal Sin that appears in the Student Resource book.

a) Students are asked to choose one sentence from Personal Sin that they think explains sin well. b) They should write out the sentence. c) Students should then explain why they think it is a good description of sin.

There are a number of sentences that students could choose to write out and explain as a good description of sin. Some of them are as follows:

• All of us are deeply touched by sin – our own sin and that of others. • Sin is a refusal to accept and respond to love. • When we sin we turn away from God, from others, from our true selves, and from the world. • Sin leaves us cut off and isolated from what is good. • Sin damages and destroys those right and healthy relationships that are necessary for our human well-being. • Sin can involve actions such as lying, cheating, or behaving in a violent way.

37 • It also occurs when we fail to act, turning a blind eye towards people who are experiencing poverty, hunger or discrimination. • Sin begins with a selfish heart and takes hold in a person’s life whenever they place their own selfish needs above the needs of others. • Sinful actions are often the result of unloving attitudes and values. • All sin weakens the right relationships between God, self, and others. • Some sin, because it involves a deliberate and complete rejection of God, is much more serious. • Jesus warned us never to judge the sin of another. • Only God is in a position to know how responsible a person is for their actions.

Something to Discuss

Serious sin involves a deliberate and complete rejection of God, self or others. a) This activity asks students to discuss the following situations and decide:

• Which are most likely to involve serious sin? • Why or why not?

∗ Refusing to share lunch with a hungry friend ∗ Holding up a bank with a loaded shotgun ∗ Taking an apple from a neighbour’s tree without asking ∗ Cheating in a test ∗ Forgetting to say prayers at night ∗ Spreading lies and gossip with the intention of damaging a teacher’s reputation and getting her / him fired ∗ Planning a murder ∗ Forcing a person to have sex ∗ Neglecting to do the dishes and tidy the house ∗ Changing the channel when world problems such as poverty and war are shown on TV. b) Students are asked to come up with other situations that might involve serious sin.

The situations that are most likely to involve serious sin (a deliberate and complete rejection of God, and others) are:

• Holding up a bank with a loaded shotgun • Spreading lies and gossip with the intention of damaging a teacher’s good reputation and getting her / him fired • Planning a murder • Forcing a person to have sex.

38 These situations involve serious sin because they put the lives and well-being of other people in great danger. The actions attack the fundamental dignity of the human person – especially their right to life and to freedom.

Other situations that students might identify as involving serious sin would be murder, theft, abortion, and adultery.

For a sin to be mortal it must involve a very significant (grave) issue. It also requires the full knowledge and complete consent of the person carrying out the sinful action.

Workbook Activity: Exploring Feelings

This activity enables students to explore their feelings. Six small balloons containing the names of various feelings and emotional states are printed in the student workbook. There is also a large balloon in which students are required to write.

Students are required to: a) Tick those feelings listed in the small balloons that they have experienced in the past week. b) In the large balloon name any other feelings they have experienced recently. c) Look through the feelings they have identified and decide whether they regard them as:

• Negative • Mildly negative • Neutral • Mildly positive • Positive.

Something to Think About (Workbook)

Following on from Workbook Activity: Exploring Feelings students are asked to think about the following questions:

• Were any feelings hard to sort? • Why?

It may be appropriate for students who wish to share their responses in pairs or small groups. Other students may opt not to share.

39 At the end of the exercise it is important for the teacher to establish the following points about the place of feelings / emotions in our lives:

• Feelings are an integral aspect of our lives • Feelings vary in intensity and value • Feelings in themselves are neither good nor bad • It is a person’s response to his or her feelings which leads to wholeness or brokenness, good or evil.

“Emotions are neither good nor bad in themselves – or rather the emotion itself is good; what we do as a result of our feelings may be either good or bad, depending on whether our reaction approaches the ideal of the human thing to do or moves away from that ideal. It is true that we often think of anger, hatred, envy, disgust, and so on, as bad because what people do under the stress of these emotions is often contrary to the human thing to do. But the emotion itself is not bad; it is the uncontrolled behaviour that is bad, or not the really human thing to do.” Understanding Christian Morality by Ronald J Wilkins (Dubuque: William C Brown, 1972)

Task Five

This task asks students to identify the attitude leading to sinful social structures that is involved in each of the following situations. The answer for each situation appears in bold at the end of each case study.

A. Barry is sixty-three years B. Rosie wants to attend old and a good employee. The university but her family company he works for is believes that it is more putting pressure on him to important that her brother retire because they believe a goes, as men with degrees are younger, trendier “look” will more likely to earn a higher improve sales. Ageism wage than women with the same qualifications. Sexism

C. Dean used to enjoy being part of the youth group in his parish but ever since a visiting speaker told the group that gay people are a threat to society and have no place in parish life Dean has felt unwelcome. Homophobia

D. When Lee applies for a E. Mr and Mrs Jones are

position as a supervisor at a always buying new things. The

youth camp the interviewing kids have all the latest gear but

panel tell her that although her don’t get to spend much time

qualifications are excellent Kiwi with their parents because they

kids won’t identify with her are too busy earning money to

Asian background. Racism buy more stuff. Materialism

40 Something to Think About

Here students are asked to:

• Think of other examples of racism, sexism, ageism, materialism and homophobia. • Other attitudes that lead to sinful social structures.

Students should be able to come up with plenty of examples of racism, sexism, ageism, materialism and homophobia.

Other examples of attitudes that lead to sinful social structures include:

• Competitiveness and a “me first” attitude – the belief that getting ahead and being number one are all-important. • A “quick fix mentality” – the belief that the quickest possible escape from problems or pain is the best solution. • The acceptance of violence – the belief that physical or psychological harm to others is an acceptable means of getting one’s way.

Something to Do

Students are required to design a poster that warns against one of the social sins – for example, racism, sexism, ageism, materialism and homophobia. They may wish to include an appropriate quote from Scripture on their poster.

The teacher will need to ensure that the materials necessary for this activity (paper, newspapers, magazines, coloured pens, scissors, glue, etc.) are available.

41

PART TWO: SEEKING WHOLENESS

Achievement Objective 2

Students will be able to develop an understanding of the deep human desire for wholeness, unity and peace and recognise ways in which forgiveness from sins is expressed in different cultures, including the Jewish tradition.

Church Teaching

• Men and women genuinely long to mend divisions, heal wounds, and re-establish unity and peace. • Reconciliation will only be effective and complete when there is a healing of sin – the root of all other wounds.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic students will:

• Understand the ways in which different cultures heal the effects of sin and celebrate forgiveness. • Recognise signs of reconciliation in our daily lives.

Teacher Background

Among men and women there is a deep desire to mend divisions, heal wounds, and re-establish unity and peace – within themselves, with others, with the world around them, and with God. All cultures have developed ways, not only of explaining, but also of healing the wounds caused by sin.

Te Houhou Rongo – the Restoring of Tapu Māori see sin as a violation of tapu (the sacred) and mana (power and authority). The healing of divisions comes through hohou rongo (reconciliation).

The real sign of a person's mana and tapu is not that person's power to destroy other people, but that person's power to manaaki (to care for and look after) other people. The best way to build up one's own mana and tapu, is not to destroy other people, but to recognise them, welcome them and show them fitting hospitality, and to tautoko (to support) them in the issues they take up.

There are many cases where manaaki and tautoko have not been shown, where instead the tapu of the human being has been violated. There can be violations of tapu whenever people meet. These occur between individuals, within families, within tribes and between peoples – for example, the refusal of successive New Zealand governments to fully recognise the Treaty of Waitangi is a continuing violation of the tapu of the Māori as a people.

42 For Māori, there can be no true peace until the violated tapu has been restored. This is done through hohou rongo, the making of peace in which the violations are acknowledged and the tapu itself is restored and acknowledged. This is done as a matter of tika, (what is right), not just as a matter of aroha (love). It is a need which arises from the very nature of our being, and therefore of our tapu.

There are many people throughout the world who are poor, who are oppressed, who are marginalised, who are in prison, who are downtrodden in many different ways. A recognition of the tapu of all things, and especially of the tapu of te tangata (the human person), calls for hohou rongo, a gathering together and binding of all the chips and pieces, and a renewal, a restoring and making young again, of all that has been broken. Then people can stand tall again.

Rere mai te maramara koi hopiri, koi hotau. Rere mai te mangamanga, koi hopiri, koi hotau. Toro tika! E tu te maota, hee!

Fly together chips and shavings, stick fast together, hold fast together: Fly together bits of branches, stick fast together, hold fast together: Stretch straight upwards! Look the young green tree stands!

The principles of hohou rongo can be seen operating today in marae justice. Here the victim and their whānau confront the offender and their whānau. The offender and the whānau take responsibility for the crime, and work to find a point of reconciliation, to restore the mana of the victim and their whānau.

Ifoga and Hu Louiti Ifoga is a traditional Samoan practice where the family of a wrongdoer shows remorse and asks for forgiveness from the victim’s family. It occurs when a serious crime, such as murder, has been committed. It involves members of the family of the wrongdoer going over to the family of the victim and sitting outside their village or house with Samoan fine mats covering their heads. There they wait and see if the victim’s family will accept them. In the old days – and still in some situations today – this is a matter of life and death.

According to custom, two things can happen. Either the victim’s family accepts the apology or they will come out and kill members of the wrongdoer’s family on the spot. In the past, the wrongdoer’s family would also take along with them firewood and umu (Samoan oven) stones – symbols of death. They would put the firewood and stones in front of the victim’s house to show the family of the victim that they were willing to die for their family member’s crime. The wrongdoer’s family will sit outside in the sun or rain for as long as it takes the victim’s family to deliberate and come to an agreement about what to do. People are known to sit for hours, and in rare events days, awaiting forgiveness although the longer they sit the more the obligation goes on the offended party to accept the apology.

43 If the ifoga is accepted by the family of the victim, the Talking Chief of the victim’s family will come out and give the acceptance speech and invite the wrongdoer’s family inside the village or house. In the past, the wrongdoer’s family, as a form of retribution, would present the fine mats that they had used to cover themselves with and other gifts to the victim’s family. Today, a wrongdoer’s family might offer to pay for the funeral of the victim.

The Samoan ifoga can avoid further hostilities between families and possible revenge. After an ifoga is accepted the two families will continue their daily routines as if nothing had happened.

Although ifoga is still practised and revered to this day in Samoa, the western judicial processes will still occur and the wrongdoer will be prosecuted and punished. In both New Zealand and Samoa the fact that an ifoga has been performed is admissible in court cases when it comes to sentencing guilty people.

Throughout the Pacific, reconciliation practices based on an acknowledgement of guilt occur. Like ifoga, these are deeply moving and almost always lead to reconciliation. Tongans have hu louiti, but it is less common. When a cabinet minister publicly disgraced himself several years ago he later made a formal hu louiti to King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. This involved donning the leaves of a particular tree and presenting the king with a roasted pig and a kava plant.

In many situations people are less formal now and saying sorry over the phone is acceptable.

Links with the Student Text

Task Six

This task requires students to choose words from the box to explain hohou rongo:

hohou rongo tapu mana whānau hapū tika pono aroha manaaki tautoko

Students could orally explain hohou rongo to each other in pairs or write their explanation in three or four sentences.

The following is an example of what students might say:

Hohou rongo is a way of restoring tapu and mana when it has been weakened or destroyed by abuse, violence, deceit, neglect or insults. This will often happen at a gathering of whānau or hapū where a facilitator will assist with the reconciliation process.

44 Healing comes about through tika (justice), pono (integrity and faithfulness) and aroha. Practical ways of building up tapu and mana are to manaaki other people and to tautoko them in the issues that are important to them.

Something to Discuss

• Here students are presented with two situations involving restorative justice. They are asked to say how they show hohou rongo.

Two young boys were killed in Auckland when they were struck by a car driven by an unlicensed 20 year-old driver. In a moving television report the young driver and his family were shown being accepted with open arms and forgiven by the families of the two boys. The driver still went to prison as a result of his actions but healing did take place, and bitterness and revenge were avoided. The well-being of the community was restored.

Veronica stole $4279.07 from the supermarket where she worked. When her crime was discovered Veronica immediately apologised to Tom, the owner of the supermarket, and offered to repay the stolen amount. She explained that she was the only person in her large household who had a job. As well as supporting her parents, brothers, a sister and a cousin, Veronica was making large contributions to her church. Tom was very disappointed by Veronica’s actions but didn’t want to see her labelled as a criminal for the rest of her life. In Court it was agreed that Veronica repay Tom the stolen money at the rate of $30 per week. Veronica’s family promised that they would no longer pressure her for money. Although it was not possible for Tom to continue employing Veronica he arranged another job for her through a business associate.

Restorative justice is a different way of dealing with crime. Instead of focusing on punishing the offender it sets out to restore well-being to the victim, the offender and the community. Restorative justice helps heal the pain of crime and reduce re-offending.

The situations described are examples of restorative justice in that they emphasise restoration and healing between wrongdoer and victim rather than punishment.

In many indigenous cultures – including traditional Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Australian aboriginal and Celtic societies – a common, important, sometimes over-riding aspect of justice was healing the hurt of the victim, rebuilding relationships and restoring the offender to full membership of society. In these cultures restitution and compensation rather than punishment was the aim.

45 In the first of the above situations hohou rongo takes place when the young driver and his family meet with the families of the boys he has killed. The two families’ forgiveness of their sons’ killer is shown in their welcoming of the young man with open arms.

In the second of the situations hohou rongo begins when Veronica apologises to Tom, the owner of the supermarket, and offers to repay the stolen amount. Tom, by accepting Veronica’s apology, by being open to her offer to pay the money back, and through his understanding of her family circumstances, allows the process of healing to continue. The Court, by arranging weekly repayments of the stolen money, supports the process of hohou rongo. Veronica’s family also play their part in the healing by agreeing not to pressure Veronica for money. Although it is not possible for Tom to continue employing Veronica he arranges another job for her through a business associate.

In both situations tapu and mana are restored through acts of justice, integrity and love. These acts of hohou rongo ensure that bitterness and revenge are avoided.

• Here students are asked to think of situations where they or those around them have experienced hohou rongo.

Answers will vary from student to student. Draw students’ attention to any situations at school (either pastoral or disciplinary) where the healing of relationships rather than punishment has been emphasised.

Something to Think About

Here students are asked to discuss why there is a need for hohou rongo in regard to the Treaty of Waitangi.

