I BELIEVE IN THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
by Fr Stan Muyebe

The tenth article of the Creed, “I believe in the forgiveness of sins,” articulates a profound and indispensable truth that lies at the very heart of Christian redemption. This declaration affirms not merely the possibility but the reality of divine mercy, made accessible to humanity through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, signifying God’s boundless love in overcoming the barrier of human transgression.

Crucially, it is actualized for believers primarily through the sacraments of Baptism, which washes away original and actual sins, and Sacrament of Reconciliation, which offers ongoing absolution for post-baptismal transgressions, thereby restoring communion with God and the Church.

Let us return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
In the year of the Jubilee, walking in faith as pilgrims of hope, we are challenged to return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. To return to this sacrament is not merely an obligation but a profound opportunity to experience the liberating power of God’s forgiveness, to be spiritually renewed, to receive divine counsel and consolation, and to truly embrace the new life offered by Christ, ensuring our continued journey towards eternal salvation as we respond to His direct commission to His apostles to forgive sins (John 20:22-23).

Receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the year of the Jubilee, the year of hope, opens a door in our hearts for immense hope, transforming guilt and despair into an invitation for repentance and a renewed life of grace. Ultimately, the forgiveness of sins is the foundational promise enabling humanity’s restoration to divine favor and the ultimate realization of eternal life.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church meticulously outlines the Sacrament of Reconciliation, presenting it as a profound encounter with God’s mercy specifically for sins committed after Baptism, a vital pathway for spiritual healing and renewed communion.

• The Sacrament is also known by various significant names – Penance, Confession, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation – each title illuminates a distinct facet of this sacrament’s multifaceted grace: Penance signifying the penitent’s conversion, Confession highlighting the integral act of revealing sins to the priest, Forgiveness emphasizing God’s merciful pardon, and Reconciliation underscoring the restoration of relationship with God and the Church.

• Instituted by Christ himself, particularly through His words to the Apostles to “forgive sins,” the sacrament is administered through a bishop or priest who acts in persona Christi, serving as the instrument of divine mercy.

• The Catechism details the essential acts of the penitent: heartfelt contrition for sins, a thorough and honest confession of all grave sins to the priest, and the willingness to perform satisfaction or penance, which makes reparation for the harm caused by sin and strengthens one’s resolve to amend life.

• Following these acts, the priest grants absolution, a powerful declaration that truly forgives sins in God’s name, restoring sanctifying grace, remitting eternal punishment for mortal sins, and bringing profound spiritual peace and interior consolation. Thus, the Catechism emphasizes that Reconciliation is not merely a legalistic ritual but a transformative encounter with Christ’s boundless love, indispensable for those burdened by grave sin and highly beneficial for all believers seeking daily conversion and a deeper walk with God.

• A Catholic understanding of the Sacrament of Penance, also known as Confession or Reconciliation, reveals it as an indispensable sacrament of healing, divinely instituted to restore our relationship with God and the Church after sin.

• Church doctrine unequivocally teaches that this sacrament is a profound encounter with God’s boundless mercy, offering forgiveness for sins committed after Baptism through the ministry of the priest, who acts in persona Christi, forgiving sins in the name of Christ himself and reconciling the penitent not only with God but also with the ecclesial community wounded by sin.

Mortal sins and venial sins
The Catechism encourages us to confess both mortal sins and venial sins.
What is the meaning of mortal sin and venial sin?
The Catholic Catechism, in its profound guidance on the spiritual life, distinctly encourages the faithful to confess both mortal and venial sins, recognizing their differing impacts on one’s relationship with God and providing precise definitions for each.

• A mortal sin, as meticulously defined by the Catechism (CCC 1855-1861), is a grave transgression that utterly destroys charity in the heart of the sinner, turning one away from God, who is our ultimate end and beatitude. For a sin to be considered mortal, three conditions must simultaneously be met: it must involve grave matter, be committed with full knowledge of the sinful character of the act and its opposition to God’s law, and be performed with deliberate and complete consent, meaning the sinner freely chooses to commit it despite knowing its gravity; this profound rupture with God, if unrepented, leads to eternal death, making its confession and absolution in the Sacrament of Reconciliation absolutely essential for the restoration of sanctifying grace.

• In contrast, a venial sin (CCC 1862-1863), while still a true moral disorder, allows charity to subsist, though it offends and wounds it, representing a less severe offense against God’s law. Such sins involve a less serious matter, or are committed without full knowledge or complete consent, thereby not completely severing one’s friendship with God, yet still weakening charity, manifesting a disordered affection for created goods, and impeding the soul’s progress in the exercise of virtues and the practice of moral good. While venial sins do not result in the loss of sanctifying grace, the Catechism strongly recommends their confession as a means of spiritual growth, fostering humility, encouraging the battle against sinful inclinations, and receiving grace to avoid future transgressions, thereby deepening one’s union with Christ. Thus, by clearly delineating these two categories of sin, the Church underscores the paramount importance of frequent confession, not merely for the absolution of grave offenses but also for the ongoing purification and strengthening of the soul in its journey towards holiness, recognizing that both forms of sin require our attention and repentance.

For serious (mortal) sins, which sever our communion with God, deprive us of sanctifying grace, and risk eternal separation, the sacrament of reconciliation becomes the ordinary and most efficacious means for reconciliation, restoring us to God’s friendship and making us worthy to receive Holy Communion.

While not strictly necessary for venial sins, frequent confession is strongly encouraged as a powerful means of spiritual growth, helping us to overcome habitual faults, strengthen our conscience, receive grace to resist temptation, and deepen our humility through the honest examination of conscience, sincere contrition, and commitment to amendment.

Ultimately, returning to the Sacrament of Penance is essential for every Catholic, not only to secure the forgiveness of grave sins and restore grace, but also to continually grow in holiness, experience profound spiritual healing, and embrace the ongoing journey of conversion that is central to our faith.

Please see the attached poster for details of the Festival of Nations Mass on Sunday 28 September 2025. Everyone is welcome!

The Archdiocese of Cape Town celebrated a Jubilee Mass – as Pilgrims of Hope – at Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Lansdowne on Sunday 14 September, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It was a joyful celebration, highlighted by beautiful singing and liturgical dance. In his thought provoking homily, Bishop Sylvester David OMI called us, as pilgrims and as an archdiocese, to action. Here is the text of his homily below.

The Cross and the Jubilee: A Meeting Place of Mercy and Freedom

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, dear fellow pilgrims of hope;

As we gather today, on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we do so with hearts made even more joyful by the spirit of this Extraordinary Jubilee Year 2025, a year Pope Francis called a “Jubilee of Hope.” We come together as the Church in Cape Town; young and old, rich and poor, wounded and healed; standing at the foot of the Cross and before the open gates of mercy as indicated by the celebration of a Jubilee.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus speaks of being “lifted up” (Jn 3:14), echoing that mysterious scene from Numbers 21, when Moses lifted up a bronze serpent in the wilderness so that the people, suffering from the sting of death, might look upon it and live. To human eyes, the Cross was a place of utter defeat, a tool of Roman torture and shame. Yet Jesus, through his patient endurance and absolute trust in God, transformed it into the tree of life, the gate of victory, and the throne of mercy. As St. Paul tells us in Phil 2, Jesus “humbled himself, becoming obedient to death; even death on a Cross. Therefore God highly exalted him.” (Phil 2:8-9). The Cross teaches us that God’s power is most perfectly revealed not in domination, but in sacrifice; not in force, but in forgiveness.

In a city like ours, where so many still carry crosses of poverty, violence, inequality, and racial division; the message of the Cross is this: God is not far from our suffering. He has entered into it, and embraced it. He will transform it.

The Jubilee Year has its roots in the Old Testament, especially in Leviticus 25, where every 50th year was declared a sacred time of release from debt, freedom for slaves, and the restoration of land. It was a radical reminder that everything belongs to God, and that God’s people must live in mercy, justice, and solidarity. Now, in this 2025 Jubilee, Pope Francis invited us to live out this hopeful renewal. The Cross is the centre of that renewal. Because only through the Cross can true reconciliation and freedom take place.

How many in our communities, perhaps even in our own families, are longing for a new beginning?

• A young man shackled by addiction.
• A woman carrying the burden of abortion or abuse.
• An elderly person feeling forgotten in our fast-paced world.
• A township robbed of opportunity, yet still rich in spirit.

To all of these, the Cross says: There is hope. There is healing. There is freedom. Here in the Archdiocese of Cape Town, the Cross stands over Table Mountain, not just as a symbol, but as a living invitation.

• To be a Church of the Poor, where no one is excluded.
• To be a Church of Reconciliation, where race and history no longer divide.
• To be a Church of Mercy, where confession is a doorway, not a judgment.
• To be a Church of Witness, lifting high the Cross; not in pride, but in love.

Jubilee is not just a year on the calendar; it is a call to action. And the Cross is not just a historical event frozen into more than two millennia of Christian existence; it is a present reality. Jesus is still being crucified today, in the hungry, in the abused, in the migrants and in the lonely. But He is also still being raised; through acts of mercy, through justice pursued, and through every “yes” we give to God.

Jesus said: “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”
(Jn 3:14-15). The narratives of the first reading from the Book of Numbers and also from the Gospel passage for today are most illuminating. They speak of the way in which God heals his people. The wilderness generation in the Book of Numbers is wandering in the desert and complaining that they are being stung by serpents. God’s answer is for them to make an image of what is causing them pain and to look at it so that they can be healed – and indeed all who looked at the bronze serpent were healed. Jesus uses this example when he gives Nicodemus his catechism lesson on baptism in Jn 3. What does all this mean for us? Well, God’s people (namely you & I) are still wandering around in the wilderness and we complain. But the serpents that sting us are not out in the desert sands – they are inside of us (in our guilt, our self pity, our complexes, our jealousies, our self absorption and our selfishness.). The wilderness is very often of our own making though sometimes it is thrust upon us through illness, depression, loss of loved ones, violence, and abuse. Whatever the case, we complain and God’s answer is the same as the answer he gave to the wilderness generation: ‘take what is causing you pain, hold it up and look at it, and you will be healed’. When we face our demons like that we can truly be free and then we can experience the exaltation of the cross in our own lives.

Today, as we look upon the Cross, let us not turn away. Let us not be indifferent. Let us not grow cold. Instead, let us look… and live. Let us look upon His wounds… and find healing. Let us look upon His mercy… and offer forgiveness to those who have wounded us. Let us look upon His poverty… and open our hands to give generously, because he is still with the poor and the dispossessed.

This is the Cross that Cape Town needs. This is the Cross the world is waiting for. As we go forth from this Jubilee Mass, let us be a people marked by the Cross; not ashamed of it, not afraid of it; but exalted by it. Let the Cross be our banner, our bridge, and our beacon. For in the Cross, death has been defeated, in the Cross, hope has been restored, and through the Cross, we have become a Jubilee people; free, forgiven, and sent to heal the world. “We adore you O Christ and we praise you because by your holy Cross you have redeemed the World”.