The Sacrament of Reconciliation

sacrament of penance, sacrament of reconciliation, confession

God is never tired of hearing our sins; in short, He is delighted when he sees how frequently we come to him humbly begging him for his forgiveness,

The Sacrament of reconciliation is one of the most unique and beautiful aspects of Catholicism. Jesus Christ, in His abundant love and mercy, established the Sacrament of Confession, so that we as sinners can obtain forgiveness for our sins and reconcile with God and the Church. The sacrament “washes us clean,” and renews us in Christ.

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” (John 20:21-23)

If you haven’t been to Confession in a while, the Catholic Church wants to welcome you back, and invites you to participate in this beautiful sacrament of healing. Take a step in faith. You’ll be surprised about how free you feel after taking part in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. So many Catholics describe incredible feelings of peace, joy, relief, and love that they never expected. Jesus is calling you to experience His mercy in this way too.

Many times we realize that not long after receiving the sacrament of penance, we find ourselves in sin again. And out of guilt, or pride, we hide and refuse to come back to confession. Our pride, or shame is not reason enough to give up on heaven. It is not reason enough to avoid the sacrament of penance.

God is never tired of hearing our sins; in short, He is delighted when he sees how frequently we come to him humbly begging him for his forgiveness, this is the height of humility and it pleases God. Do not let pride steal you away from the love of Jesus. Even if you have to confess twice a week, do it. Jesus is never tired of hearing us. It only makes him even proud of our humility.

Sometimes, we also worry that the priest knows all our secrets; therefore, we shy away from confessing, or we delay our confession till when a new priest visits. We need to understand that the priest has his own problems. He has many issues on his mind and your sins are surely not the biggest of his problems. I have always reminded myself constantly that “as soon as the priest absolves me of my sins, he forgets instantly the sins I confessed to him, unless he knows me personally”. And even if he does remember it shouldn’t mean anything to you because the only thing that actually matters is that your sins have been forgiven and God is pleased with you.

We are called to visit the sacrament of penance more frequently. This way we can be sure that our hearts are pure and we are constantly united with God. As you know, it is sin that keeps us away from our God. So let us all strive to be united with him always by going for confession as often as we fall.

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