In the discussion it may be useful to emphasise the following points:

• When Māori chiefs and the British Crown signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840 Māori regarded the agreement as tapu. • Over generations, because the government of Aotearoa failed to keep the conditions of the Treaty, the tapu and mana of both Pakeha and Māori have been violated. • Only through hohou rongo can there be reconciliation and restoration of tapu and mana to both peoples.

Task Seven

Students are given a list containing six important aspects of ifoga and hu louiti. They are asked to arrange the six steps in the correct order.

The correct sequence is as follows:

• The wrongdoer is sorry for some past action.

46 • The wrongdoer approaches the person(s) they have offended. • The wrongdoer offers the offended person(s) a gift as a sign of their sorrow. • The offended person(s) either accepts the koha (gift)or not. • If the gift is accepted forgiveness is shown and the broken relationship is healed. • But if the koha is refused there is no forgiveness and the relationship remains damaged.

Something to Think About

In ifoga and hu louiti wrongdoers offer their most precious possessions to those they have offended in return for forgiveness.

This task asks students to identify a precious possession that they would offer in return for forgiveness.

Remind students that the possession doesn’t need to be valuable in monetary terms but must be something that is precious to them because of what it means personally.

Something to Do

Here students are asked to work in a group to plan and act out their own forgiveness ceremony. It follows on from Something to Think About (see above).

The teacher will need to draw the students’ attention to the characteristic stages of forgiveness ceremonies – that can be seen in the ceremonies of ifoga and hu louiti.

Some teachers may decide that their students do not yet have sufficient knowledge and experience to successfully undertake this activity at this stage of the topic. They may prefer that their classes work on the activity later in the topic – perhaps during Part Seven: Healing Ourselves and Others – when students have a more secure grasp of key aspects of the reconciliation process.

Workbook Activity: Signs of Reconciliation

Here students are presented with four illustrations of familiar actions that are recognised as signs of reconciliation: a) Students are asked to describe a situation where they might see each action / sign:

• Illustration One: Two people shaking hands. This would be more common between two males and might occur after an argument, disagreement or fight has been resolved.

47 • Illustration Two: Two people embracing. This sign of reconciliation would be more common between two people who are already emotionally close, for example a husband and wife, family members, close friends, etc.

• Illustration Three: A sign saying “Treaty – let’s get it right”. A treaty is usually signed to show that an agreement has been reached between two countries or two sovereign parties – as was the case with the Treaty of Waitangi. Treaties are signed at the end of a war to set out the terms of peace or in other situations where the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved need to be made clear.

• Illustration Four: The absolution of a young person by a priest during the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Here the priest’s raised hand above the head of the young person indicates that the person’s sins are forgiven and that a right relationship has been restored between the person, the Church and God. b) Here students are asked to reflect on other actions that are signs of reconciliation in our world. They should draw one of them and describe a situation where it is likely to be seen.

Possible actions that are signs of reconciliation include: a kiss, writing a letter of apology, saying “I’m sorry”, a loving look, giving a gift such as flowers or chocolate etc.

48

PART THREE: HEALING SIN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Achievement Objective 2

Students will be able to develop an understanding of the deep human desire for wholeness, unity and peace and recognise ways in which forgiveness from sins is expressed in different cultures, including the Jewish tradition.

Church Teaching

• The Ten Commandments, which set out the responsibilities of men and women to Te Atua and to neighbour, are essential to an understanding of sin in both the Jewish and the Christian traditions. • On the Day of Atonement sacrifices were performed at the Temple in Jerusalem and a scapegoat was released for the forgiveness of sins. • In a number of psalms, King David, or the psalmist, expressed sorrow for sin and celebrated God’s forgiveness.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic students will:

• Understand the role of the Ten Commandments in setting out responsibilities to God and neighbour in the Jewish and the Christian traditions. • Describe how sacrifice and scapegoats were used in Old Testament times to free people from the effects of sin. • Recognise that the forgiveness of sins is celebrated in the psalms.

Teacher Background

Healing Sin in the Jewish Tradition The Jewish Scriptures tell the story of a people who, despite the destruction and suffering they experience as a consequence of sin, continue to turn to God in their need.

The Covenant – formally expressed between God and Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:5-6; 24:7-8) – lies at the heart of the relationship between God and the people of Israel. Through this alliance of friendship God expresses his loving care for humanity, despite humankind’s persistent sinfulness and failure to do God’s will.

The Covenant guaranteed that God would remain faithful to Israel as long as the chosen people kept the law that God gave them. The torah or “Law” was intended to be a guide to good relationships – with God and with other people. In it God tells the Israelites how they are to live, for their own good and well- being.

49 The guidance or instruction contained within the Law reflects God’s character – holiness, justice and goodness – and expresses God’s will. It gives to people the practical guidance they need in order to obey God’s command: “Be holy, as I am holy”. The Law was never intended to be a long list of dos and don’ts that made life a burden.

The Law, which is developed throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, is summed up in the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses at Mount Sinai. These were addressed to the whole nation of Israel and to every individual Israelite. They were not primarily rules for worship or religious occasions but covered every aspect of life.

Sin, in Old Testament times was closely connected with the Law. A particular action was deemed sinful or not depending on whether it contravened the Ten Commandments. However, over time various supplementary rules and regulations developed as an expansion of the Ten Commandments. Infringements of these rules and regulations, many of which related to diet, cleanliness, property, worship, justice, and human rights, also came to be regarded as sinful.

When a person sinned against someone else or against God, a sacrifice would be offered to cleanse the person concerned from the effects of that sin. The blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled as a sign that purification had occurred as a result of the sacrifice. Some of the sacrifice was taken as a food for the priest. When the worshipper saw the priest eat the meat without being harmed it was regarded as a sign that God had accepted this act of repentance.

Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the whole nation of Israel confessed their sin and asked for God’s forgiveness and cleansing. The high priest, dressed in white linen, first offered a sacrifice for his own sin and the sins of the priests, and then offered another sacrifice for the sin of the people. On this, the only day when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, he would sprinkle blood from the sacrifice in the inner, most sacred part of the Temple. He would then take a goat, known as the scapegoat, and after laying his hands on its head, he would send it out into the wilderness as a sign that the people’s sins had been taken away.

Psalm 32 Psalm 32 is one of seven penitential Psalms attributed to King David. As was the case with Psalm 51, Psalm 32 was probably written after David’s affair with Bathsheba – for which he was rebuked by the prophet Nathan (cf. 2 Sam 11:1-12:25). The context suggests a person with a broken and sorrowful spirit, who not only recognised his sinfulness, but who openly admitted his need of forgiveness from God.

David had stayed home instead of going out to battle. His idleness gave him an opportunity to start an affair with Bathsheba, the beautiful wife of Uriah, one of his soldiers, whom he had observed at a distance while she was bathing. Bathsheba becomes pregnant. David brings Uriah home from battle

50 and encourages him to spend a few nights with his wife so that people will think the baby is Uriah’s. But Uriah, being a professional soldier, sleeps in the guardhouse. David tries another plan. He sends a letter to his commander, Joab, with instructions that Uriah be sent where the fighting is fiercest and then left to die.

One thing has led to another. David’s lack of self-discipline has resulted in adultery, deceit and murder. At first David thinks he has hidden his crime, but God knows – and so does the prophet, Nathan. Nathan challenges David with the truth, and David, realising what he has done, repents before God with all his heart.

Bathsheba’s baby dies, but soon she and David have another son, Solomon, who in time succeeds David as king.

The heading calls this psalm a "Maschil", possibly meaning a poem of contemplation or meditation.

Psalm 32 begins with stating the happiness and joy of forgiveness, where God does not count a person’s sins against them, and in whose spirit there is no deceit (1-2).

David tells how when he remained silent he experienced both physical and emotional stress due to the guilt of sin itself and the fear that he had of God (3-4).

But when he confessed his sin to God, God forgave him. This prompts David to speak well of God, a source of protection easily found by the faithful in time of trouble, who will surround him with songs of deliverance (5-7).

The psalm ends with David (though some think it is God speaking) offering to instruct and teach one in the way he should go (cf. Psalm 51:13). With a caution not to be like the mule or horse which lacks understanding and must be drawn near, David contrasts the sorrows of the wicked with the mercy that will surround him who puts his trust in the Lord. This ought to cause the righteous to be glad in the Lord, and the upright in heart to shout for joy (8- 11).

Links with the Student Text

Something to Discuss

Students are provided with ten sentences, each of which gives an example of a situation where one of the Ten Commandments applies today.

Students are asked to work in a pair or small group. They need to decide which one of the Commandments applies to each of the given situations. The answers are as follows:

51 A. Each Sunday Jenny goes to Mass and spends some time thinking about the Gospel. (Third Commandment)

B. Bryce looks up to Jesus more than to sporting heroes or movie stars. (First Commandment)

C. When April talks about God she speaks with respect. (Second Commandment)

D. Ben avoids untrue talk about others. (Eighth Commandment)

E. When Wendy is mad with her brother she “cools off” instead of hitting him. (Fifth Commandment)

F. Sam is thankful for what he has and doesn’t seek to be as rich as the people next door. (Tenth Commandment)

G. Damien respects his mother’s opinion even though he doesn’t always agree with her. (Fourth Commandment)

H. When Erina finds a wallet containing $20 she hands it in at the school office. (Seventh Commandment)

I. Tupu respects his own body, including his sexuality. (Sixth Commandment)

J. Although Maria is attracted to John she does not act on her feelings because he is going out with Carrie, her best friend. (Ninth Commandment)

Task Eight

The Ten Commandments still guide Jews and Christians in their relationships with God, self and others. This task asks students to write a list of rules or commandments that guide them in their own lives. The following model is provided in the Student Resource book:

52

Rules for Each Day

1. Start the day by asking God for help. 2. Be patient with myself. 3. Do at least one kind thing for another person. 4. Be organised and on time at school. 5. Help around the house without complaining. 6. Encourage my friends. 7. Say thanks to Mum and Dad. 8. Play fair at sport. 9. Eat more fruit. 10. Thank God at the end of the day.

Task Nine

This task asks students to study three illustrations and to use the pictures to help them explain how people dealt with sin in Old Testament times. The illustrations are of:

• Sacrifice • The High Priest • The scapegoat.

Students are required to write two or three sentences to go with each picture. Here are some sample answers.

Sacrifice In Old Testament times, when a person sinned against God or someone else, a sacrifice would be offered to free the person from the effects of the sin. The blood from the sacrifice would be sprinkled as a sign that sin no longer had power over the person.

The High Priest Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest first offered a sacrifice for his own sin and the sins of the priests, and then offered another sacrifice for the sin of the people. He sprinkled blood from the sacrifice in the Holy of Holies, the most sacred part of the Temple.

The Scapegoat On the Day of Atonement the High Priest would take a goat, known as the scapegoat, and after laying his hands on its head, would send it out into the wilderness as a sign that the people’s sins had been taken away.

53 Task Ten

During his lifetime the great King David was often burdened down with guilt because of sins he had committed. A number of the psalms, attributed to David, request God’s forgiveness or give thanks for deliverance from sin. Psalm 32 is one of them.

This task focuses on the background to Psalm 32. Students are asked to read 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 to find out the background to this psalm and to answer the following questions:

a) What was David’s sin? David had stayed home instead of going out to battle. His idleness led him to start an affair with Bathsheba, the beautiful wife of Uriah, one of his soldiers, whom he had observed at a distance while she was bathing. Bathsheba becomes pregnant.

b) How did he try to cover it up? David tried to cover up his sin by bringing Uriah home from battle and encouraging him to spend a few nights with his wife so that people would think that the baby was Uriah’s. But Uriah, being a professional soldier, sleeps in the guardhouse. David tries another plan. He sends a letter to his commander, Joab, with instructions that Uriah be sent where the fighting is fiercest and then left to die.

c) How did his sin get him into trouble? David’s sin involved adultery, deceit and murder. At first David thought he had hidden his crime, but God knew and through the prophet, Nathan, challenged David with the truth. David, realising what he had done, repented before God with all his heart.

Task Eleven

This task asks students to:

• Find words in Psalm 32 that describe David’s condition before he confessed his sin and was forgiven. • Find words in Psalm 32 that describe David’s condition after he confessed his sin and was forgiven.

Words in the Psalm that describe David’s condition before he confessed his sin and was forgiven include:

• While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

54 Words in the Psalm that describe David’s condition after he confessed his sin and was forgiven include:

• Happy are those whose offence is forgiven, whose sin is taken away. • Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. • and you forgave the guilt of my sin. • You are a hiding-place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.

Extension Activity:

Here students are asked to write a psalm or poem of their own expressing their feelings before being forgiven and after they have been forgiven.

It may be useful to get students to brainstorm words that go with the two states of “before forgiveness” and “after forgiveness” as a preparation for their writing.

55

PART FOUR: JESUS – THE PERFECT HEALER

Achievement Objective 3

Students will be able to understand that through his life, death and Te Aranga, Jesus freed people from the power of sin and offered them forgiveness, reconciliation and healing.

Church Teaching

• God loves sinners and longs to heal all within us that separates us from Te Atua. • Hehu is the greatest sign of God’s forgiveness. • As the Son of God, Jesus exercised the power to forgive sins. • During his public life Jesus forgave sinners and made it clear they were members of the community of God’s people by sharing meals with them. • In proclaiming the reign of God, Jesus called upon people to repent and believe in the Good News. • Through his death and Resurrection Christ frees us from sin and brings us to new life.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic students will:

• Identify healing qualities possessed by Jesus and recognise characteristics of his ministry of reconciliation. • Locate and present situations from Scripture where Jesus demonstrated healing and forgiveness.

Teacher Background

Jesus and the Law Jesus challenged and disregarded some significant aspects of the traditional Old Testament Law. Early in Jesus’ ministry conflict over the Sabbath as a day of rest surfaced and remained a controversial issue. The Ten Commandments required that Jews keep the Sabbath as a day of rest, but for those who knew how, it was not difficult to get round it – and they did. The same thing applied to procedures for washing and eating food which were designed to ensure ritual purity.

