The Sacrament of Reconciliation for the General Parish is available on Saturdays after the 8 am Mass and at 4:15 pm in Church or by appointment.

Congratulations to 75 of our students from the school and Religious Education who made their First Reconciliation on January 25th and 27th. Please keep these students in your prayers as the continue in their preparation for First Communion.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation: Healing and Forgiveness

“I give you the keys of the Kingdom.  Whose sins you hold bound, they are held bound.  Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.”  Matthew 16:19

From those words of Jesus to St. Peter, we have the marvelous gift of the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation.  Through this sacrament, the priest is empowered, through ordination, to forgive sins, acting in the person of Jesus Christ.  In other words, when we go to confession, we are assured of the forgiveness and reconciliation offered by Jesus Christ through the ministry of the priesthood, by which Christ, the head of the Church, becomes present sacramentally to his people.

It’s pretty clear that there is sin in our midst.  Sin abounds.  We see all kinds of sin: greed, gossip, infidelity in our relationships, sexual immorality, racism, dishonesty, anger, failure to give God the worship due to Him.  We see the results of sin: poverty, isolation of certain individuals or groups, sexual abuse, physical violence, abandonment of children, war.  These things cry out for forgiveness and healing from God and from the community.

None of us is perfect.   We are all flawed human beings, deeply in need of the Lord’s forgiveness.  The sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation, puts us in touch with the forgiving, healing Lord Jesus.  It is truly an encounter with the Risen Lord, who has won for us our salvation.  And it gives us the generous gift of God’s grace to help us to live as better Christians, as better people.

Please make use of this sacrament.  Our world, and our individual lives are in desperate need of His love.

It is there for the asking.  And remember: anything you reveal in confession is absolutely confidential.  Breaking the “seal” of the confessional is absolutely forbidden under any circumstances, and is something that priests take very seriously.