✓WHAT IF SOMEONE MAKES RESTITUTION OUT OF FEAR, IT DOESN’T MEAN REPENTANCE?

Restitution out of fear is valid just as confession out of fear is still valid.

In the sacrament of reconciliation (confession), there’s what is called contrition which is the feeling of remorse; penitence; a Christian’s detestation of past sins and a resolve to make amends, either from love of God (perfect contrition) or from hope of heaven (imperfect contrition). This comes before confession and leads to confession.

Note that the reasons for the contrition may be for:
a. love of God(perfect )
b. from hope of heaven, that is, fear of hell(imperfect)

So also, if one makes restitution and goes for confession, it remains valid because one has repaired what one damaged. Fear could also lead to one’s repentance and so to God. In spite of the fear, restitution remains valid because it also points to the social dimension of sin by restoring order in the world created by God ; balance. Allow God to judge the unseen hearts of mankind and let justice prevail.

✓WHAT IF A MASTER REJECTS HIS FORMER APPRENTICE RESTITUTION FOR “EVERY BOY DOES IT,” EVEN BLESSED HIM?

One asked this question because one never considered the social dimension of sin. “Every boy does it” is one of the reasons why there’s so much chaos in the society but restitution restores it. Try and universalize this norm “every boy does it” and you will understand that it’s an approval to stealing which implies that every apprentice should and can steal from his master and it doesn’t matter, which is actually a deep lie. In the end it creates habitual thieves who go about stealing even after their apprenticeship. Imagine such kind of society; chaos. Restitution strives to restore this balance.

Secondly, one didn’t consider the personal dimension of sin. Sin creates a relational gap between us, others and God. Whatever is sinful remains sinful no matter a personal approval. Stealing is sinful and thus, the boy is not just restoring what he stole, he is making his conscience clear before God because he too is a son of Abraham that needs salvation. And too he is learning that stealing is not good because if he steals from another person, it may not go down well with him.

Moreover, STEALING IS NOT DETERMINED BY QUANTITY. What if the boy took a whole lot of his master’s money (100 million) and ran away to the effect of crippling the masters’ business, hope the master would still maintain that “every boy does it?”

However, even if the master didn’t want the boy to give back anything, the boy was forgiven and that takes care of the restitution and I dare say that restitution goes with a blessing.

✓THE MAN ON THE RIGHT OF JESUS’ CROSS WAS A THIEF AND JESUS PROMISED HIM INSTANT PARADISE EVEN WITHOUT RESTITUTION?

The question I think, should be, “if this thief had the same chance like Zacchaeus, would he not do the same thing that Zacchaeus did?” I tell you he will if the repentance was true. The difference is that both the penitent thief and Zacchaeus had true repentance but the thief had no opportunity to do restitution because his was on his “bed of death.”

This calls for us to understand Deathbed Conversions. This is an opportunity that goes to only few people, which is very rare and dangerous. And remember, it’s only God that grants this grace. This is why the article says “no man of God and no god of Men.” It’s a rare case.

It requires a lot of faith because if you go towards an “evil” dying person, you will understand that at those moments their past lives torment them to hopelessness and to even unbelief in the mercy of God. So much grace is required for such faith in God’s mercy at that moment to manifest in such a hardened thief like Dismas.

Too many people say, “I will follow Christ later, and then repent and make RESTITUTION, but now I want to have fun.” However, some of them don’t get a chance to repent on their deathbeds. Some of them are taken in accidents or from heart attacks, and never have a chance to repent at the end of their days.

Yes, deathbed salvation is possible; God only knows the heart, but it must not be relied upon, it’s dangerous towards salvation. Restitution offers the freely living opportunity to repent while one has the time.

✓HOW DOES ONE MAKE RESTITUTION WHEN ONE COULDN’T LOCATE OR REMEMBER HIS/HER VICTIMS OF THEFT?

For St. Augustine, “the sin is not forgiven unless one makes restitution for what was taken.”

This is to be taken seriously if we all understand the harm done to people or institutions and to our souls when we steal and the more we steal.

In such a case, there are two categories:

1. Notorious thief/ public thief (rare case)
2. Not -Notorious

In the first category of a notorious and public thief which is rare and extreme, if the repentance is really true, he has to make his repentance public and so, those whom he stole from shall come forth and he shall have a dialogue with them and determine the amount he owes. The dialogue will help him to make the payment because some may forgive him without demanding he pays back, some may insist, at such he pays them back gradually. If he sincerely couldn’t find or remember his victims of fraud, he pays back bygift doing charitable works to orphanage homes, motherless babies, sheltering poor people around him, paying school fees for the poor, dessuading others from stealing,etc.

On the second category, if the person is not a notorious thief, and has sincerely repented, he should reflectively eke out time to think about those people he had defrauded. The one’s he could remember, he is to dialogue with them and determine the amount he owes. Also, the dialogue will help him make the payment because some may forgive him without demanding he pays back, but some may insist, at such he pays them back gradually. If he sincerely couldn’t find his victims of fraud, he pays back by doing charitable works to orphanage homes, motherless babies, the poor people around him, paying school fees for the poor, etc.

Note well, in both categories, the repentant thief ought to bring out time, over weeks and months to reflect and recall those he defrauded.

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Many of us many not be comfortable with this because life for them is “touch not my convenience and do my feelings no harm.” But, the same people will agree to this when they become the victims of (serious) theft or fraud.

#Notabene: Restitution is to be done on many things and not only on stealing; it’s done mainly as a reparation for an injury, and that reparation is made for restoring to the person injured what he had lost and thus putting him in his former position

Fada Henry Charles Umelechi

Truth Series.