On some occasions, Jesus challenged the establishment’s ways of doing things more directly – for example, when he took a whip and drove the merchants and bankers out of the Temple. Or when a woman caught in the act of adultery was brought to him, and he refused to support the death sentence for her – something that was clearly laid down in the Law. At the

56 same time he suggested that her accusers had sinned at least as much as she had. By questioning such things, Jesus was challenging the conventional understanding of the relationship between the Law and sin. Inevitably, those such as the Pharisees who saw themselves as guardians of the Law came to regard Jesus as a dangerous heretic.

However, Jesus was not doing away with the concept of sin. Rather, he was opposing the many rules and regulations with which the Pharisees surrounded God’s Law. Over time, this system had become so complex and demanding that ordinary people found it was impossible to keep from sinning. Those such as the Pharisees, who were scrupulous in keeping all the rules, looked down on others as second-class sinners, and despised them as spiritually corrupt and inferior. For Jesus to suggest that Te Rangatiratanga (the reign of God) was for people such as these, not only challenged the traditional concepts of sin but also questioned the very structure of society itself.

For Hehu, sin was something that came from the heart rather than something that arose from breaking dietary regulations:

“It is what comes out of someone that makes that person unclean. For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean” (Mark 7:20-23).

Jesus’ Call to Conversion and Repentance

Christians believe that Jesus is the greatest sign that we have of God’s life and aroha and the means by which the world is freed from the effects of sin.

Through his life, death and Resurrection Jesus shows us God’s great love for sinners and heals us of all that separates us from Te Atua. Jesus’ words and actions invited people into a new way of living. By rejecting violence, oppression and alienation and by restoring intimacy, trust, compassion, forgiveness, concern for justice and non-violence, Jesus introduced Te Rangatiratanga.

Reconciliation – conversion of heart, forgiveness of sin, and restoration of relationships – was central to the ministry of Jesus. Hehu came to call people to repentance:

“I have come to call not the upright but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

Repentance, which is described by the Greek word metanoia, suggests a “change of heart and mind”. To the Jews it involved someone turning away from their former way of thinking and acting, now recognised as wrong, and starting out in a new direction. It is not just sorrow for sin but a fundamental reorientation of a person’s whole life. Jesus required his followers not only to repent but also to believe the Gospel of forgiveness that he preached. He

57 emphasised his point with various parables, especially those in Luke 15 – the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. Jesus’ great commitment to the forgiveness of sins in the name of God can be seen in his friendship with outcasts and sinners whose company he welcomed (see Matthew 11:19). His actions, however, were criticised by scribes and Pharisees who were scandalised by Jesus’ association with those whom they considered unclean. When sinners do turn their lives around Jesus rejoices over their conversion.

“… I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner repenting than over ninety-nine people who have no need of repentance” (Luke 15:7).

Jesus takes a very different attitude towards those who are self-righteous and morally superior. He rejects the proud Pharisee (Luke 18:10-14), the elder brother who resents his father’s welcoming attitude to the prodigal son’s return (Luke 15:25-30), and the discontented labourers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-15). To those who proudly set themselves above others, Jesus stated that tax collectors and prostitutes would enter God’s Kingdom before they would:

“In truth I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the kingdom of God before you” (Matthew 21:31).

Jesus also accused the scribes and Pharisees of hypocrisy and of attempting to shut the door of heaven in people’s faces (Matthew 23:13). All of us, he warned, are useless servants (Luke 17:10), forever in God’s debt (Matthew 6:12). The words of Mary’s song (Luke 1:52) remind us that God will raise up the lowly and bring down the proud (Luke 14:11; 18:14). In his teaching about prayer Jesus asks us to pray that God will forgive us our sins – as we forgive those who sin against us.

Repentance remains a major requirement of Christian life. The early Church would continue Jesus’ ministry of forgiveness by emphasising the place of Baptism and the life of the Spirit that Baptism gives:

“You must repent,” Peter answered, “and every one of you must be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

Jesus’ Miracles of Healing and the Forgiveness of Sins The Gospels show that Hehu is always ready to heal physical suffering and disability. Jesus also heals inner brokenness, even when the person concerned is not aware of their need for healing. For example in all three reports of Jesus’ cure of the paralytic at Capernaum (Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 2:5-12 and Luke 5:20-26) there is mention of the forgiveness of sin, as well as of the physical disability.

In the New Testament accounts Jesus is first presented as a healer of physical distress. It is in the context of physical healing that Jesus’ forgiveness of sins occurs.

58 The Scriptures reveal that human brokenness is not only the result of physical forces but show that evil is present in the world largely as a result of human actions. The Gospels tells us that when Te Rangatiratanga is established there will be an end to destructiveness, suffering and death – all of which are ‘evil’ in the sense that they represent an alienation from Te Atua.

While a sick or suffering person is in no way evil, the very existence of disease and disaster are evidence that God’s plan for the world remains incomplete. Jesus’ miracles indicate how God relates to the world and are a sign of the breaking-in of the reign of God.

Jesus’ miracles always point to the reign of God. Through them Jesus turned around the lives of people just like us and brought them into the presence of the Father. The miracles show Jesus bringing people to whakapono (faith) and at the same time restoring the harmony that has been broken by sin in all its forms – alienation from Te Atua, from self, from others, and from nature. Jesus’ healings, exorcisms, and controlling of the forces of nature are signs that he has the power (and the intention) to free people from the domination of evil. Linked with the miracles is Jesus’ forgiveness of sins – his authority to heal the divisions at the heart of human experience.

Jesus’ Death and Freedom from Sin Jesus realised that his preaching of Te Rangatiratanga, including his call to repentance for the forgiveness of sins, would bring about his death.

As the early Church began to contemplate the life and death of Jesus in the light of his Resurrection, some of the New Testament writers presented the suffering and death of Jesus as atonement for human sin.

He had done nothing wrong, and had spoken no deceit. He was insulted and did not retaliate with insults; when he was suffering he made no threats but put his trust in the upright judge. He was bearing our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might die to our sins and live for uprightness; through his bruises you have been healed. You have gone astray like sheep but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls (1 Peter 2:22-25).

In saying that Jesus, during his crucifixion, bore the burden of our sins, Scripture is emphasising that Jesus’ life, death and Te Aranga freed us from sin and brought us new life. It does not mean that Hehu was marked out for death by the Father in order to atone or pay for sins or offences against God. Rather, Christians believe that Jesus’ death is an expression of God’s great aroha for us. Jesus, by freely choosing to suffer and die, was revealing God’s infinite compassion for humankind. His death shows us that we too are called to do good and resist evil, even in the face of great suffering:

There is a call to the Christian conscience here not to hide our face from evil, not to walk around it, or to pretend it is not there; but to face its massiveness in spite of our feelings of powerlessness or insignificance and to become involved in transforming it. Suffering

59 people are the privileged place where the God of compassion is to be found. Elizabeth A. Johnson, Consider Jesus: Waves of Renewal in Christology (New York: Crossroad, 1993) page 126.

Links with the Student Text

Something to Discuss a) This aspect of the task asks students to work with a partner to choose five qualities from a list provided that they would most look to find in a good healer.

Possibilities include:

• Respect for others and their dignity • A sense of justice • Compassion • A willingness to forgive • Fairness • Patience • Openness • Looking for the best in people • The ability to listen • A sense of hope. b) This part of the task asks students to work with a partner to choose five qualities from the list that would be least useful in a healer.

Possibilities include:

• The desire to force a solution • Fear of failure • Selfishness • Wanting to get things sorted quickly • The wish for peace at any cost • The belief that violence can improve situations • The view that the most powerful must be right • The ability to lie and cheat to reach a goal • Anger. c) Here students are asked to work with a partner to list other qualities that are important in a good healer.

These could include:

• The ability to identify the source of a problem • The ability to think through an issue • The ability to co-operate with and learn from others • Kindness

60 • Inner peace • Trust.

Students should be able to give reasons for their choices.

A Story to Listen To A good way to introduce Jesus in his ministry as healer is with the story of Ivar’s Experience which is printed below.

This story of Ivar emphasises that healing takes place through the re-telling of a person's life story. The interaction between the honesty of the storyteller and the patience and trust of the listener is at the heart of reconciliation. The king in the story exemplifies many of the essential qualities of Jesus. Ivar is like the people in the Gospel whom Jesus heals in that he needs to show faith and trust in the king before he can experience inner healing.

The story is printed below. Ask the students to listen to the story as the teacher reads it or photocopy the story and distribute it to the class so that they can read it themselves in pairs or groups.

The students are required to answer the following questions which are printed in their Student Resource books. The correct answer appears after each question.

1. In what way is Ivar broken? Ivar is broken because his brother deceived him and married Adney, a young woman whom Ivar had loved since childhood.

2. Why is he not able to heal his situation on his own? Ivar is not able to heal the situation on his own because he remains silent and will not say what is wrong.

3. List the various things the king does to help Ivar’s healing. Which of these is the most important in the healing process? • The king helps Ivar’s healing by gently and patiently asking Ivar questions and encouraging him to talk and disclose what is worrying him. • The king offers to take Ivar with him on his travels so that he can meet beautiful women who will satisfy his need. • The king offers Ivar land and estates so that he can put his energy into farming and so forget his troubles. • The king offers Ivar money so he can travel wherever he wants to and, as a result of his new experiences, forget Adney. • Finally the king invites Ivar, after supper every night, to tell him all about his feelings for Adney. He gives Ivar a small gift each night as a sign of his friendship. Allowing Ivar to retell his story repeatedly over many months is the most important step in the healing process.

61 4. What quality does Ivar have to show before he can be healed? Ivar has to show trust or faith in the king before he can be healed.

Ivar’s Experience

Once there was a man from Iceland, a great poet and storyteller named Ivar. He won fame for his storytelling in the court of Istine, the King of Norway. King Istine thought much of Ivar and bestowed many favours upon him and even upon his brother, Thorfin, who also lived at court.

Now Thorfin was dissatisfied. He felt that he had been slighted because his own gifts were less noticed. So he decided to return to his native Iceland. Before he left, however, his brother Ivar asked him to bear a message to Adney, a young woman whom Ivar had loved since childhood. Ivar told his brother to tell Adney that he would return in the spring to marry her.

When he arrived in Iceland, Thorfin himself fell in love with Adney and she with him and so they married. Thus when spring came and Ivar arrived in Iceland, he was heartbroken at what greeted him. Filled with sadness and bitterness, he returned to the court of King Istine.

Everyone at court noticed the change in Ivar, especially the king. The joy in Ivar's singing was gone. The beautiful truths in his stories were replaced by ugly witticisms. Ivar was a sad man, and his bitterness cast a cold shadow over the entire court.

Wanting to help his friend, the king called him to his throne one evening after the main meal. Ivar approached the throne, and the king quietly asked the young Icelander what the matter was.

Ivar merely said, “I am sorry my Lord, but I am not free to disclose what is troubling me”. Guessing that the problem might concern a woman, the king asked, “Is there a woman, Ivar? Someone back home, perhaps?” Ivar remained silent. The king knew that he had asked the crucial questions. Ivar finally nodded yes.

The king smiled and said, “Ivar, there's no difficulty with that. I am the mightiest king in this part of the world. No one would dare to interfere with my wishes. The next boat that leaves for Iceland will have you on board. You will take a letter from me to this young woman's family, saying that it is my wish that she shall become your bride”.

Ivar said, “It's impossible, my Lord”.

The king looked at him and said, “Do you mean that she is already married?” Ivar nodded.

The king fell silent in thought. Yet after a few moments he said, “Well, then, Ivar, we must think of something else. The next time I make my rounds of the countryside and visit the villages and towns, I will take you with me. As I take

62 you from place to place, you will meet many beautiful women. Perhaps you will find one of them to satisfy your deepest needs”.

Ivar shook his head and said, “No, my Lord, for every time I see a beautiful woman I am reminded of Adney, and my grief is deepened”.

The king then said, “Well, then, Ivar, I will give you land and estates – large estates so that you might devote your energies to taking care of the farming and the livestock and all other business matters that will keep you preoccupied and busy for the entire year. With your hands full with work that has to be done, you will soon forget the woman. Then happiness will return to you”.

But Ivar said, “No, my Lord, I have no wish, no desire, no ability to do such work”.

The king, who cared deeply for Ivar, thought some more and then said, “Ivar, I know. I will give you money. I'll give you enough money to travel wherever your heart seeks to go, to the farthest comer of Europe. In your travels you will see many things and experience many adventures. Then you will forget the woman in Iceland”. Once again Ivar refused, saying that he had no desire, no wish, no ability to travel anywhere.

The king now thought and thought and thought. Finally he said, “Ivar, there is one last thing I can think of. I know that this suggestion might seem weak compared to the others. Yet perhaps it may be of some help to you, so I will make it anyway. Ivar, after supper every night, I invite you to stay here with me and to spend as much time as you need to tell me of your feelings for this woman, Adney. You may do that for as long as you need. I will be here”.

Reluctantly Ivar agreed. So every night, when the meal was over and the tables were cleared, Ivar sat next to the throne of King Istine and told him his story. He told his story for days, weeks, and then many weeks. And at the close of each evening, the king never let Ivar leave without some token of his friendship. At the end of each story the king gave Ivar a small but meaningful gift.

Finally, after several months, Ivar found he no longer needed to tell his story. His old joy returned to him, and once again Ivar began to sing and to tell the ancient stories that Scandinavians love so dearly.

In the following year, he met a young woman with whom he fell in love and who loved him. Ivar was once again a happy man and he was also a wiser person. And so Ivar became even more famous as a storyteller whose tales had wise and happy endings.

From Celebrating Sacraments pp133-134 by Joseph Stoutzenberger (St Mary’s Press)

63 Task Twelve a) This task asks students to identify the healing qualities of Jesus that are mentioned in the song Lay Your Hands by Carey Landry that is printed in the Student Resource book. Recordings of the song are readily available.

Here are some of them:

• Jesus is gentle • Jesus’ touch brings peace, forgiveness and healing • Jesus frees those whose hearts are broken • Jesus gives sight to the blind • Jesus wants to heal all our sickness. b) Students are then asked to identify which of Jesus’ healing qualities they possess. Their answers will vary.

Task Thirteen

This task requires students to use their Bibles to match each of the eleven healings performed by Jesus in Column A with its correct scripture reference in Column B.

Students are asked to write down the numbers 1 to 11 and next to each put the correct letter of the alphabet.

The correct answers appear on the table below – the Scripture reference appears in the same row as the event it describes.

