This is truly what confession is all about. The greatest gift of all, salvation through the forgiveness of our sins. Someone, with sorrow (perfect or imperfect contrition) for their sins, who confesses all of their mortal sins (serious sins), can leave the confessional knowing, with all of their heart, that their sins are truly forgiven…all of them. They don’t need to hold on to their guilt or wonder if God forgives them. They will be set free. When someone approaches Jesus in the confessional with perfect contrition (true sorrow) and trusts and believes in God’s forgiveness and mercy, the angels and saints in heaven rejoice and as the Lord delights in enveloping them with His mercy, forgiveness, and incredible healing graces.

“Confession is an act of honesty and courage – an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.” –Pope John Paul 2

To truly desire to sin no more takes a lot of effort and grace. But our God is worth striving for, and He will deliver the grace needed for your efforts to be successful. It is a daily process to improve and make a conscious effort to not offend our God, to repent and try again. This constant drive towards perfection, out of Love for God, requires much grace and is delivered through reconciliation.

In order to obtain awareness of ones sins, someone needs to do a thorough examination of their conscious to see where they are offending God. Click Here to learn how to examine your conscious and to download a helpful check list. After someone makes a contrite (sorrowful) confession, then they will receive grace to see additional sins, sins they didn’t even know existed, because without grace we are blind.

“…anything left unconfessed we continue to do without fear as if in the dark.” –Saint John Climacus

Understanding the seriousness of sin is a grace. Many people have a “oh, that is no big deal” attitude toward sins. The saints and the church doesn’t think so. (CCC 1850) They understand all sin is an offense to God, and is a rejection of His love while it separates us from Him. However, all sin is not equal since there are deadly sins and non-deadly sins (cf.1 John 5:16-17) but still all sin hurts God who deserves our love. Therefore, all sin should be avoided. God didn’t say, “Just worry about the big sins..but be bothered correcting the small stuff.” No, He set the bar high for a reason. We are called to strive for perfection, even though it can’t be achieved because of our wretchedness, but we are never to stop searching and desiring to grow closer to God simply because we think we are good enough. Once we stop trying to grow we will surely sink.

The pathway to perfection is the path the saints followed, and we would be wise to do likewise. Living the Gospel message is the path to perfection. However, someone can’t live the Gospel with their sins blinding them to what that message really is. Therefore if someone wants to have eyes that can see, then they need to frequent reconciliation so their blindness can be healed.

There is different kinds of contrition (contempt or sorrow) perfect and imperfect. Perfect contrition is when you are sorry for your sins because they hurt God and imperfect contrition is when you are sorry for another reason like: you don’t want to go to Hell (something selfish). When someone really loves God, they don’t want to sin because they understand their sins, to some extent, mortally or venally hurt God and their relationship with Him. Contempt for your sins is also a grace given from God and if someone wants their scenes to be mortified to the suffering of Christ and for true sorrow to develop, that grace is given through the sacrament of reconciliation. If sorrow doesn’t happen immediately upon entering the confessional, to bring on contrition simply contemplate Christ’s passion. Some people have been asked to do this and they are lacking so much grace, even the thought of our Lord suffering on the cross for their sins couldn’t spur any sorrow. If this is your case, don’t worry…continue examining your conscience, praying and frequenting confession and before you know it, God will give you the grace to have perfect contrition for your sins.

“…lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Yes, it is completely possible for God to prevent you from even being tempted to commit certain sins, even sins you are drowning in, God can eradicate completely…even the temptation to commit them can be banished. God can do anything and with your desire and effort to sin no more; you can watch God work wonders through the grace given by His incredible love and mercy through the sacrament of reconciliation.

When you begin to experience God’s forgiveness and develop a true understand of God’s eminence love for you regardless of your great sins against Him, then you will begin to experience and understand His incredible mercy. God loves us no matter how imperfect we are. He is patiently working with those who desire to sin no more. He is constantly pining for us, inviting us to grow closer and closer to Him. No matter what stage you are in your relationship with God, He forgive you of ALL of your sins. Such a beautiful gift should bring tears into your eyes. His love is unfathomable. As long as you want Him, He is there helping you, molding you into the beautiful creation He designed you to be guiding you to share eternity with Him in heavenly bliss. And to experience this amazing love, forgiveness and mercy, all you need is experience the sacrament of reconciliation. This sacrament also prepares you to receive God’s greatest gift on earth, Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. When a soul is made pure through reconciliation prior to receiving Jesus, they are enveloped with even more incredible love and graces…such graces are flowing which makes the angels dance in Heaven.

Countless people experience incredible joy and peace knowing their sins have been forgiven through the sacrament of reconciliation. On top of that, this peace and joy can extend into your day especially if you are living the Gospel giving you a complete life of joy as a reward for striving to sin no more. This gift is fortified through the Holy Eucharist, which also provides forgiveness (of venial sins) and healing, and when a soul receives Jesus with a pure heart, the amount of love and grace which is given to them is beyond our understand. All of this goodness is ready for the souls who truly love the Lord.

“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (John 14:23).

Many people have forgotten or have never been told, salvation is only for souls who are reconciled with God, and mortal sin separates them from our Lord making them deserving of death. This is the reality of sin, yet, God in His great love for His creation sent His only Son down from heaven, to be born of a simple virginal woman, to live in exile, then suffer a tortures death to pay the price for our sins so that those who believe in Him will have eternal bliss with Him in heaven. Wow! And if we believe in Him ,we will obey His word, and God said to confess our sins (especially mortal sins) to a priest for forgiveness. (cf. John 20:21-23). The Bible describes clearly how some sins are deadly and they can’t be prayed for – only confession will free them from the consequence of death…The Bible and the Catechism also states what sins are deadly (makes someone deserving of Hell). Yet, no matter what sins you commit, if you are sorry, God, who is full of mercy, will forgive you and a life of joy and an eternity with the angels and saints can be yours. The surety of salvation is found through the sacrament of reconciliation. Praise Jesus!!