** If you wish to receive this sacrament, Please visit the parish Calendar or contact parish office directly to arrange a private session with the parish priest**

Reconciliation: How to Experience God’s Mercy and Forgiveness

Sacrament of reconciliation, also known as confession or penance, is a sacrament that offers us the opportunity to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness for our sins. It also helps us to heal our relationship with God, ourselves and others, and to grow in holiness and grace.

What is Catholic Reconciliation?

Catholic reconciliation is a sacrament that was instituted by Jesus Christ on the day of his resurrection, when he breathed on his apostles and gave them the power to forgive or retain sins (John 20:19-23). It is based on the belief that God loves us unconditionally and wants us to be reconciled with him and with his Church.

In this sacrament, we confess our sins to a priest, who acts as God’s representative and as a minister of the Church. We express our sorrow for our sins and our desire to avoid them in the future. The priest gives us absolution, which means he declares that God has forgiven our sins. He also gives us a penance, which is a prayer or action that we do to show our gratitude to God and to repair the damage caused by our sins.

Why Do We Need Catholic Reconciliation?

We need Catholic reconciliation because we are human and we sin. Sin is any thought, word or action that goes against God’s will and his law of love. Sin hurts our relationship with God, who is the source of our life and happiness. Sin also hurts ourselves, because it damages our dignity and freedom as God’s children. Sin also hurts others, because it affects the common good and the harmony of the human family.

When we sin, we need to repent and ask for God’s forgiveness. We also need to seek forgiveness from those whom we have offended or harmed by our sins. We need to make amends for our sins and strive to do better in the future. We need to receive God’s grace, which is his free gift of love and help that enables us to overcome sin and grow in holiness.

Catholic reconciliation is the ordinary way that we obtain God’s forgiveness and grace for our sins committed after baptism. It is also a powerful way that we experience God’s mercy and compassion, which heal our wounds and restore our peace and joy.

How Do We Prepare for Catholic Reconciliation?

To prepare for Catholic reconciliation, we need to do four things:

1. Pray: We ask the Holy Spirit to help us examine our conscience and to give us the courage and humility to confess our sins.

2. Examine: We review our thoughts, words and actions since our last confession, using the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes or other guides, and identify those that were sinful or displeasing to God.

3. Repent: We feel sorry for our sins and have a firm purpose of amendment, which means we intend to avoid sin and its occasions in the future.

4. Confess: We go to a priest and tell him our sins honestly and sincerely, without hiding or exaggerating anything.

What Happens During Catholic Reconciliation?

During Catholic reconciliation, we follow these steps:

1. Greet: We greet the priest and make the sign of the cross. We say something like “Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been (how long) since my last confession.”

2. Listen: The priest may read a passage from the Scripture or say some words of encouragement or guidance.

3. Confess: We tell the priest our sins briefly and clearly, starting with the most serious ones. We may also tell him how often we committed them or what caused them. We may ask him for advice or clarification if needed.

4. Penance: The priest gives us a penance, which is usually a prayer or an action that we have to do after confession. We accept it willingly and promise to do it as soon as possible.

5. Act of Contrition: The priest asks us to express our sorrow for our sins and our love for God by saying an act of contrition, which is a prayer that we can choose or memorize beforehand. For example:

“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins because of your just punishments, but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen.”