Column A Column B

1. A man with swollen legs and arms (dropsy) I. Luke 14:1-6

2. Jairus’ daughter F. Luke 8:40-56

3. People with demons B. Luke 4:40-41

4. A blind beggar K. Luke 18:35-43

5. A person with a paralysed hand D. Luke 6:6-11

6. Mary Magdalene E. Luke 8:1-3

7. A boy G. Luke 9:37-43

8. A crippled woman H. Luke 13:10-17

9. Ten men J. Luke 17:11-19

64 10. A woman with a fever A. Luke 4:38-39

11. A man with skin disease / leprosy C. Luke 5:12-16

Something to Do

Here students are asked to choose one of the healings of Hehu that they read about in the previous task. They are required to:

Either: Act out the scene using words and / or mime. They will need to work in a pair or group depending on the number of characters they need for their chosen incident.

Or: Design a poster based on the healing event.

The teacher will need to provide resources (paper, magazines, newspapers, pens, scissors, glue, etc.) for this if it is an in-class activity.

Or: Imagine they are someone actually involved in the healing or an interested onlooker. Students should write a diary entry describing what happens.

Something to Think About

Here students are asked to reflect on the qualities that Jesus showed as a healer in the incident they chose to present in the previous task.

While there is some variation from incident to incident, students will identify some of the following aspects of Jesus’ ministry of healing:

• Respect for others and their dignity • A sense of justice • Compassion • A willingness to forgive • Fairness • Patience • Openness • Looking for the best in people • The ability to listen • Gentleness.

Task Fourteen

Students are required to read the account of Jesus and the paralysed man that is printed in the Student Resource book. It is taken from Luke 5:17-26.

65 Students are given five statements about Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation. Some of the statements are true but others are false. Students need to decide which statements show a correct understanding of Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation in the context of the situation they have read about. They are asked to write out the statements that are true and correct those that are false before writing them down.

The correct answers are indicated in bold: a) Jesus had the authority to bring physical healing and forgive sins. True. b) The person who experienced Jesus’ healing and forgiveness had no idea where Jesus’ power came from. False. (The man who experienced Jesus’ healing and forgiveness recognised that this power came from God. We are told that he “went home praising God”.) c) Jesus linked physical healing with the forgiveness of sins. True. d) The religious leaders accepted Jesus’ claim to forgive sins. False. (In this incident the religious leaders were angry when Jesus claimed to forgive sins.) e) Jesus invited people to open their minds and hearts to God’s forgiveness and healing. True.

Task Fifteen

This task requires students to read six passages from Scripture which all show Jesus’ attitude to sin and sinners. a) Students are then asked to make up a suitable heading for each of the passages of Scripture. Passage A is a model and is already provided with a heading. b) Students should then take one Scripture passage that they like and either explain the message that Jesus is trying to get across in their own words or illustrate it.

Here are the passages from Scripture with some suggested headings:

Sort Out Differences Then Worship God A. "So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother or sister first,

and then come back and present your offering." (Matthew 5:23–24)

66

Look At Your Own Faults Before Criticising Others B. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; because the judgements you give are the judgements you will get, and the standard you use will be the standard used for you. Why do you observe the splinter in your neighbour’s eye and never notice the great log in your own?" (Matthew 7:1–3)

Love Brings Forgiveness C. "For this reason I tell you that her sins, many as they are, have been forgiven her; because she has shown such great love. It is someone who is forgiven little who shows little love." Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." (Luke 7:47–50)

Jesus Refuses To Blame D. Jesus again straightened up and said, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" “No one, sir,” she replied." "Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go away, and from this moment sin no more." (John 8:10-11)

Forgiveness Knows No Limits E. Then Peter went up to Jesus and said, “Lord, how often must I forgive my

brother if he wrongs me? As often as seven times?” Jesus answered, “Not seven, I tell you, but seventy-seven times.“ (Matthew 18:21-22)

Jesus Forgives His Killers F. Father, forgive them; for they know not what they are doing." (Luke 23:34)

67

PART FIVE: THE CHURCH – THE SIGN OF CHRIST’S FORGIVENESS

Achievement Objective 4

Students will be able to recognise that Jesus instructed and empowered the Church to be a sign of his healing presence in the world, especially through the forgiveness of sins in Hohou Rongo (the Sacrament of Reconciliation).

Church Teaching

• The Church is a sign and instrument of the forgiveness and reconciliation that Karaiti (Christ) brings to the world. • By giving the Apostles the power to forgive sins, Hehu gives them the authority to reconcile sinners with the Church. • The Church expresses God’s forgiveness of sins liturgically through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic students will:

• Explain how Jesus shared his ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation with the Apostles and the Church. • Recognise ways in which the Church continues Jesus’ ministry of forgiveness, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Teacher Background

The Sacraments – Signs of Reconciliation and Healing Whenever we join in the sacraments we become more closely united with God and one another. Each of the seven hākarameta (sacraments), in so far as it celebrates this unity, is sign and means of Christ’s reconciliation and healing.

Baptism, for example, initiates new Christians into the Body of Christ, forms them in Christ’s likeness, and brings them into unity with one another. It frees them from the power of sin and gives them new life through Christ’s suffering, death and Resurrection.

The Eucharist, “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church 11), is a sacrament where forgiveness is central.

Sunday after Sunday, we hear words of forgiveness:

"May almighty God ... forgive us our sins" (Penitential Rite)

68 "You take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us" (Glory to God)

"Though we are sinners, we trust in your mercy and love. Do not consider what we truly deserve, but grant us your forgiveness" (Eucharistic Prayer I)

"Our Father ... forgive us our sins / trespasses, as we forgive those who sin / trespass against us" (Lord's Prayer)

"This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world ... Lord, I am not worthy ... but only say the word and I shall be healed" (Invitation to Communion)

At each Eucharist we hear Christ's command:

"Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven" (Eucharistic Prayer)

When we join in Holy Communion, we become more closely united with Christ and the Church. Holy Communion weakens the power of sin that distances us from Christ and the Church. For many Catholics the Sunday Eucharist is the usual sacrament through which they experience the forgiveness of their venial sins.

Sacraments of Healing The Church celebrates two sacraments, in particular, as signs and instruments of God’s healing power. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is for those whose bond with the Church has been weakened by illness or physical disability. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is for those whose bond with the Church has been weakened or broken by sin.

This present topic, the focus of which is sinfulness and reconciliation, deals with the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Anointing of the Sick is treated in Topic 11A: “Reverence for Life”.

For those Catholics who have cut themselves off from Te Atua and the Church by serious (grave, mortal) sin and now wish to return to God's table, the Church offers the Sacrament of Reconciliation to celebrate their "homecoming". The current law of the Church states that a person who is conscious of grave sin should not receive the Body of the Lord without experiencing the Sacrament of Reconciliation unless there is a grave reason or no opportunity to confess their sin (Canon 916).

However, Catholics are urged to experience Hohou Rongo not merely because they are obliged to, but because it is a Sacrament – a sign and celebration of God showing his great mercy "by reconciling the world to himself in Christ and by making peace for all things on earth and in heaven by the Blood of Christ on the cross" (Rite of Reconciliation).

69 The History of the Sacrament of Reconciliation The Gospel of John records that after the Resurrection Jesus came and stood among the disciples in the room where they were hiding from the Jews. He said to them, "Peace be with you," and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were very pleased to see him again. Then Jesus said, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven: if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:19-23).

With these words of peace and forgiveness, Jesus introduced the sacrament of reconciliation.

The following Scripture passages focus on sin, forgiveness and reconciliation:

John 20:19-21 Jesus' gift of peace Matthew 18:18 Binding and loosing John 3:17,19 Not to condemn 1 Cor. 5:1-5 Sinner cast out Luke 7:36-50 Penitent woman 2 Cor. 2:5-8 Sinner forgiven John 4:4-42 Woman at the Well Luke 15:11-32 Divine Mercy Luke 19:1-10 Zacchaeus 2 Cor. 2:11 Power of evil Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them John 8:9-11 Adulterous woman John 5:1-15 Healing on the Sabbath James 5:16 Forgiveness & Healing

Before the third or fourth century, there was little reference to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, as we know it today. This is because Baptism was regarded as the sacrament which brought about reconciliation. While there is evidence that from the beginning whole households including children, were baptised, most Christians of this time were baptised as adults and Baptism forgave sin. When the catechumenate developed, some, including Augustine of Carthage, deferred the Baptism of children until they were older.

In this period, the Church had the practice of forgiving certain serious sins only once and Reconciliation came to be regarded as the sacrament of second Baptism. If members of the Christian community had committed serious sins such as adultery, apostasy (when people denied their faith during time of persecution and worshipped false gods) or murder, they would go to the bishop and tell him what they had done. The bishop would then ask them to carry out certain penitential exercises for a period of time. If they were members of the Eastern Church, the penance would probably be to stand near the church door asking the people to pray for them as they came in for the Sunday Eucharist. If they lived in the Western Church, the penance would be shorter and more severe: to fast for a time, to say extra

70 prayers, to be separated from their family, and to wear penitential dress including ashes.

While performing the penance, a person would be allowed to attend the Sunday Eucharist but would not be permitted to join in it in any way. If they had been baptised as an adult, being a penitent would seem rather like becoming a catechumen again. Lent owes its existence in the Christian year to the fact that it was customary during this season for catechumens to be prepared for their initiation at the Easter vigil, and for penitents to be prepared for their reconciliation. This is why Lent emphasises karakia and penance.

Then, before Easter, usually on Holy Thursday, the penitents would go to church, and in the presence of the congregation, be presented to the bishop for reconciliation. The penitents would prostrate themselves on the floor and then kneel before the bishop who would absolve them by placing his hands on their heads. They would then be ready to be re-admitted to Holy Communion on Easter Day.

After all the penitents had been forgiven, the bishop went to the door of the church and took the first penitent by the hand. In this way he led the procession of all the reinstated Christians back to their places within the Christian community, close to the altar of God.

The whole liturgy from start to finish was a community affair. The bishop, his priests and deacons, and the people in the church, all took part in restoring the sinner to membership of the community. The prayers said by the bishop at the act of reconciliation on Holy Thursday were an act of sacramental absolution in the spirit of “binding and loosing” spoken of by Jesus (Matthew 18:18). They were also a focus of prayers which had been offered by everybody on behalf of the penitent.

The Liturgy showed that sin is an offence not only against Te Atua but also against fellow Christians and that everybody is involved in seeking God's forgiveness for the penitent.

By the eighth century, largely due to the influence of monks from Ireland and Britain, the practice of public penance and reconciliation gave way to a more private reception of the sacrament. No longer was there a question of absolution being received only once after Baptism, or only at the hour of death. Now absolution could be received repeatedly and in a simpler form. Practices formerly reserved for serious sinners, such as sprinkling the penitents with ashes, became a symbolic experience for all Christians on Ash Wednesday.

This practice of private confession gradually became accepted by the whole Church. It set a pattern for the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation that was not altered until recent times.

71 The Sacrament of Penance Today One of the constants about the celebration of Reconciliation has been change. Today, the Sacrament of Reconciliation emphasises that forgiveness is God's work in us. In his mercy and aroha, he wants to make us new again, to restore our friendship with Christ and through the Church to guide and direct us to open our minds and hearts and lives and to respond by accepting God's forgiving and recreating love gratefully and joyfully.

Links with the Student Text

Task Sixteen

Hehu shared his ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation with the Apostles and the Church.

This task requires students to explain the place of each of the following in Jesus’ handing on of this ministry. Each is pictured in the Student Resource book.

The Rock The rock represents obedience to Christ. Saint Peter, whose name means "rock", is the foundation upon which Jesus established the Church.

The Gates of the Underworld The Gates of the Underworld represent the power of evil. Here, when Jesus speaks of the gates of the Underworld, he is reassuring Simon Peter that evil will not overpower the community of God, the Church.

The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven The keys given to Simon Peter represent the authority of the church to forgive sin in Jesus' name.

The Holy Spirit The dove and tongues of flame both represent the Holy Spirit who empowers the Church to forgive sins.

Baptism The sins of a new Christian are forgiven firstly through Baptism.

Eucharist Every time the Eucharist is celebrated those present receive forgiveness for their sins.

Workbook Activity: Instruments of Peace

This activity invites students to make their own response to the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi. The response could take any number of forms – including an idea of their own. The following suggestions are given in the student workbook:

72 a prayer a poem a mindmap a symbol a diary entry a letter a drawing a description a song a mime a cartoon

Students should use the spaces provided in their workbook to plan or present their response.

Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much Seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood, as to understand; To be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

73

PART SIX: THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

Achievement Objective 5

Students will be able to develop an understanding of the present forms of the Rite of Reconciliation and their structure.

Church Teaching

• When people come to Hohou Rongo they receive God’s mercy and are reconciled with the Church. • At different times the Sacrament of Reconciliation has been known by different names – Conversion, Penance, Confession, and Forgiveness. • The form in which the Church has celebrated the forgiveness of sins has varied considerably over the centuries. • The fundamental structure of the sacrament has remained essentially the same – the actions of the penitent (contrition, confession and carrying out penance) and Te Atua acting through the Church as expressed in the person of the priest (the offering of forgiveness, determining the penance, prayer, absolution). • The prayer of absolution expresses the essential aspects of the sacrament. • The Sacrament of Reconciliation usually involves a greeting and blessing, the reading of Te Kupu a Te Ariki (the Word of God), the confession of sins, the giving of a penance, the priest’s absolution, a prayer of thanksgiving and praise, a dismissal and blessing. • The Sacrament of Reconciliation can take three approved forms: individual confession by a penitent to a priest, individual confession within the framework of a communal celebration, and, in the case of grave necessity, a communal celebration of reconciliation with general confession and general absolution.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic students will:

• Recognise that Te Atua welcomes and forgives sinners through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. • Describe the three Rites of Reconciliation and understand essential features of the sacramental celebration including confession, contrition, absolution and penance. • Contrast two ways of approaching Hohou Rongo. • Reflect on different people’s responses to forgiveness and reconciliation.

74 Teacher Background

The Sacrament of Reconciliation The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a communal act of worship which builds up the Body of Christ. The Church affirmed this understanding in the first document of Vatican II, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:

"Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations belonging to the Church" (26), and "Whenever rites, according to their specific nature, make provision for communal celebration involving the presence and active participation of the faithful, it is to be stressed that this way of celebrating them is to be preferred, as far as possible, to a celebration that is individual and, so to speak, private" (27).

