Reconciliation

Important related concepts for Confession/Reconciliation:
  • This Sacrament provides:
    • God’s forgiveness after Baptism
    • grace for life’s journey.
  • Use a good booklet to examine your conscience before you enter the confessional.
  • Learn or review the differences between mortal and venial sins, and DO confess ALL mortal sins.
  • For additional important information, consult the booklet whose link is provided or obtain the hardcopy at 1-800-263-8160 and ask for the booklet by name: “An Examination of Conscience for Adults”. (This information is of no financial benefit to anyone except to the consumer.)
  • Seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
    • to confess mortal sins
    • for the grace provided by Reconciliation as strength to avoid mortal sins in the future.
No presumption!
  • Avoid presuming that God will forgive you for a mortal sin just so you can:
    • choose to commit that mortal sin now or in the future
    • then ask for forgiveness.
  • NEVER be afraid or too embarrassed to confess ANY sin. This is often a problem for someone who has committed one or more sins against purity. We must remember that:
    • our priests:
      • have heard every type of sin
      • won’t criticize you
      • perhaps won’t even remember what you said after you leave the confessional
      • hear your confession in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is Christ who heals you through the priest during Reconciliation.
    • loving God means being brave and truly humble, and we must use BOTH traits for Reconciliation/Confession so that we can verbally admit the serious sins that could be embarrassing, but…the very act of speaking those sins is part of the healing and strengthening process (and imagine speaking those words to an entire congregation, as was done in the early Christian centuries!).