Celebrate God’s love and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation! It is a sacrament of healing in which our relationships with God and our community are repaired. It is a precept of the Church that we seek the Sacrament at least 1x/year. Of course, celebrating it more often (1x/month) is more ideal because the grace of the sacrament strengthens us to resist future sins. It’s uncomfortable to admit our sinfulness, but important to confess to a priest because the priest is acting in the place of Christ. Through the priest, Christ is the one absolving us of our sins. This Guide to Confession helps explain the Sacrament and how to prepare, celebrate it, and go in peace and joy. This video also shows how to seek and celebrate the Sacrament, along with some explanations. Within our diocese all sacramental preparation is a two-year process.
Have life events kept you from the Church? Catholics Come Home may answer some of your questions and concerns.
Preparing children for Reconciliation is usually around age 7, the age of reason (when a child knows right from wrong). Classes are usually held in the Fall. All children wishing to receive Sacraments must be enrolled and actively participating in the Family Faith Formation program or attending a Catholic school. Children must have completed a year of Catholic school or Family Faith Formation (1st grade or higher), and be enrolled in the school or Family Faith Formation for grade 2 (or higher), in addition to enrolling in preparation for Reconciliation in that same year. (Parents, it is your responsibility to continue to form your faith and register your children for faith formation throughout grades 1-8. Children can also be enrolled in a Catholic school. Learning about our loving God, His plan for salvation and that we are His instruments is the goal. We do this through prayer, learning Bible stories and those of the Saints, the practices of our faith and actively participating at Mass and in the life of the Parish.) Parent(s) are encouraged to attend the classes, too. This sacrament precedes Holy Eucharist. For more information on Reconciliation preparation, check out these brochures from our diocese. Contact Patty for more information.
- “A Guide for Parents, First Penance Preparation”
- First Reconciliation Frequently Asked Questions
- Registration for RECONCILIATION
Preparing adults who have never received any of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, or only received some of the Sacraments or have been away from the Church for a long time, or are curious about the Catholic faith is done through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Contact any of the parish staff to learn more.
“Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from (the depths of) God’s mercy for the offense committed against Him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion.” (CCC 1422)