The Rites of Reconciliation Today the Church celebrates the Sacrament of Penance in three ways, with three different rites.

In addition to Rite I (which is individual and involves one penitent and one priest), the Church offers communal rites for the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Rite II includes individual confession within the framework of a communal celebration, and Rite III, which at present can only be celebrated in the case of grave necessity, is a communal celebration of reconciliation with general confession and general absolution.

In many parishes throughout Aotearoa, large numbers of Catholics participate in the communal Sacrament of Reconciliation (Rite II), especially in preparation for Easter and Christmas.

Communal celebrations show more clearly that Reconciliation is a sacrament, a corporate act of worship. When we celebrate together as a parish family, we are reminded of the social nature of sin – that every sin, even the most private and personal sin, has implications for the larger community. In addition, when we celebrate Reconciliation with others, we are more clearly reminded of our obligation to "forgive those who sin / trespass against us" even as we ask Te Atua to forgive us our sins / trespasses.

Interpersonal forgiveness and reconciliation are part of the hoped-for outcomes of this sacrament. Scripture stresses the relation of the "horizontal" and the "vertical” – interpersonal forgiveness and divine forgiveness:

"So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering" (Matthew 5:23-24).

75 Four Aspects of the Sacrament of Reconciliation Whether Reconciliation is celebrated together or individually, the communal dimension of the sacrament remains. In the individual rite, the priest represents the whole Church.

In both the individual and communal form, the ritual of the sacrament has the same basic shape – a shape it receives from the Eucharist, the model and source of all the sacraments. There are four movements.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation has this same four-fold structure:

1. We gather and come together as a worshipping community to form the Body of Christ. 2. We reflect on the sacred story – as revealed in Scripture – which has formed us as a people and which leads us to reform our lives and do penance (the rubrics of Rite I encourage the reading of Scripture but it is optional and often omitted). 3. We celebrate the sacrament of God's forgiveness. 4. We turn to the world, resolving to follow more closely in the way of the Gospel, to amend our lives, do penance and sin no more.

The most important thing that happens in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is what Hehu does. While the examination of conscience, sorrow for sin, telling the sins to the priest and acts of satisfaction are all important elements on our part, the key to understanding the sacrament today is to focus on God's part. The sacrament celebrates God's koha of reconciliation and peace.

The Lost Son and the Journey Home to God The Parable of the Lost (Prodigal) Son (Luke 15:11-32) is the most powerful illustration of the human process of reconciliation presented in Scripture. Contained within it is the theology inherent in the Rite of Reconciliation.

Students will examine this parable in detail in Topic 10G “The Teachings of Jesus”.

In the story the father welcomes his wayward younger son back instantly, not even waiting for him to get to the house. He isn’t at all interested in the young man's confession, only in celebrating. Te Atua is like the merciful parent in this parable – not there to catch us in our sin but intent on welcoming us in spite of it. Reconciliation is not a matter of us getting rid of sin. Its primary emphasis is not on what we, the penitents, do. The important point is what God does in, with and through us.

God's reconciling work in us doesn't happen in an instant and is often a long, sometimes painful process. It is a journey back to God that can be summed up in terms of conversion, confession and celebration.

The Parable of the Lost Son helps us understand the stages in our journey to reconciliation and the order in which they occur. The journey for the young man in the parable (and for us) begins with the selfishness of sin. His sin

76 takes him from the home of his parent – as our sin takes us from the shelter of God and the Christian community. His major concern in his new self-centred lifestyle, as is ours in sin, is himself and his personal gratification. None of the relationships he establishes are lasting. When his money runs out, his so- called friends disappear. Eventually he discovers himself alone, feeding pigs. His association with these unclean animals is an indication of the depths to which this young man has fallen – he is bogged down by sin. The turning point in the story is indicated by the phrase: "Then he came to his senses ..." (verse 17). This is the beginning of the journey back, the beginning of conversion.

Conversion: An Ongoing Process The conversion process begins with a "coming to one's senses”, with a realisation that all is not right with our values and style of life. Prompted by a faith response to God's call, conversion involves a desire for change. Change is the essence of conversion. Shuv, the Old Testament term for conversion, suggests a physical change of direction. Metanoia, the term the New Testament uses, suggests an internal turnabout, a change of heart that is revealed in one's conduct.

Metanoia becomes possible when a person realises that God loves them unconditionally. Conversion is always a response to being loved by Te Atua. The most important part of the conversion process is the experience of being loved and realising that God's love saves us – we do not save ourselves. Our part in this saving action is to be open to the gift of God's life and love.

Conversion means making a deliberate personal decision to turn away from the evil that blinds us, and to turn towards God who loves us in spite of our sinfulness.

Persons who turn to God in conversion are changed in the way they relate to others, to themselves, to the world, and to God. However, before this can happen they must recognise that their values, attitudes and actions are in conflict with Christian ones. They must experience the need to change or desire to be reconciled.

The need for conversion does not extend only to those who have made a radical choice for evil. Metanoia is continually required of all of us so that we can respond to the call of God.

Conversion is not a once only event but a lifelong process that brings us ever closer to "the holiness and aroha of God". Each experience of conversion encourages a person to turn more and more toward God, because each conversion experience reveals God in a new, clearer light.

Contrition and Penance When a person discovers that their values, attitudes and style of life are "missing the mark", they experience the next step in the conversion process – contrition. This step takes them further on their conversion journey: breaking

77 away from their misdirected actions, leaving them behind and making some resolutions for the future.

In the Parable of the Lost Son, the younger son acknowledges his sin, expresses his contrition, and determines his own penance when he says:

"I will leave this place and go to my father and say: ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men’" (verse 18).

Contrition means examining our present relationships in the light of the Gospel’s message of love. It involves taking the necessary steps to repent and repair those relationships with others, ourselves and God. The repentance step in the conversion process is what is commonly called "making satisfaction for our sins" or "doing penance".

True penance is not punishment. At its root, penance is repairing or correcting a sinful lifestyle. Our real "punishment" is the continuing pattern of sin in our lives and the harmful attitudes and actions it creates in us. The purpose of doing penance is to help us change that pattern. Penance is for growth, not for punishment. "Doing penance" means taking steps in the direction of living a changed life – it means making room for something new.

Confession: Externalising What is Within Confession is an important step in the total process of reconciliation, but it is only sincere if it is the result of conversion. Confession is the external expression of the conversion that has taken place within.

In the Parable of the Lost Son, the father, seeing his son in the distance, runs out to meet him with an embrace and a kiss. Through one loving gesture, the father forgives the son before allowing him the opportunity to make his confession. When the son does confess, the father hardly listens. The confession is not the most important thing, what is most significant is that the son has returned home. The son need not beg for forgiveness, he has been forgiven. Te Rongopai that Jesus announces through this parable tells us that God's forgiveness, aroha, and mercy never stop.

A person’s attitude towards the Sacrament of Reconciliation is intimately related to their image of God. A healthy and mature approach to confession comes from a belief that our God is ever ready to reach out in forgiveness.

The Rite of Reconciliation reflects this image of a God of mercy. In Reconciliation it is the confessor who takes the initiative, reaching out, welcoming the penitent and creating a hospitable environment of acceptance and love before there is any mention of sin. Thus, the sacramental moment of confession – just one of the sacramental moments in the whole Rite – focuses on God's love rather than our sin.

Reconciliation addresses the disease (sinfulness) rather than the underlying symptoms (sins). It calls us to more than prepared speeches or lists of sins.

78 When we go to confession we are challenged to search deep into our hearts to discover the struggles, conflicts of values and tensions (the disease) that cause the sinful acts (the symptoms) to appear.

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation we are able to externalise through words, signs and gesture, what is in our minds and heart. We are able to see, hear and feel forgiveness, not just think about it. We need other human beings to help us externalise what is within and open our hearts before the Lord. The priest is not a faceless and impersonal judge, but a guide in our discernment, who compassionately helps us experience and proclaim the mercy of God in our lives. The Introduction to the Rite explains that the priest in confession "fulfils a parental function ... reveals the heart of the Father and shows the image of the Good Shepherd". Another of the confessor's roles is to say the prayer of absolution which completes or seals the penitent's change of heart. It is not a prayer asking for forgiveness, but a prayer that signifies God's forgiveness of us and our reconciliation with the Church, which is certainly something to celebrate.

Celebration: God Always Loves Us Celebration is an essential aspect of the Parable of the Lost Son. The father commands:

"Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we will celebrate by having a feast ...” (verses 22-23).

All this because a sinner has converted, repented, confessed and returned.

Celebration makes sense only when there is really something to celebrate, when it flows from lived experience. The need for celebration to follow common lived experiences is especially true of sacramental celebrations. All of the sacraments are communal celebrations of the lived experience of believing Christians.

Many Christians feel that we have to earn God’s forgiveness and find it hard to feel good about a God who loves and forgives us unconditionally. In the face of such love and forgiveness we feel uncomfortable. It creates a pressure within us that makes us feel that we should "do something" to deserve such generosity.

The older brother in our story expresses this same discomfort. When he witnesses the festivities, he appeals to fairness and legalism, hanging on to the image of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a trial. He suggests that there is no way everyone can feel good about the return of the younger brother until amends have been made.

But this older son is far too narrow in his understanding of life, of God and of the sacrament. This son finds it difficult to understand that we are never not forgiven. The Sacrament of Reconciliation does not bring about something

79 that was absent. It proclaims and enables us to accept God's love and forgiveness that are already present.

The older brother's problem is a universal human one. It's difficult for many people to say, "I'm sorry". It is even more difficult to say, "You're forgiven". And it is most difficult of all to say gracefully, "I accept your forgiveness". To be able to do that, we must be able to forgive ourselves. That, too, is what we celebrate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

When the father in the parable calls for a celebration, everyone in the household, except the elder son, responds. Not only do they celebrate the younger son's return, they celebrate their own experience of forgiveness, mercy and reconciliation as well. They, like us, have been on that journey from which the young man has returned.

Having been forgiven, we are empowered to forgive ourselves and to forgive one another, heal one another and celebrate the fact that together we have come a step closer to the peace, justice and reconciliation that announces Christ's reign on earth.

A Communal Celebration Sacramental celebrations are communal because sacramental theology is horizontal as well as vertical. Sacraments happen in people who are in relationship with each other and with God. In the area of sin, forgiveness and reconciliation this is particularly evident. Our sinfulness disrupts our relationship in community as well as our relationship with God. And since the sacrament begins with our sinfulness, which affects others, it is only proper that it concludes with a communal expression of love and forgiveness that embodies the love and forgiveness of God.

Conscience Conscience is a mystery of the human personality. It is an inner voice through which God calls the person to love and do good:

Deep within their consciences men and women discover a law which they have not laid upon themselves and which they must obey. Its voice, ever calling them to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells them inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For they have in their hearts a law inscribed by God. Their dignity rests in observing this law, and by it they will be judged. Their conscience is people’s most secret core, and their sanctuary. There they are alone with God whose voice echoes in their depths. By conscience, in a wonderful way, that law is made known which is fulfilled in the love of God and of one’s neighbour. Through loyalty to conscience, Christians are joined to others in the search for truth and for the right solution to so many moral problems which arise both in the life of individuals and from social relationships. Hence, the more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and endeavour to conform to the objective standards of moral conduct.

80 Yet it often happens that conscience goes astray through ignorance which it is unable to avoid, without thereby losing its dignity. This cannot be said of the person who takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is gradually almost blinded through the habit of committing sin (The Church in the Modern World 16).

So according to the Church, a person’s conscience is identified with their heart – the person’s deepest core and sanctuary where they are aware of their feelings and needs, and are in possession of themselves and alone with God. Conscience as guidance is based on our deepest sense of identity. For a Christian, it is based on knowing what is means to be a follower of Christ. To go against conscience is to violate one’s identity.

Conscience is constantly growing from birth until death. There is no moment in a person’s life when a conscience is fully formed, as there is always the potential for deeper understanding and awareness. The development of conscience involves many aspects of the human person:

• Awareness of self – the person’s ability to recognise their own feelings and needs. • Ability to reason – the ability to work out what will happen if a course of action is followed. • Ability to choose – the ability to decide between various possible courses of action. • Awareness of others – the person’s ability to see others as individuals with their own needs and feelings. • Awareness of God – the person’s ability to recognise God’s voice speaking at their deepest core and through the words and actions of Jesus Christ.

A person who can do all these things is capable of acting “consciously”, that is “with knowledge”, which is really what is meant by the term “acting in conscience”.

Someone may be capable of acting with full knowledge and consent, but their choices may still be completely selfish and damaging to others.

Long after a person has realised how they should treat others, they may act selfishly, either because they don’t think at all or because they put their own selfish needs first. The struggle between selfishness and self-control is life long.

Young people judge the worth of their actions according to the responses of others.

81 Links with the Student Text

Something to Think About

Here students are asked to think about what point Turn Back To Me, which is printed in the Student Resource book, is making.

The reflection makes a number of points. Some of these are:

• God is gentle and encouraging • God is like the best possible father or mother • God loves creation dearly, especially humankind • There is a special place in God’s heart for those who need God more – those who have sinned and need forgiveness • God will never forget us • God loves us as we are • God’s love has no conditions • God forgives and forgets our sins • Sin – apartness from God – is its own punishment • God loves and saves and gives fullness of life • Sin is more about turning our backs on God than about breaking rules • God greatly desires that we turn back to God • God expects our return • God is waiting to welcome and forgive.

Workbook Activity: Catholic Rites of Reconciliation

Here students are required to choose words from a box to complete the following statement about the Catholic Rites of Reconciliation. The correct answers appear below in bold.

The Catholic Church has ceremonies that are known as Rites of Reconciliation. There are three official rites but only two of them are common. These Rites are Sacraments of God’s healing and love.

The First Rite involves individual preparation and confession to a priest. During confession the person will express sorrow for those attitudes and behaviours that lead them away from God and damage their relationship with God, themselves and others. After offering encouragement and guidance the priest will absolve the person from their sins. Usually the priest will place his hands on or above the person’s head as a sign of God’s forgiveness. He will also suggest a prayer or action as a penance. By carrying out this penance a person is showing their willingness to change their ways.

