Catholics often receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation- also known as confession or penance- in second grade. This prepares the children to receive their First Holy Communion. As adults, we are to go whenever we have committed a mortal sin at a minimum of once per year. The Church and many saints recommend going more often to strengthen us against temptation and future sin. Reconciliation is one of the most unique and beautiful aspects of the Catholic faith. Jesus Christ himself, in His love and mercy, established this sacrament. Now we, as sinners, can obtain forgiveness for our sins and reconciliation with God and the Church. When we go to confession, our souls are made clean, thus renewing us in Christ. For anyone who does not know what to confess or is nervous or unsure of how to go to confession, please click here.
“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
Children prepare for this sacrament through our Faith Formation Program. Each year, preparation begins in the Fall. Typically, students will receive this sacrament in December.
“Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and…service are the rule…
Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents are better able to guide and correct them… Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the ‘first heralds’ for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church.
A wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain a support for it throughout one’s life…Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.”
Excerpts from CCC 2221-2226
