Please remember faithful Catholics make Confession on a regular basis each year.

 

Confession is a good time to “take stock” of your faithfulness to Christ and the Church and come to confess your sins.

 

Some of us say they don’t sin or that they can’t think of any sins.  This is impossible. God alone is without sin; His justice is eternal justice; and His word is truth. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  
(1 John, 1:8)

 

Some say, “I will confess my sins to no man; I confess directly to God.” To this Jesus says to the Apostles and to their successors the bishops and the priests down to the present day: “Receive the Holy Spirit, if you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven them, if you hold them bound, they are held bound” (John 20:23).  The Lord Jesus is not a liar, He does not make false statements.   The Lord gave this authority to the Church and intended for the Church to use this gift.

 

While we can confess our sins directly to God we receive no assurance of His forgiveness as we do in the Sacrament of Reconciliation He established. 

 

One is free to deny the Lord’s words or their meaning.  This is usually a result of a lack of humility and pride.  Let us humble ourselves before the Lord and receive His assured forgiveness in this Sacrament of his love and healing.