In the Second Rite the people meet as a group and prepare together before making their individual confessions and receiving absolution. This preparation time includes prayers, songs, readings from Scripture, as well as an examination of conscience. Many parishes celebrate the Second Rite of Reconciliation during the seasons of Lent and Advent.

82 The Third Rite is a communal celebration but there is no individual confession and absolution. Instead the priest gives a general absolution. The Third Rite is only available in special circumstances.

Something to Discuss

Students are given examples of what two different people say when they go to Reconciliation. a) In a pair or group students are asked to list what is different about each person’s approach to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Comments about the two approaches to Reconciliation are summarised below:

Person X Person Y

• Reveals less of himself • Reveals more of himself • Is more formal with the priest • Is more relaxed with the priest • Uses the set words • Expresses himself in his own • Is concerned with measuring words the time since the last • Explains the background to confession each sin • Is concerned with counting the • Discusses attitudes and number of sins emotions • Reads a list of sins without • Tries to understand the explaining them reasons behind the sins • Does not deal with underlying • Sees sin in terms of a attitudes and feelings relationship with God and • Does not attempt to give others reasons for the sinful actions • Shows a good understanding • Does not see sin in terms of of self relationships • Looks positively to the future • Shows no real understanding and expresses a desire to of self improve • Does not refer to the future or express a desire to improve

b) Students are then asked to decide which person shows most clearly that they are touched by God’s forgiveness and aroha?

While it is impossible to judge what is going on in someone’s heart, Person Y’s confession reveals a deeper response to God’s forgiveness and love than Person X’s confession.

83 Task Seventeen

Students are provided with some comments that show the different ways people feel about forgiveness and reconciliation. Students are asked to complete either a) or b). a) The task requires students to choose three or four of the comments about forgiveness and reconciliation that they most agree with and explain what they like about them. b) Students are asked to write some comments of their own about forgiveness and reconciliation.

Revision Activity: Celebrating Hohou Rongo

The following activity is a way of checking / revising the students’ knowledge and understanding of the various steps that are part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is best done at the completion of this section of the topic.

Students work individually or in pairs with a set of cards – each card outlines one step in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

1. The teacher will need to run off copies of the Celebrating Hohou Rongo master (see following page) on light cardboard and cut them into sets for individuals or pairs in the class. 2. The teacher gives each individual or pair one set of the cards. 3. A student shuffles the cards. 4. The individual or pair arranges the nine cards into the correct order. 5. Students can check their answers by referring back to the page in their Student Resource book where the steps in the process are printed in the correct order.

84 Celebrating Hohou Rongo

Prepare Prayerfully examine your conscience and recall your sins. Some sins will be things you’ve done – or haven’t done. Some will be more general attitudes.

Go to the priest Visit the priest when he's in the reconciliation room at your parish, or ask for an appointment. Sit in a chair where you may speak face to face, or kneel behind a screen.

Be welcome

Greet the priest. Make the sign of the cross. The priest may encourage you to have confidence in Te Atua. If you can remember, say how long it’s been since your last confession, or anything else that will help. Just use common sense. The priest may share Te Kupu a Te Ariki (God’s Word) with you.

Confess your sins Some people begin by saying, "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned". But you don't have to. Let the priest know your sins. If you like, you may discuss the sins you're confessing, so the priest can give you the best advice.

Receive a penance The priest will recommend that you say some prayer or carry out some action after you leave. This is to show that you are really sorry and want to change. If you don’t understand, let him know.

Pray for forgiveness The priest may invite you to say a prayer of sorrow out loud. If you know the Act of Contrition you may use it. But you may also speak simply from your heart. Just tell God that you're sorry and that you'll try to do better.

Receive absolution

This is the best part. The priest proclaims absolution, and Te Atua forgives your sins.

Give thanks The priest may end with words such as: “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good” or “Go in peace”. Answer: “Amen” which means “I believe that”.

Change! When you leave, carry out your penance. With God's help, begin to live a new life of freedom from sin!

85

PART SEVEN: HEALING OURSELVES AND OTHERS

Achievement Objective 6

Students will be able to identify ways in which they can bring Christ’s forgiveness to our world.

Church Teaching

• We bring Christ’s healing presence to our world when we act as neighbours towards our brothers and sisters, and respect and love our enemies.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this topic students will:

• Reflect on their own understanding of forgiveness. • Explore ways in which they can bring healing and reconciliation to a variety of human experiences.

Teacher Background

The Junior Personal Development Resource Keeping Safe that is part of the Understanding Faith programme offers valuable material which complements this section of the topic. See Topic 6 “Forgiveness and Reconciliation” pages 64 –75.

Forgiving Others The Gospels speak of a God who is always ready to forgive us and bring us into an even deeper relationship with Te Atua. In turn, we are challenged to forgive others and restore our broken relationships.

Yet, experience tells us that we never know what we can or can't forgive until we're faced with the actual experience. Am I able to forgive someone who knocks me down and steals my bag? Could I forgive someone who deliberately betrays me? Or murders my child?

Some people hold small grudges for a lifetime; others find a way to let go of their deepest hurts and, in time, actually come to forgive the offender. Forgiveness means releasing the mind and heart from past hurts in order to move our own lives forward. The decision to forgive is an attitude of the heart, an experience of grace and letting go. Forgiveness asks us to see Te Atua in the other person, to open ourselves up to their humanness and to our own.

86 How and why we forgive remains a mystery, but the importance of forgiving, however, is clear. The act of forgiveness is essential to our emotional, spiritual and physical well-being. It restores our sense of balance and harmony, within ourselves and in the world.

When we refuse to let go of an abuse or hurt, we remain a victim of the experience. When resentment fills our heart, there's no room for anything else, we close ourselves off to all kinds of feelings and to potentially healthy relationships. Often we become ill. Letting go and forgiving what we may have once thought was the unforgivable is the first step toward our own wholeness and healing.

When we begin the process of forgiveness it's for ourselves, not for the person who has offended us. The person we're forgiving may never even know or care that we're letting go of our anger and feelings of revenge. It's also important to recognise that forgiving someone doesn't mean we will feel comfortable about inviting them back into our lives. In fact, we may never want to see that person again. Yet, the Gospels remind us that genuine forgiveness cannot be based on exclusion.

Forgiveness is the finishing up of old business so we are free to experience the present without contamination from the past. Forgiveness is a profound state of letting go. It doesn't mean we're accepting irresponsible, hurtful behaviour or saying what the other person did is okay. And it doesn't ask us to forget what has happened. We just don't want it to weigh us down.

Like any kind of healing, forgiveness is a process. It takes time. And patience.

The first step is acknowledging that we've been wronged.

The next step calls for discharging our deepest feelings of resentment and revenge.

The saying, Letting Go and Letting God reminds us that the actions of others are not ours to judge. That job belongs to Te Atua. Our job is to find our way toward forgiveness. Once we've discharged the anger, or at least most of it, the next step is finding room in our hearts for empathy. Without empathy, there can probably be no true forgiveness.

Empathy allows a person to forgive another’s humanness and to let go of the anger that keeps them victimised. The greatest example of empathy is Jesus hanging on the cross looking out at his persecutors and saying: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

Forgiveness is never easy. But it's the best thing we can do for ourselves. It brings healing and inner peace and allows us to experience renewed feelings of faith and gratitude. Forgiveness takes a lot of courage and brings a person to a deeper place in their relationship with God and with others.

87 Stages of Forgiveness

Forgiveness means releasing the mind and heart from past hurts – from resentments to which we have a right – in order to move our own lives forward.

There are various stages in the path to forgiveness:

• Feeling like a victim: When bad things happen to us we feel like a victim; the incident makes us feel vulnerable and exposed. When we stay in this stage, we risk damage to our physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. • Acknowledging and releasing anger: Holding in anger keeps us from moving forward in our lives. We can never truly forgive as long as we’re harbouring resentment. • Deciding to forgive: The decision is always ours. Forgiveness is a process that takes time and patience and does not follow a straight path. • Discovering empathy: Once we get rid of anger, we can often find compassion for the people who have hurt us, even though we can never accept their actions. • Letting go of the hurt and moving on: In the end, this is what forgiveness is all about. It is an experience filled with grace and courage. When the hurt finally has no power over us, we will feel a deeper connection with God.

Rituals for Letting Go of Anger

The following rituals for letting go of anger are a useful resource for teachers who wish to help students deal with anger and other strong emotions that make it difficult for students to allow themselves to forgive.

• Write out your feelings in a letter, burn the letter and scatter the ashes. • Use a tape recorder to talk out your feelings. Remove the actual tape from the cassette and throw it away or, if you're still feeling resentment put the tape in a jar with a solid lid. Now, the anger is out of you and in the jar. When you're ready, throw the jar away. • Walk as long and as often as you need. Or choose another form of exercise. With every step or pushup, get rid of your feelings of resentment. • Take a length of string or twine and roll it into a huge ball, discharging your resentment as you wind. When you are done, toss that ball of anger over a cliff or into a body of water. • Create a safe, sacred space for yourself; light a candle; pray for help with your grief and anger. Come to this place every day for solace and guidance.

88 Links with the Student Text

Something to Discuss

Here students work with a partner. They are asked to discuss where they would place each of the following statements about forgiveness on the continuum.

strongly disagree strongly agree

Students’ responses will vary but the comments printed after each statement below may assist discussion:

a) When we forgive we allow ourselves to heal. The act of forgiveness is essential to our emotional, spiritual and physical well-being. It restores our sense of balance and harmony, within ourselves and in the world.

b) When we forgive we heal the person who offended us. The process of forgiveness is primarily for ourselves, not for the person who offended us. The person we're forgiving may never even know or care that we're letting go of our anger and feelings of revenge. In the very best circumstances the offender will repent, ask forgiveness and make reparation. If the person offended is able to forgive then true reconciliation may occur.

c) When we forgive we invite a person back into our lives. It's also important to recognise that forgiving someone doesn't mean we have to invite them back into our lives. In fact, we may never want to see that person again.

d) When we forgive we accept that the wrong action was okay. Forgiveness is a state of letting go. It doesn't mean we're accepting irresponsible, hurtful behaviour or saying what the other person did is okay.

e) Forgiveness does not take long. Like any kind of healing, forgiveness is a process that takes time and requires patience.

f) The first step towards forgiveness is admitting that we've been wronged. When bad things happen to us we feel like victims; the incident makes us feel vulnerable and exposed. When we stay in this stage, we risk damage to our physical, spiritual and emotional well-being. However, we can’t see the need for forgiveness unless we first see that we’ve been wronged.

89 g) When we forgive we still hang on to our deepest feelings of resentment and revenge. When resentment fills our heart, there's no room for anything else, we close ourselves off to all kinds of feelings and to potentially healthy relationships. Forgiveness requires us to get rid of our deepest feelings of resentment and revenge.

h) Forgiveness is easy. Genuine forgiveness is never easy. But it's the best thing we can do for ourselves. It brings healing and inner peace and allows us to experience renewed feelings of faith and gratitude. It brings us to a deeper relationship with God and others.

Something to Do

Here students work in small groups with a set of cards – each card outlining a situation that requires healing and reconciliation.

1. The teacher will need to run off copies of the Reconciliation Cards masters (see following pages) on light cardboard and cut them into sets for the groups in the class. 2. The teacher gives each group (of five or six players) one set of the cards. 3. One student in the group shuffles the cards and places them face down in a pile in the centre of the group. 4. The teacher establishes a set time for the activity (twenty minutes or so) with the class. 5. The group member chosen to start the game picks up one card from the pile. 6. The group member whose turn it is reads out the situation described on the card. 7. The group then: • Decides what about the situation described on the card needs to be healed / reconciled. • Suggests ways in which the situation could be improved or reconciled. • Role plays a possible solution.

90 Reconciliation Cards

Pete is hungry and takes a James’ parents ask him to Meri gets on well with her packet of chips from his be home early to look after fifteen year-old neighbour best friend’s bag without his younger sister while out of school but ignores asking. He ends up having they go to a meeting at her at school because of a fight when his friend school. James deliberately pressure from her class discovers who’s taken arrives home late so that mates. Meri hears that her them. his parents will miss the neighbour plans to change meeting. schools.

Toni doesn’t like her Andrew’s friend gets into Rose’s friend tells her in brother’s girlfriend because trouble when Andrew confidence that his older she thinks she is immature. convinces the teacher that sister is gay. Rose passes Toni spreads gossip about his friend has copied his this information on to other her, hoping that her brother assignment. Andrew is the students because she will end the relationship. one who has handed in his thinks they have a right to friend’s work as his own. know. Rose loses her friend’s trust.

A new student arrives in Melissa’s family is about to Danny tells his parents that Tane’s class and is picked go on a camping holiday. he has been going to Mass on by the class bully. Tane Melissa argues with her each Sunday. They decides not to do anything parents, bosses her discover through Danny’s about it because he brothers and sisters friends that he has been doesn’t want the bully to around, and refuses to spending his time at the start on him. help around the house. No skateboard park. one is looking forward to going away.

When Mike is alone he Jane promises her brother Johnny makes loud racist often feels close to God that she will take him to the comments about a new but during class prayer he movies on the weekend. teacher at his school. The makes distracting noises When the time comes Jane teacher asks to see him at so that others won’t think decides to go to the Mall the end of class. he is holy. with her friends. Her brother is upset.

Whānau from out of town Manu’s neighbour gives Jill’s class is involved in a are staying with Tui’s him ten dollars for the recycling project. It is her family. Tui embarrasses school’s fund raising turn to sort all the her parents when she campaign for Caritas. recyclable materials into refuses to share her Manu decides to keep the their proper bins. Jill can’t bedroom with the guests. money and put it towards a be bothered and throws new pair of jeans. them into the rubbish skip.

91 Reconciliation Cards (continued)

Jim uses his parents’ Alice’s parish priest asks Edward is asked by the membership card to hire a her to read a prayer at Principal to show a new restricted video and watch Sunday Mass. Alice student around the school. it with his friends. The agrees to do it but decides Edward goes off with his manager of the video shop not to turn up because she friends and leaves the new realises what has can’t be bothered. student alone and happened and rings Jim’s confused. parents.

Jessica drops litter all over A student in Margaret’s A family new to Aotearoa the school grounds. class really annoys arrives in Alec’s parish and Another student takes the Margaret with her smart becomes friendly with rap and is given a comments. Margaret tips Alec’s parents. They invite detention by the Dean. soft drink over the Alec over for a meal but student’s books to get back are offended when he at her. A term’s work is complains that the food is ruined. weird.

