Leviticus — Chapter 4

The sin-offering was prescribed for sins committed through ignorance or inadvertence, not presumptuous sins. Lapide teaches that the ignorance here is the ignorance of passion and weakness, not absolute nescience — for as the Wise Man says (Prov. 14:22) and Aristotle teaches (Eth. 3), every sinner acts out of a kind of ignorance, being imprudent and disordered by passion. The sin-offering thus covers the vast multitude of human frailty.

The sin-offering for the whole congregation of Israel when they sin through ignorance (Lev. 4:13-21) shows that the people as a body can incur collective guilt and must make collective reparation. Lapide: this is the theological basis for public penance, national days of fasting and humiliation, and the intercessory function of the Church's public prayer. A community that sins through negligence in forming its members in faith must collectively confess and make reparation.

The sin-offering of a female lamb for an individual's sin through ignorance (Lev. 4:32-35) shows that even ordinary private sin — committed in weakness, not with full knowledge and deliberate will — requires expiation before God. Lapide: this is the theological warrant for frequent reception of sacramental confession, not only for mortal sins but also for venial sins committed through human weakness. The Council of Trent (sess. 14) recommends this practice for spiritual growth.