Confession

Confession Time: Saturdays 4:15PM, Third Wednesday of the Month 9:30AM

 

Not only does it [the Sacrament of Penance] free us from our sins but it also challenges us to have the same kind of compassion and forgiveness for those who sin against us. We are liberated to be forgivers. We obtain new insight into the words of the Prayer of St. Francis: “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”

Jesus entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to the Church. The Sacrament of Penance is God’s gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven. In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sins. With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Order of Confession

 

  1. First, do an examination of conscience and reflect on all your sins. Make the conscious decision to avoid committing those sins (prior to confession).
  2. Make the Sign of the cross.
  3. It has been (x days, months, years) since my last confession.
  4. Confess your sins.
  5. The priest will give words of advice and a penance.
  6. Pray the Act of Contrition
    “O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven,
    and the pains of hell;  but most of all because they offend thee, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace,
    to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.
    Amen.”
  7. The priest will recite a prayer of absolution. God, the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of his Son has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins; through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The penitent answers: Amen.