Reconciliation (formerly known as the Sacrament of Confession and sometimes called the Sacrament of Penance) is one of the Church’s two Sacraments of Healing The Sacrament of Reconciliation affirms the truth that God loves us without fail and forgives us before we even recognise we need to be forgiven.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation emphasises the relational nature of our lives and reminds us that as individuals and as a community we stand in need of god’s forgiving and healing love in all our relationships: with ourselves, God, others and the world. Most obvious is our relationship with God, self and others, but more and more now we recognise our relationship with the natural world, when we see the damage humankind has perpetrated upon the environment. Furthermore, when one of these aspects or relationship of our lives is hurting the whole of our lives and relationships are effected. We are all interrelated – God, self, others and the natural world. We only have to see this when we are feeling sad or stressed and we walk or sit in nature and feel ourselves comforted, this then effects the way we feel and the way we relate to others – and hopefully the way we become conscious of God in all things.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a powerful aspect of the life of the Church that ensures the inner growth of its members who are responsive to the purifying love of God. It is a life giving sacrament to which we are encouraged to avail ourselves as often as we feel the need of restoration through forgiveness. It is a sacrament about truth and integrity – about being true to myself in relationship to myself, others, God and the world in which I live.
When will St Mary’s celebrate First Reconciliations for 2020?
Parents of the child to receive his or her first reconciliation are asked to come to a Faith Formation Night on Tuesday the 13th of October and to a Reconciliation Commitment Mass on the weekend of the 17th and 18th of October.
First Reconciliations will take place as follows:
- Tuesday the 24th of November 2024