liturgical living This is the sixth installment in a series of Liturgical Living articles exploring how the sacraments impact daily life. What does it mean to say Christians are transformed by the sacraments? In this issue we consider the question in a reflection on the Rite of Reconciliation by The Most Rev. Melissa M. Skelton, Assisting Bishop in the Diocese of Olympia and former Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of New Westminster and Metropolitan of the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia.
Sacraments as Transformation: The Rite of Reconciliation by The Most Rev. Melissa M. Skelton Photo by Randy Murray via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Scene 1: Chelsea was a new parishioner at St. Matthew’s Church. From a non-denominational Evangelical background, she had left her church one year before, frustrated with some of the church’s approach to the Bible along with the lack of opportunity she had as a woman to exercise leadership in the church. When the rector at St. Matthew’s met with her to get to know her better, Chelsea talked about her frustrations with her former church and about significant brokenness in her family of origin. Chelsea was a talented young woman who was angry at the Church and burdened by unresolved relational issues. And, significantly, she was carrying guilt about her part in both situations. Scene 2: During Lent a parish teaching team taught a multi-session course in forgiveness in the parish. The team began the first class with this invitation: “Turn to the person next to you and, if you’re willing, describe some situation in which forgiveness is important, even vital, to you.” The room immediately was abuzz. No shyness, no misgivings about sharing, no holding back. Every person was carrying some situation that called out for forgiveness—forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, the yearning for a sense of God’s forgiveness.
up question on a class in forgiveness for this reason: People like Chelsea and many, many others find the importance of forgiveness and the availability of the Rite of Reconciliation not only valuable, but in some cases, transformative in their relationship to themselves, to others and to God.
I describe a person I am calling Chelsea along with the strong response a parish team got to their warm-
The Rite of Reconciliation, like all sacraments, is the Church’s ongoing enactment of Jesus’ ministry. This
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