The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation

Father Barry will hear confession by appointment - anytime, anywhere.

Reconciliation (also called Penance or Confession) is the sacrament in which a baptised person seeks God’s forgiveness for sins committed after Baptism and is restored to communion with God and with the Church. It is described as the sacrament of conversion, confession, forgiveness and reconciliation, emphasising both turning back to God and receiving “pardon and peace” through the Church’s ministry.

The Church teaches that, although Baptism gives a new life of grace, it does not remove human weakness or the tendency to sin. For this reason, ongoing conversion remains part of Christian life, and the sacrament of Reconciliation is one of the Church’s ordinary means of healing and renewal for the baptised.

Preparing for the sacrament normally includes an examination of conscience, a careful review of one’s thoughts, words and actions in the light of the Gospel. The essential elements are: repentance, also called contrition, meaning sincere sorrow for sin with a firm intention not to sin again; confession of sins to a priest, and satisfaction, the carrying out of an act of penance given by the priest, such as prayer or another appropriate act, as part of repairing the harm caused by sin.

In the celebration of the sacrament, the penitent confesses sins and the priest gives absolution, the formal prayer by which the Church declares God’s forgiveness. The sacrament’s effects include reconciliation with God and with the Church, restoration of the state of grace if it has been lost, peace of conscience, spiritual consolation, and renewed strength for Christian living.