Confession and Reconciliation for Scots Episcopalians

Day by day I pray personally, usually using an Office to guide me, and ask for God's forgiveness for sins I feel I have committed; often unwittingly. Weekly at the Holy Eucharist we have corporate Confession as well as personal Confession. The Rector and Assistant Priest are also available to hear Confessions. However, since the Reformation it has never been a regular occurrence in the Scottish Episcopal Church. For example, no Scots Episcopal Church that I know of, has a confessional box, which is a common sight in Roman Catholic churches. Even in the RC Church, Confession is not as frequent as it used to be, well, in Scotland, although in other countries, notably Malta GC, it still is. RC personal Confessions are heard before Holy Communion. In our reformed tradition ( we used to be 'protestant' whatever that means today ), now reformed catholic and episcopal; emphasis has always been made on corporate Confession at the beginning of the Holy Eucharist. If we are contrite, we receive absolution via the priest who pronounces it with the sign of the Cross.

The Invitation to Holy Communion has a Responsory: 'Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the Word, and I shall be healed," which we all repeat before receiving Holy Communion. As a psychoanalyst by training I believe an interesting phenomena occurs during the Administration. The Episcopal, as well as the Anglican words intoned by the Celebrant as he profers the Host etc are..'the body of Christ given for you....preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life...' and so on, result in us feeling and experiencing that, with the taking in of bread and wine, we take in the body and blood of Christ. So, by introjection the unconscious experience of Christ within us, becomes us or, to use psychoanalytical jargon, it becomes ego-syntonic. This is no different at all from the RC view. Whatever you believe, by God's Grace, we are changed by the unconscious and inner experience. If you watch folk coming away from the altar rail after receiving HC you see that some are pensive, some serious, some quietly content, all are pre-occupied, some in tears and emotional, some walk away quickly back into external reality. Children are the most interesting. If they are not receiving HC but come for a Blessing from the Celebrant, they all take it seriously and watch, open-eyed, as to what is happening to the grown-ups kneeling at the rail. Even the hyper-active ones are quiet and wait to be Blessed, then skip away down the aisle with their parents or fellow Sunday School children. Indeed, all, children and adults recognise that they - we, have experienced something uniquely different in our everyday lives. All Christians say they miss it if they cannot come to church. Christians going on holiday nowadays always check on the .net to see where they can attend church for the Holy Eucharist - yes, it continues to be important - THE important experience in our lives. Therefore, I see a natural and seamless connection between feeling contrite, Confession, Absolution and the 'Holy Mystery' of receving HC during the Eucharist. I have asked folk if it is important to them or not. All regular Communicants say emphatically that it IS important in their lives, although many can't describe why or what has happened to them. This is because it is an 'Holy Mystery', as the Rubric of the Scottish Prayer Book calls it, so it is difficult to find earthly words to define the experience. This is common in my practice as a psychoanalyst. I have defined it as 'the space between words' and I often allude to the 'Holy Mystery' of an inner experience that can't be described normally. It doesn't mean it is less important. On the contrary, it is MORE important than words can describe. It is highly subjective, experientially, and so personal, which is what it is all about for the Christian. We all continue to seek God's Grace and continue to confess and seek reconciliation over and over. Amen.

Wednesday, 14/11/07 - St John of the Cross

Today is the Feast of St John of the Cross. It always reminds me of the famous Dali painting which hangs in the Kelvingrove Museum & Art Gallery, Glasgow, now the most visited venue in the country, even beating Edinburgh Castle and Culzean Castle. John was a Priest and Teacher of the Faith. I often wonder what such people were like. The nearest analogy is someone we all know about, and that is Mother Theresa of Calcutta and her nuns in Glasgow. She used to send her nuns to Third World countries to nurse the sick and dying on the streets. When Thatcher closed down all the Local Authority Hostels for the homeless, the homeless were ousted onto the streets throughout the UK. 'Cardboard cities' sprang up and rough sleepers became the norm, to the shame of the UK. Mother Theresa announced that we also are now of Third World status and so her Communities developed. I was privileged to work with one of her nuns in Glasgow and visited the Community House in Glasgow.