“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,…When he said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you shall retain are retained.” (John 20: 19, 22-23).
The Sacrament of Penance is the Sacrament that Jesus instituted to grant pardon and peace. When a person confesses his or her sins to the priest in the spirit of true repentance, that person receives forgiveness from the Lord when the priest says the words of absolution, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Not only does it [the Sacrament of Penance] 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. We are liberated to be forgivers. We obtain new insight into the words of the Prayer of St. Francis: “It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
Jesus entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to the Church. The Sacrament of Penance is God’s gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven. In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sins. With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
Times and Dates
The Sacrament of Penance is administered weekly on Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. You may also make an appointment to receive this Sacrament.
First Penance is administered to second-grade students usually on the first Saturday of March.
For more information about the Sacrament of Reconciliation
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