He must be confronted with the entire kingdom of God in all its concreteness if he is to find his rightful place within it. Thus he confesses his guilt before the whole company of heaven, “to Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, the Blessed Archangel Michael, Saint John the Baptist, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and all the Saints, and to you, Father”. The sinner’s glimpse of heaven, as he comes to acknowledge his most grievous fault, is an element of the Church’s liturgy, in the Mass as in penance.
