Jesus came into our world to save all people from the power of Satan, and also from sin and its consequence - eternal death.    The purpose of His ministry was to reconcile each and very human being with God the Father.    His passion, death, resurrection, ascension and glorification at the right hand of His Father brought the possibility of forgiveness, peace and reconciliation to all people for all time.

On the evening of His resurrection from the dead, when He appeared to His Apostles, Jesus gave them the power to forgive all human sins.   "Breathing upon them He said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.   If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven them.    If you retain anyone's sins, they are retained." (John 20:22-23).     Through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, bishops and priests of the Church receive the ability from Christ Himself to forgive sins.    This power is exercised in the "Sacrament of Reconciliation", also known as the   "Sacrament of Penance" or simply as "confession".    Through this Sacrament, God forgives the sins that we commit after our Baptism.     The priest is the minister through whom God forgives our sins.    The ministry of the priest represents the Whole Christ forgiving us and reconciling us to the Father and to the Whole Christ, the Church.

In order to worthily receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, two major requirements exist.    The first and foremost requirement, is that the penitent must be truly sorry for his/her sins.    Sorrow for sin is called "contrition".   "To be sorry" requires that the penitent have a solid resolution to avoid committing that sin again, as well as the persons, places and things that prompt that sinner to commit such a sin in the first place.    Without this repentant sorrow, one's contrition is insincere and the confession is not only pointless and useless, it is sacrilegious. 

The second major requirement, is the necessity to confess all Mortal Sins.   Thus, in order to confess well, the penitent should first spend some time examining his/her conscience.    Reviewing one's life to see how our good God was offended since our last confession.   All mortal/grave sins must be confessed to the priest that the penitent has  committed since his/her last good/worthy confession.    If a mortal sin is withheld, that confession is insincere and pointless, and is sacrilegious.    This requirement comes from the Lord God Himself as we read in the Catholic Catechism # 1455.

Three conditions must be fulfilled in order to commit any sin.    1. The person must know what he/she is about do is a sin.    2. The person must be aware of what he/she is doing.     3. And the person must want to do that knowing it is morally wrong because God has said so.     Sins come in two varieties:  Mortal and Venial.

Mortal Sin is a direct, conscious and free violation of one or other of God's Laws or Precepts.     Mortal sin destroys the life of God within anyone.    Anyone dying in such a state, has no chance of eternal salvation.    God's Basic Law is contained in the two Commandments of Love: "Love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;   and love your neighbor as you love yourself."

We believe that once anyone has sinned gravely, God through His loving grace tries to draw that sinner back to Himself through sorrow for that sin.    God does not want the eternal death of any sinner, but rather that the sinner be converted and come to eternal life.   

Venial Sins are violations of God's Law that do not sever a sinner's relationship with God or destroy His life flowing grace within him/her.  It is recommended that penitents  acknowledge their Venial Sins too when confessing, and not just Mortal Sins.

The worst Mortal Sins have to do with our relationship directly with God.    Some of these sins would be receiving any Sacrament sacrilegiously, putting anything or anyone before God, not praying frequently, failing to participate in the Sunday Eucharist weekly or on Holydays of Obligation, misusing God's Holy Name, cursing (damning a person, place or thing to hell), perjury.

Other Mortal Sins have to do with self and our neighbor.    Some of these sins would be murder, abortion, drunkenness due to drugs or alcohol, fornication, adultery, masturbation, sterilization, serious hatred of another, seriously hurting another physically or emotionally,  stealing or robbery, seriously destroying another's reputation, miserliness (failure to share not just from one's abundance but from one's needs with those less fortunate), failure to respect legitimate authority, failure to pay just wages or give a full day's work for a full day's pay failure to drive safely and so put others at serious risk.

How often should I confess?     Anyone should confess as soon after falling into Mortal Sin as possible.    Church Law requires those in Mortal Sin to confess at least once a year during the Easter Season, but such a practice is tempting the mercy of God.   If anyone avoids Mortal Sin, he/she should confess their Venial Sins to a regular confessor who can help them seek the way of perfection and overcome their Venial Sins and imperfections.    And they should confess as often as their confessor recommends.    Usually at least three or four times a year, if not more often, so as to work toward perfection as the Father in heaven is perfect.
     
Who cannot go to confession?    Anyone who cannot be truly sorry or who does wish at this time to be truly sorry, is the only one who cannot receive Sacramental Forgiveness.    E.g., anyone living with another who has not been married in the Church, anyone who does not want to stop doing something that is mortally sinful.     

Let us make the best confession of our lives during our Lenten/Easter Communal Penance Service at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday.