The sacrament of reconciliation is a powerful way in which we show our repentance for our sins and in return, we receive God’s abundant mercy. In this wondrous sacrament, the priest acts in persona Christi (“in the person of Christ”). Meaning, it is not a priest you confess your sins to, but Jesus Christ is there in the priest. Only God can forgive sins and it was Jesus who instituted this sacrament shown in Sacred Scripture.
(Jesus) said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained (John 20: 21-23 ).
As in all sacraments, you must prepare yourself. To receive the sacrament of reconciliation you must examine your conscience and ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind. A couple of good prayers to say beforehand are these ones found on pages nine and ten in a booklet titled “An Examination of Conscience: A Preparation for the Sacrament of Confession” text by Fr. Robert Altier.
O my God, Sovereign Judge, who wishes not the death of a sinner, but that one be converted and saved! Enlighten my mind that I may know the sins which I have committed in thought, word, or deed, and give me the grace of true contrition.
Dear God, I seek your mercy. Be not angry with me because of my sins, my transgressions of virtue, my faults. I know I have failed Your graces; accept my sorrow for these offenses. Renew my response to You, my bond with You. Let me be cleansed by the penances of my life. Give me the strength to be firm in my resolve no more to offend You. Give me Your assurance of grace in my life that I may respond to Your will and goodness. Let the mantle of Your justice protect and encourage me all my life. Amen.
I love receiving the sacrament of reconciliation monthly. It keeps my soul healthy and reminds me not only how wretched even one venial sin is, but also reminds me how loving and kind Our Savior is. Jesus gave us this Sacrament so that no matter how many times we fall we may always get back up and run back to him like the Prodigal Son parable.
‘But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ (Luke 15:32).
Furthermore, as Jesus forgives us many times through His Divine Mercy we must also forgive others regardless of how many times we are offended. This is a command from Christ Himself.
If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions (Matthew 6: 14,15).
In Sacred Scripture it also states,
Then Peter approaching asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.’ (Matthew 18: 21,22).
As Catholics, we must indeed make sure we receive the sacrament of reconciliation as much as possible. The graces are wonderful and they truly help in conquering your sinful habits as well as help you to live your best life, the way God intended in creating you. Do not hesitate. Trust in God’s mercy and pray to be entire and contrite. Pray for other parishioners that they too may make good confessions and go as often as they are able.
After all, this world is a spiritual battle of good and evil. The sacrament of reconciliation gives us the mercy and graces we need to defend Jesus in school, the workplace, or wherever we may find ourselves. Jesus wants us to be defenders of the Faith. He wants us to be defenders of the Truth.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).
The last note I want to make that I think is essential to mention is that once we are reconciled with God we are ready to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist: the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ. Upon receiving the Blessed Sacrament we are receiving nourishment for our souls and become Christlike.
In the end, let us ponder this, and the beauty and wonders of these two holy sacraments. For it is by living a sacramental life, Jesus leads us to His heavenly kingdom.
5 thoughts on “Reconciliation: A Wondrous Sacrament”
That’s if you’re lucky enough to live in a place where the bishop hasn’t cancelled Reconciliations indefinitely, except maybe, if you’re lucky, if you’re dying.
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Diana, thank you so much for this excellent article on the Sacrament of Confession. As you stated, the importance of this Sacrament is paramount to each of us as followers of Christ. I really enjoyed how you incorporated Scripture in your article to show that Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to His Apostles and their successors. Jesus wants us to partake of this Sacrament which He instituted. Another point that you made so well, among many, is that for one to receive the Holy Eucharist worthily, he or she must be in a state of grace (and not in a state of mortal sin). The Bible says, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor. 11:27–28). As you so beautifully wrote, this preparation for receiving the Holy Eucharist (Confession) is necessary in order to prepare oneself to receive our Lord Jesus Christ.
It would be most unfortunate, and dare I say tragic, if one would deny oneself the wellspring of graces that come from contritely confessing one’s sins to a priest due to perceived fear, anxiety, or even a past negative experience. As one of the 7 Sacraments of Christ’s Holy Church, it is one’s duty and obligation to confess sins and receive Sacramental absolution when mindful of serious transgressions. There are many holy priests that spend countless hours in the confessional shepherding souls back to Christ.
Even if a person discerns that he or she is not in a state of mortal sin, one of the precepts of the Church is to go to Confession at least once per year (Catechism No. 2042, “You shall confess your sins at least once a year”). The Church encourages us to go more often (monthly is recommended), but once per year is the requirement, because the Church knows how vital this Sacrament is — a wondrous Sacrament, indeed! An engaging and enriching article as always, Diana!
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In a spiritual sense the person is confessing their sins to God, but in the earthly temporal sense, the sins are being confessed to the priest. And this power that is given the priest has been abused countless times. That’s not to say all priests are bad by any stretch of the imagination. This is a minority of priests that abuse it. I’ve never personally had an inappropriate confession, but I have heard enough stories of inappropriate confessions both in what I read and personally to be uncomfortable sending my young children into this situation. Growing up, confession was used to abuse a classmate of mine. And there were numerous other stories I heard (now as an adult) of inappropriate confessions that my friends had when we were kids – mostly dealing with sexual sins. And when I say inappropriate, I mean attempted grooming for abuse. At least in my diocese (and my wife’s childhood diocese), this appears to be a serious enough problem that we need to change something to address the potential for abuse. I’m not sure what that is, but at this point I just don’t feel comfortable sending my child to the confessional on a regular basis.
We need to change something, and the only idea I’ve come up with so far is the expansion of general confessions. That would definitely take away the potential for abuse and there is historical precedent, but it is also a pretty large difference from current practice. I’d be very happy with general confession, but I think there would be a strong pushback against it?