Confession Is An Experience Of God’s Boundless Mercy

In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God.

Confession Times

Monday-Friday (6:30am-6:50am)
Saturday (7:30am-7:50am & 4:00pm-5:00pm)

Mondays: 7:30pm (during Adoration)
Wednesdays: 6:30pm (during CCD)

or by Appointment.

Not only does it 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. The Sacrament of Penance is God’s gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven.

6 Steps For A Good Confession

  1. Determine what sins you have committed since your last confession
  2. Be sincerely sorry for your sins
  3. Confess your sins to the priest
  4. Make certain that you confess all your mortal sins
  5. After confession, do the penance the priest gives you
  6. Pray daily for the strength and grace to avoid the occasion of sin, especially for those sins you were just absolved

Use this guide prior to going to confession: Examination of Conscience

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all of my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, Who are all good and deserving of my love.  I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life.  Amen.

The Confession of Sins

The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with others. Through such an admission man looks squarely at the sins he is guilty of, takes responsibility for them, and thereby opens himself again to God and to the communion of the Church in order to make a new future possible.
 
Confession to a priest is an essential part of the sacrament of Penance: “All mortal sins of which penitents after a diligent self-examination are conscious must be recounted by them in confession, even if they are most secret and have been committed against the last two precepts of the Decalogue; for these sins sometimes wound the soul more grievously and are more dangerous than those which are committed openly.”  54 Council of Trent (1551): DS 1680 (ND 1626); cf. Ex 20:17; Mt 5:28.
 
When Christ’s faithful strive to confess all the sins that they can remember, they undoubtedly place all of them before the divine mercy for pardon. But those who fail to do so and knowingly withhold some, place nothing before the divine goodness for remission through the mediation of the priest, “for if the sick person is too ashamed to show his wound to the doctor, the medicine cannot healwhat it does not know.”55 55 Council of Trent (1551): DS 1680 (ND 1626); cf. St. Jerome, In Eccl.10,11:PL 23:1096.
 
According to the Church’s command, “after having attained the age of discretion, each of the faithful is bound by an obligationfaithfully to confess serious sins at least once a year.”56 Anyone who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive Holy Communion, even if he experiences deep contrition, without having first received sacramental absolution, unless he has a grave reason for receiving Communion and there is no possibility of going to confession.57 Children must go to the sacrament of Penance before receiving Holy Communion for the first time.  56 Cf. CIC, Can. 989; Council of Trent (1551): DS 1683; DS 1708.   57 Cf. Council of Trent (1551): DS 1647; 1661; CIC, can. 916;          CCEO, can. 711. 58 Cf. CIC, can. 914.
 
Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. 59 Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful:60 59 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1680; CIC, can. 988 § 2.   60 Cf. Lk 6:36.
 
Whoever confesses his sins . . . is already working with God. God indicts your sins; if you also indict them, you are joined with God. Man and sinner are, so to speak, two realities: when you hear “man” – this is what God has made; when you hear “sinner” – this is what man himself has made. Destroy what you have made, so that God may save what he has made. . . . When you begin to abhor what you have made, it is then that your good works are beginning, since you are accusing yourself of your evil works. The beginning of good works is the confession of evil works. You do the truth and come to the light.  61 St. Augustine, In Jo.ev. 12,13:PL 35,1491.
 
To answer people who do not value or see the need for Confession, I often tell them some of the following
  1. It’s good for anyone to have someone to unburden yourself to.  Everyone needs a spouse/person that they can tell their problems, concerns, or issues to.  Even our wrong doing needs to be heard by someone; often a spouse or close friend.  That’s what Paragraph 1455 reminds me of—even from a human stand point we need someone to talk to.  It helps us to heal.
  2. Yes, we can “tell our sins directly to God, and God knows    our sins,” but what the church provides priests, people in the  place of Christ who can impart God’s forgiveness.  We cannot do that ourselves, and even our friends and their consolation cannot replace the great message of forgiveness that comes from God’s words of absolution.
  3. Christ told his Apostles to go out and forgive men’s sins.  Those who you forgive are forgiven, and those sins you retain are retained.  Those are the words of Jesus Christ.  What better authority do we have?  One of His major commands to his Apostles and successors would be to exercise God’s mercy and forgiveness.
  4. An important thing to remember is the Confessional is for healing—not judging.  The priest is not judge; he just offers forgiveness.  The priest does not accuse anyone in the confessional.  The penitent is there to accuse themselves of wrong doing, not the priest.  The priest cannot read anyone’s soul.  That’s why a properly formed conscience is the best guide to Confession.  If people need a deeper insight into their souls, then they need to study the Ten Commandments and the Precepts of the Catholic Church, and the Moral teachings of the Catholic Church.  Many Good examinations of Conscience can be found online and on the NCCB website; National Council of Catholic Bishop’s website. Many good examinations for married people, single people, examinations based on the social teachings of the Catholic  Church. Many good resources to help people build up their moral examinations for good confession