"After saying this he breathed on them and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.'" John 20:22

All the good we have is gifted from the hand of God. In the sacraments of initiation we have seen that through God's love for us he has called us to be his children and raised us up as a "chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart to sing the praises of God who has called you out of the darkness into his own wonderful light." (I Peter 2:9). He has filled us with his Holy Spirit and he nourishes us with the Bread of Life. But with all these gifts we recall with St. Paul that we carry them "in earthen vessels" (2 Cor. 4:7). The frail creatures that we are make it possible for us to weaken or even lose the treasures that we have been given through sin. Baptism for the forgiveness of sin cannot be repeated and so the Lord has given to his Church the means by which his frail and erring people can turn back to him with true repentance and not only seek but also gain forgiveness. As the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church says:

"Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offence 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 labours for their conversion." (Art 1422).

This sacrament is popularly called 'Confession' simply because one of the elements, although not necessarily the most important is the articulation or disclosure of one's sins to a priest. It is after this disclosure and the verbal formulation of contrition that the priest will give sacramental absolution in which he forgives the penitent their sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Sprit. This is why this sacrament may also be know or called the sacrament of forgiveness. The final words of the priest to the penitent often reflects the words of Jesus in his encounters with sinners where he says: "Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace and sin no more."

This sacrament, like that of the Eucharist, may be received many times and is an aid that enables those who are sincerely repentant to grow in grace and holiness since it reconciles the individual with God and with the Church. It also brings to the penitent pardon, peace, a serenity of conscience and a strengthening of will in the struggle to do good and avoid evil.

For further reading see: The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Articles 1422 - 1498.

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