Anna and her mates spend Nimo’s parents are When Liz’s best friend hours talking on the concerned when he seems drops her for someone telephone. Her parents get not to have any homework. else, she becomes very angry because none of He tells them that his jealous. Liz threatens her their friends can get teachers are not setting friend with violence. Both through to them. any. His parents discover students are called to the the truth when they contact Dean’s office. the school.

When Lance’s younger When Emma is caught Jason’s friends vandalise a brother gets into a fight at smoking at school she tells public telephone. Jason school, a teacher asks her form teacher that her saw it happen but tells the Lance to calm his brother parents gave her the police that his mates had down. Lance ends up cigarettes. Later, it comes nothing to do with it. joining the fight himself. out that Emma stole them from the dairy.

Joe is upset because his Teri makes sexist remarks Rob feels that his family is family is shifting to another and comments in class. ignoring him. He decides town. Joe locks himself in Other students complain to that they will appreciate his room and refuses to the school counsellor that him more if he runs away communicate with anyone. Teri is harassing them. from home. Rob’s family are very worried and call the police who find him the next day.

92 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

An Examination of Conscience

Sit quietly, and think about each item and let the words reach into your heart.

My Relationship with Myself

• How do I take care of my whole self, my body, my soul, my mind and my feelings? • Do I have a balance in my life so I can enjoy lots of different things? • Am I good at forgiving myself when I make a mistake? • Could I call myself greedy, selfish, mean-spirited, jealous, or un- cooperative? • Do I care more about things rather than people? • Do the ways I speak and behave help to make my home and school a pleasant, happy place for people to be? • Where do I put most of my energy and time?

My Attitudes and Values

• Is telling the truth important to me? • Am I honest in my dealings with others? • How well do I encourage others to try and do well? • What is my usual response when others ask me for help? • Do I have a responsible attitude to other people and their property? • Could I say I am pono (faithful) to my values and my commitments, e.g. my school work? • Am I accepting of the faults and frailties of others? • Could I describe myself as a person who shows manaakitanga (care) and concern for the well-being of others? • Do I act with tika, pono and aroha in my dealings with others?

My Relationship with Others

• How important are other people to me and how do I show this to them? • How much of my time and energy do I spend on doing things for other people? • How do I respond to people who have hurt me? • Do I ask for more than my share of my family’s time or money? • Do I respect the tapu and dignity of other people?

My Relationship with God

• What is my image of Te Atua? • What is my relationship with God, how do I express it each day? • How important is God to me?

93 • What sort of karakia do I pray? – prayers of thanks, praise, sorrow or are they always prayers to ask for things? • Do I join with God’s people on Sundays to praise and thank God in the Eucharist? • Do I listen carefully to God’s word and receive Jesus reverently in Holy Communion? • Do I show in my words and actions, the values of Jesus Christ as seen in the Gospel? • Could I say my faith is growing because of the way I am living? • Do I receive forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation when I should?

Think about your responses and let the one that spoke loudest to you or touched your heart the deepest be the one you settle on to change. Ask Te Atua about this. Listen for God’s answer. Talk to yourself about something you can do to change this attitude or behaviour. Ask God for help with this and to remind you about it. Thank God for the gift of forgiveness and think about how you are going to tell the priest what you want to change.

94 A Class Reconciliation Service

If it is possible and appropriate, the teacher may choose to invite a priest to celebrate the Second Rite of Reconciliation with the class at the end of this topic.

If this is not appropriate, or it is difficult to get a priest, the following resource may provide a useful framework for the celebration of a class reconciliation service.

Adapt the resource as conditions allow. It may not be possible to darken the room for instance. You may have access to a chapel.

Thirteen students are required to read short passages and prayers. Students could read more than one part if thirteen strong readers are not available.

The teacher could take the leader’s part.

Six candles are lit and then extinguished as indicated below. Ask students who are not readers to do this.

• Set the Scene

• Start the Service:

Make the room dark ......

Play strident music ......

Use musical instruments to add to the discordant noise. Everyone say aloud, with no reference to each other, words representing sin, eg: war, violence, strikes, drink, hatred, ugly, hurt, sneer ... Everyone think about their own sinfulness and the sin in the world.

• Music changes:

Room still in darkness but all listen.

Reader 1: In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth; the earth was a formless wasteland, and darkness covered the abyss, while a mighty wind swept over the waters.

(The first and second candles are lit)

95 Reader 2: Then God said: 'Let there be light', and there was light. God saw how good the light was. God then separated light from darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. (Genesis 1:1-5)

(The third and fourth candles are lit)

Reader 3: In the beginning was the Word: the Word was in God's presence, and the Word was God.

(The fifth candle is lit)

Reader 4: When God created us, God made us in God's image. No other blessing of God is more significant than that. Being made in God's image, we are set apart above the rest of the creatures of the earth. Being made in God's image, we are empowered to love. It is by living that we grow more in the likeness of our God.

(The sixth candle is lit)

Leader: But, we must admit that as human beings we are weak. At Baptism we are in a state of love and innocence, but it is not long before we experience the sin in our world. Sooner or later, we sin too; that is, we fail to love one another, we fail to love ourselves, we treat the resources of the world badly, we fail to love God, and the light of our Baptism grows dim. Every time we sin there is less light in the world.

Student 5: When I take for granted the members of my own family and refuse to be pleasant, the members of my family are hurt and they are unhappy. There is less light in the world.

(The first candle is blown out)

All: Jesus, forgive us for letting your light grow dim.

Student 6: When I get even with others in the class by not talking to them, I cause unhappiness and there is less light in the world.

(The second candle is blown out)

All: Jesus, forgive us for letting your light grow dim.

96 Student 7: When I hate others who are different and I do not care about them, then I hurt them and there is less light in the world.

(The third candle is blown out)

All: Jesus, forgive us for letting your light grow dim.

Student 8: When I ridicule others who try to be good, I hurt them and make it more difficult for everyone to be good and there is less light in the world.

(The fourth candle is blown out)

All: Jesus, forgive us for letting your light grow dim.

Student 9: When I forget to thank you Lord for all the good things you have given me, there is less light in the world.

(The fifth candle is blown out)

All: Jesus, forgive us for letting your light grow dim.

Student 10: When I fail to share myself and my time with others, there is less light in the world.

(The sixth candle is blown out)

All: Jesus, forgive us for letting your light grow dim.

Student 11: We thank you Lord for your forgiveness.

All: Help us to give it to others.

Student 12: We thank you Lord for the gift of life.

All: Help us to live it.

Student 13: We thank you Lord for the gift of love.

All: Help us to spread it.

All: Our Father………………………

97 SIGN OF PEACE HERE

Leader: You are God's chosen people. God loves you and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another, forgive each other as soon as a quarrel starts. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same to your brothers and sisters. Put on love and the peace of Christ will reign in your hearts. Be merciful and always be thankful. May God bless you and keep you.

All sing: “Lay Your Hands” (or other suitable song).

98 A Useful Resource

A useful unit of work that complements the material in this resource can be found is “Unit 6: Sin and the Sacrament of Reconciliation” which can be found in Kieran Sawyer’s Developing Faith (Ave Maria Press, 1978).

The purpose of this unit is to help adolescents face the reality of sin in their own lives and understand that the Sacrament of Reconciliation can play an important role in their growth as persons and Christians.

The unit first builds a description of a “good person” based on the moral principles outlined in the Ten Commandments. It then helps the young people see that each individual is, to a large degree, responsible for the kind of person he or she becomes. The young people are encouraged to examine their daily decisions to see whether these are building the kind of persons they want to be. They are helped to discover the patterns of sinfulness in both their personal and social lives.

Next they are guided to see that they can and should do something about personal and communal sin. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is presented as a powerful symbolic action through which God offers us, as individuals and as a group, forgiveness for our sins and the strength and courage needed to do something about them.

99 GLOSSARY OF GENERAL TERMS

The entries in this glossary are for key words or terms contained in the text, and other useful definitions that provide additional background to the topic.

The references after each term, e.g. N.2766 are to paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

There is a separate glossary of Maori terms.

Absolution (N.1449) Generally this is the act of absolving or pardoning. In the Sacrament of Penance the formula of absolution expresses the role of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the ministry of the Church, through the priest, in granting forgiveness. “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Act of Contrition (N.1451-54) A prayer of the penitent in the Sacrament of Penance by which they express sorrow for sins before receiving absolution. This is the most important of the three acts of the penitent in the sacrament of penance, the others being, confession of sins and satisfaction. In contrition we express sorrow for our sins and our resolution not to sin again. If we are sorry because sin offends God’s love and goodness, this is perfect contrition, which, even outside the sacrament of penance, but in view of the sacrament, brings about the forgiveness of all sin even serious sin. If we are sorry because sin hurts us or deserves God’s punishments, this is imperfect contrition and within the sacrament, it is sufficient for the forgiveness of sins.

Apostles (N.857-65) The word apostle comes from the Greek word meaning “one who is sent”. In the New Testament it is used in a broad sense to refer to many followers of Jesus who spread his message. St Paul refers to himself and his co-workers as apostles. More precisely however the term is used to refer to the Twelve called by Jesus (Mark 3:13-19). The Catholic Church regards the Pope and the Bishops as successors of the original Twelve apostles with Peter at the head. The Pope and the Bishops, through this apostolic succession, inherit Christ’s mandate to the original apostles, to be shepherds of his flock.

Authority (N.888) Influence over, or right to give commands, enforce laws, judge conduct, etc. Religious authority is a power to influence belief or conduct, but without coercion or threat of harm. Authority in the Catholic Church is based on that of Jesus himself and his commission to his disciples (Matt 28:18-20) as well

100 as on the promise of the "Spirit of Truth" (John 16:12-15) whom Jesus would send to guide the Church.

Baptism (N.1212-1286) Baptism “is the basis of the whole Christian life”. With Confirmation and Eucharist it makes up the Sacraments of Initiation through which a person is fully initiated into the Catholic Church. The term baptism comes from a Greek word meaning to “plunge” or “immerse”. This refers to the ceremony of baptism by which a person is immersed in water or has water poured over them. This immersion is a symbol of the new Christian’s burial (to sin) with Christ and their resurrection with Christ as “new creatures”. This new birth in the Holy Spirit joins the newcomer to the Body of Christ, and makes them sharers in the mission of the Church.

Before the time of Christ Jewish religion used immersion baptism as a purification rite and as a rite of entry for converts to Judaism. John the Baptist practised a baptism of repentance which Jesus, who was ‘without sin’, underwent to emphasise his identity with sinful humankind. The early Church following Jesus’ command (Matthew 28:19) baptised “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (see also Acts 2:37-41). Although immersion seems to have been the common form of baptism in the early church, the practice of baptism through the pouring of water soon arose. Both forms are used by the Catholic Church today.

Commandments (N.2050 ff.) Usually referred to as the Ten Commandments, these are rules, received by Moses from God as part of the covenant between God and His people, Israel. They are found in Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21, and lay down strict obligations for the sort of behaviour expected from God’s people. Jesus emphasised that the central message of the Commandments was that we should love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbour as ourself. Following the example of Jesus and in conformity with Scripture the Church has always acknowledged the importance of the Ten Commandments for Christians.

Conscience (N.1776-1802) Conscience is the innate ability of a person to judge what is right and what is wrong. It helps a person choose to do something because it is good or to avoid doing evil. It may also bring a person to realise that they have already done wrong and so lead the person to repentance and conversion of life. Conscience is the core of a person, their truest self. Conscience needs to be formed through prayer and reflection on the word of God, by listening carefully to the teaching of the Church, and through the example and advice of responsible people. Formation of conscience needs to continue throughout the whole of life. When the Church teaches that a person is seriously obliged to act according to their conscience, it assumes an informed conscience which is always open to ongoing conversion. This is a demanding process of growth, but without it a person remains morally immature.

101 Conversion / Conversion of heart (N.1427-28) Conversion involves a change of heart, a complete turning around in a person’s beliefs, attitudes and way of life. This was what Jesus was asking when he called on his listeners to “Be converted and believe the Good News” (Mk 1:15). There are many famous examples of dramatic conversion experiences such as those of St Paul or St Augustine. True conversion however, is not a single event but rather a life-long process. Christians are called to continual conversion and Lent is traditionally a period for people to examine their lives and to seek to be converted anew through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Covenant (N.56-67, N.1962-64) A solemn agreement often involving the taking of an oath by the parties concerned. In the Old Testament there are a number of instances of God making a covenant with people, e.g. Noah (Gen. 9) and Abraham (Gen. 17). The most important was the Sinai Covenant. This defined the people of Israel by their relationship with God. Led by Moses the people promised, ‘All that the Lord has said we will do’ (Ex. 19:8). In return God promised, ‘I will be your God and you shall be my people’ (Lev. 26:12). God remained ever-faithful to the Covenant even though the Israelites had to be continually called back to it by the Prophets.

The New Covenant, inaugurated by Jesus (see Luke 22:20) does not revoke the Old Covenant, but fulfils it.

David David was the second king in Israel. He was of the tribe of Judah and the city of Bethlehem. The story of his anointing by Samuel can be read in 1 Samuel 16:1-13. David came to prominence when Saul was king, and became king around 1000 BC. He made Jerusalem his religious and political capital until his death around 962 BC. David was known as a poet and musician and is credited with a song of lament in 2 Samuel 1, as well as with many psalms. The prophet Nathan declared that God would maintain David’s line. This promise later grounded messianic hopes which in the New Testament Jesus is seen as fulfilling.

Day of Atonement In Hebrew “Yom Kippur”. This is the most important of Judaism’s holy days. Today it is spent primarily at synagogue services in prayer for forgiveness of sins. In Old Testament times sacrifices were offered at the Temple and a scapegoat released into the wilderness to carry away the burden of people’s sins.

Eucharist (N.1322ff) This word comes originally from a Greek word for thanksgiving. It is used by Catholics today in several related senses:

1) in reference to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the central Catholic act of worship referred to by the Second Vatican Council as ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’. The celebration of the Eucharist is a

102 memorial banquet of Christ’s death and resurrection, his sacrifice for the salvation of humankind. It is a sign of unity in which the faithful join with Christ in the Spirit to offer thanks and praise to God. 2) the celebration of the Eucharist is often referred to as ‘the Mass’. 3) in a more restricted sense it is used to refer to the second part of that celebration, the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which follows the Liturgy of the Word and contains the Eucharistic prayer. 4) it is also used to mean the consecrated bread (the host) and wine, the Body and Blood of Christ. Thus people may speak of ‘receiving the Eucharist’.

