The Sacrament of Baptism washes away both Original
Sin and Personal Sin, but, unfortunately, most of us
continue to sin after Baptism and thus the necessity of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation. This Sacrament is commonly
known both as “Confession” and “Penance.” Both of these
words describe different aspects of the same Sacrament.
Before making use of the Sacrament we should first
experience sorrow for our sins and the desire to put them
behind us and reconcile ourselves to God from Whom we
have distanced ourselves through our sins. In short we
must experience “Conversion.” Frequent examination of
conscience will bring about this experience of Conversion.
Having properly examined our conscience we should then
present ourselves to the priest and then Confess our sins
with attention to number and kind (how many and our
serious). Having confessed as best we can, the priest may
then speak some words of advice or comfort and then give
us a penance (usually a certain amount of prayers but it
may be something else). This is necessary as an act of
satisfaction or reparation for the wrong we have done. We
then must make an act of contrition, which should include
the resolution to sin no more. Having given us the penance
the priest will then say the words of absolution, forgiving
our sins. It is important to remember that when the priest
speaks the words of absolution it is not him forgiving, but
Christ who forgives through him.
Christ imparts this ability to the Church in Matthew 16:18
– when He says to Simon/Peter: “You are Rock (Peter) and
upon this Rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. I will give to you the keys of
Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed
in Heave.” And again in Matthew 18:18, speaking to the
Apostles about sin and forgiveness, He says, “Truly I say to
you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in
Heaven.”
Crucial to being contrite or sorry for ones sins is the
resolution to sin no more. Even if we are 99.9% certain
that we will commit the same sin or sins we’ve just
confessed, we still must make such a resolution to sin no
more. Without such a resolution it is 100% certain that we
will fall back into the same sins.
Although we need the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the
forgiveness of mortal sins, we should not wait until we have
mortal sin to make use of the Sacrament. Venial Sin –
unlike mortal sin does not cut us off from God and can be
forgiven in the reception of Holy Communion.
Nevertheless it is a good practice to make use of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation even for venial sins. The
Sacrament helps to strengthen us against all sin and
frequent use of this Sacrament may indeed prevent us from
ever falling into mortal sin. The Precepts of the Church call
for confession at least once a year. For most – if indeed
not all of us - that is not nearly enough. We should make a
habit of going to Confession at least once a month. We
should go immediately if we are aware of or even suspect