Genesis The first book of the Old Testament. Its name and its famous opening words, “In the beginning God created ....” point to its main concern, origins. It is about the origins of the world, of humankind and of the chosen people, all in relation to their originator or creator, God. The first section of the book (Genesis 1-11) is an account of creation and of God’s dealings with people from Adam and Eve to Noah. The second section (Genesis 12-25) tells the story of Abraham “our father in faith”. The third section (Genesis 25-36) is the saga of Isaac and Jacob, and the fourth section (Genesis 37-50) tells of Joseph and his family and how they came to settle in Egypt. Scholars believe that the Book of Genesis as we have it today was edited from several sources over a long period, taking its final form somewhere about 400 B.C. Several important Biblical themes make their appearance in Genesis, for example, creation, covenant, freedom, salvation, human sinfulness and faithfulness, and God’s faithfulness.

Healing (N. 1421) The Sacraments of Penance (Reconciliation) and Anointing of the Sick are sometimes classified together as ‘Sacraments of Healing’ because in them, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Church continues Jesus’ work of spiritual and physical healing.

Ifoga This is a traditional Samoan forgiveness ceremony. When a serious offence has been committed against another person or family the offender confesses publicly and sits covered with a fine mat seeking the forgiveness of the other party. When introduced into the celebration of the Eucharist, the ifoga replaces the Penitential Rite.

Law The usual way of translating “Torah”, the Hebrew word meaning ‘guide’ or ‘teaching’. The Torah consists of the first five books of the Bible, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and is the most important part of the Hebrew scriptures for Judaism. It is often called the ‘Law of Moses’ but it contains much more than legal material.

Miracle (N.547 ff) From a Catholic perspective a miracle is an unusual or unexpected manifestation of the presence and power of God in human history. There is

103 no Hebrew word for miracle and the Greek word for miracle does not appear in the New Testament. Instead the Scriptures speak of “wonders”, “acts of power”, “works” and “signs”.

So the miracles of Jesus are signs of the power of God at work. The reign of God was shown by Jesus’ power over evil, illness, disability and nature. Jesus did not want to be a miracle man in the sense of a ‘wonder-worker’ or magician. He refused to work miracles to convince doubters such as Herod. The greatest miracle for Christians is the Resurrection, which actually happened, and which proclaims the power of God among us and his victory over sin and death.

Original Sin (N.386-389) Sin is a failure in genuine love of God and neighbour. We can see its results in the world around us and recognise it within ourselves. As St Paul says “instead of doing the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want” (Romans 7:15). The doctrine of original sin helps to throw light on the mystery of sin. The Church sees the origin of the universal human tendency to sin in ‘the Fall’. That is, in Adam and Eve’s disobedience of God which led to their expulsion from Paradise. Adam and Eve abused their God- given freedom, and by their revolt against God lost the original holiness and justice God intended for humanity.

As a result of their disobedience all human beings have been affected by the state of original sin. This means that our human nature is weakened, is subject to suffering and death, and inclined to sin. Catholic teaching is that, although human nature has been weakened by the state of original sin passed on from Adam and Eve, it is not totally corrupted. Human beings retain their freedom and are capable, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, of struggling against evil. God did not abandon humanity after the Fall. Christ, the ‘new Adam’, triumphed over sin and death and all share in the fruits of his victory. The Risen Lord has broken the chains of slavery to sin and set us free. So although the power of the evil one is real, and sin an obvious reality in our world, the power and the grace of God are greater.

Penance (N.1430, 1460) Prayer or work performed to express sorrow for sin. In the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation penance is performed at the direction of the priest after receiving the Sacrament.

Penitent (N.1450-60) A penitent is someone who acknowledges their sinfulness. Liturgically penitents are those participating in the Rite of Reconciliation.

Penitential Rite This is part of the Introductory Rites in the celebration of the Eucharist.

Personal Sin See entry on Sin.

104 Psalms (N.2585-2589) The Psalms are a collection of 150 Israelite lyrics, poems and prayers found in the Wisdom Books of the Old Testament. They represent the work of several centuries and some may be the work of King David to whom many are ascribed.

The Book of Psalms (or Psalter) is the ‘masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament’. The Psalms contain many forms of prayer, such as lamentation and thanksgiving, but all in praise of God. The Psalms are part of the liturgy and for centuries have been among the best-loved prayers of Christians.

Reconciliation Room A room in which the individual rite of the Sacrament of Penance is celebrated. It is arranged to allow for either the anonymous or face-to-face form of exchange between penitent and priest. It has replaced the former “confessional box”.

Restorative Justice In contrast to retributive justice, which emphasises the punishment of the offender, restorative justice focuses on healing the effects of crime by repairing the damage it has caused and restoring the well-being of the victim, the offender and the community.

Rite of Reconciliation The ritual form in which the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Penance is celebrated. There are actually 3 Rites. The first, and most familiar is the rite for individual penitents. The second rite is commonly held in parishes in Advent and Lent. It involves communal celebration of most of the Sacrament in preparation for individual confession and absolution. The third rite is used only in exceptional circumstances. It involves group celebration and general confession and absolution.

Sacrament (N.774-76) In its broad sense the term sacrament refers to ways in which the invisible saving power of God is made visible through created things. But properly speaking a sacrament is ‘a visible sign of invisible grace’. Thus the Second Vatican Council spoke of Christ as the sacrament of God, and the Church as the sacrament of Christ. In particular it refers to the seven sacraments of the Church which are signs and instruments of Christ’s grace.

Sacrament of Reconciliation (N.1420-1498) Also called Sacrament of Penance. Along with the Anointing of the Sick it is one of the Sacraments of Healing. Reconciliation is an essential part of the gospel message and the Sacrament of Penance makes a ritual provision for sinners to be reconciled both to God and to the Church.

Sin (N.385-421, 1440-1460, 1846-76) Sin is a ‘failure in genuine love for God and neighbour...’ As such sin is something that harms, or even breaks, our relationship with God and with other people. Through Revelation we know of God’s desire to be in a

105 relationship of love with his people, and for people to ‘love one another as I have loved you’ (John 13:34). When we understand this we can appreciate that ‘sin is an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another’ (CCC n.387). Sin may be personal or social. Social sin is the name given to unjust structures, institutions or customs created by an accumulation of personal sins that create a climate which leads people into evil. An example would be unjust laws which foster racial or religious persecution. As for actual or personal sins, there are many ways in which people can harm their relationship with God and others – many varieties of sin. Some however are obviously more serious than others. Traditionally the Church has spoken of mortal and venial sins. A mortal sin is a serious break in our relationship of love with God, neighbour, world or self. It is a selfish and deliberate NO to God and others. Again, the tradition teaches that for sin to be mortal three conditions must be met; there must be serious matter, full knowledge and full consent (see also Original Sin). Venial sins while they do not turn us radically away from God and others, are still serious in that they are selfish acts which damage our relationships. Sin is a reality which must be recognised for what it is. What must also be recognised is that, powerful as sin is, the love and mercy of God is more powerful still. The ever-merciful God is constantly calling his people to be reconciled with him and with each other. Through the Sacrament of Penance the Church provides people with the opportunity to acknowledge their sinfulness and to turn again and be reconciled with God and neighbour. Reconciliation is a means of healing brokenness and setting relationships right, not being troubled with unnecessary guilt, but resting secure in the love of God.

Social Sin See entry on Sin.

Values The principles or standards of a person or society, the personal or societal judgement of what is valuable or important in life.

106 GLOSSARY OF MĀORI TERMS

This glossary gives explanation of Māori terms which are italicised in the text.

Pronunciation – correct pronunciation of Māori comes only with practice in listening to and speaking the language. The English phonetic equivalents provided under each Māori word are intended to give help, for teachers who need it, in providing reasonably accurate examples for students. If in doubt please seek assistance from someone practised in correct pronunciation of Te Reo Māori.

´ indicates stressed syllable

Aroha (úh-raw-huh) In general, means love and/or compassion. Note that the word is used in two senses:

1. A joyful relationship involving the expression of goodwill and the doing of good, empathy.

2. Sympathy, compassion towards those who are unhappy or suffering.

Atua (úh-too-uh) The Māori word Atua has been used to describe God in the Christian sense since missionary times. Before the coming of Christianity, Māori used the word atua to describe many kinds of spiritual beings (in the way we now use the word “spirit”) and also unusual events. Only the priestly and aristocratic classes of Māori society (ariki, rangatira and tohunga) had access to knowledge of the Supreme Being, Io, also known as Io-matua, Io-matua-i-te- kore, Io-te-wananga, etc. It seems that many, but not all, tribes had this belief in Io before missionary times. Māori use several words to refer to God in the Christian sense:

Te Atua – God, the Supreme Being

Ihowa – Jehovah

Te Ariki – Lord, more correctly used of Jesus

Te Matua – the father (literally, parent)

Io – a term used for God in some, but not all Māori circles. (Te Atua is acceptable in all circles).

Hākarameta (háh-kuh-ruh-meh-tuh) Sacrament.

107 Hapū (huh-póo) A sub-tribe – a collective of related families all with a common ancestor. The hapū, rather than the iwi, is the operational unit of Maori society.

Hē (heh) Wrong.

He Tangata (heh túh-nguh-tuh) Human beings, humankind.

Hehu Karaiti (héh-hoo kuh-rúh-ee-tee) Jesus Christ.

Hohou Rongo (háw-haw-oo ráw-ngaw) The restoring of tapu and mana, by a process of reconciliation which involves acknowledging violations, accepting responsibility and giving redress.

When written with initial capital letters, Hohou Rongo, refers to the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation.

Karakia (kúh-ruh-kee-uh) Prayer, ritual.

Koha (káw-huh) Gift.

Mana (múh-nuh) Spiritual power and authority. Its sources are both divine and human, namely, God, one’s ancestors and one’s achievements in life. Mana comes to people in three ways: mana tangata, from people, mana whenua, from the land, and mana atua, from the spiritual powers.

Please note: when mana refers to Mana of God it is written as Mana.

Manaaki (muh-núh-kee) Show kindness or hospitality.

Marae (múh-ruh-eh) The traditional meeting place of the Māori people, consisting of a meeting house (whare hui) and dining room (whare kai). Strictly speaking, the term refers to the marae atea, the courtyard in front of the meeting house.

Noa (náw-uh) Free from tapu restrictions, which have been lifted by ceremony or ritual. This form of noa is positive, it is the freedom to go on with life after being released from restricting factors, e.g after a pōwhiri or welcoming ceremony; on leaving a cemetery; after a reconciliation; etc. Noa can also be negative: a state of weakness and powerlessness which affects both people who have suffered violation or abuse and also those who have caused violation or abuse.

108 Pono (páw-naw) Integrity, sincerity, truthfulness. To be faithful to what is tika or right.

Rongopai (ráw-ngaw-puh-ee) Gospel or Good News. Nga Rongopai (plural). Te Rongopai (singular).

Tangata Whenua (túh-nguh-tuh féh-noo-uh) Indigenous people of the land, or their descendants. Local people, home people, people of a marae are usually spoken of as hunga kāinga, iwi kāinga or tangata kāinga, not tangata whenua.

Tapu (túh-poo) This word is used in three senses:

1) restrictions or prohibitions which safeguard the dignity and survival of people and things

2) the value, dignity, or worth of someone or something, eg the holiness of God, human dignity, the value of the environment

3) the intrinsic being or essence of someone or something, eg tapu i Te Atua is the intrinsic being of God, the divine nature.

Please note: when tapu refers to the Tapu of God it is written as Tapu.

Tautoko (túh-oo-taw-kaw) To support a person.

Te Ao Wairua (teh úh-aw wúh-i-roo-uh) The spiritual world.

Te Aranga (teh úh-ruh-nguh) The Resurrection.

Te Kupu a Te Ariki (teh kóo-poo uh teh úh-ree-kee) The Word of God.

Te Rangatiratanga (teh ruh-nguh-tée-ruh-tuh-nguh) The Kingdom or Reign of God.

Te Tiriti O Waitangi (teh tée-ree-tee aw wúh-ee-tuh-ngee) The Treaty of Waitangi.

Te Wā (teh wáh) A period of time in which a series of events, affecting people and their lives, takes place, which enables people to reach goals, or moments of achievement.

109 Te Wairua Tapu (teh wúh-ee-roo-uh túh-poo) The Holy Spirit.

Tika (tée-kuh) Justice.

Whakapono (fúh-kuh-paw-naw) Faith.

Whānau (fáh-nuh-oo) Extended Family.

110 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FIRST EDITION (1991)

This booklet was part of a series prepared by the members of a Writing Party:

David Hawke fsc (Auckland) Rita Haase (Auckland) Anne Ward rsj (Hamilton) Barbara Henley rndm (Palmerston North) Gary Finlay (Wellington) Mervyn Duffy sm (Wellington) Marcellin Wilson rsm (Wellington) Charles Shaw (Christchurch) Edwige Fava (Dunedin)

SYLLABUS CO-ORDINATOR: Gary Finlay (NCRS, Wellington)

EDITORS: Gary Finlay (NCRS, Wellington) Elizabeth M Russell sjc (NCRS, Auckland)

THEOLOGICAL CONSULTORS: † John Mackey DD Paul Williamson sm, S.T.D., M.A. (Hons)

TYPIST: Kath Rowland (NCRS, Auckland)

SECOND EDITION (2002)

CO-ORDINATOR/EDITOR: Charles Shaw

THEOLOGICAL CONSULTOR: Mons Vincent Hunt

LITURGICAL CONSULTOR: Rev Anthony Harrison

CONTACT FOR MAORI CONSULTATION: Rev Bernard Dennehy

NCRS: Gary Finlay, Director Joan Parker rndm, Editing Marilyn Roberts, Secretary

111

Titles of the Topics in Year 10

STRANDS Human Experience 10A Scripture and Tradition 10B, 10G Church History 10D Theology 10H Sacrament and Worship 10C, 10F Social Justice 10E RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAMME

FOR CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

Sinfulness and Reconciliation

10F TEACHER GUIDE

CEP1016