THE SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: Worthy of God’s Love, We Receive God’s Grace

One of the most asked about — yet, perhaps one of the most difficult to explain — concepts in the Catholic faith is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

In Reconciliation, we tell our sins directly to God through a priest. Part of the reason we tell a priest is to receive verbal confirmation that the sins are forgiven. As Catholics, we don’t need to assume God has forgiven us. The priest says, “your sins are forgiven,” and gives a penance, which may be a series of prayers or an act to perform.

On March 30, about 20 Parish School of Religion (PSR) and St. Dominic second-grade students received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. This is one step in preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation, which most of these students will receive next year.

Hope Glidewell teaches eighth grade at St. Dominic School and coordinates the PSR program. She loves teaching kids about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Having led the PSR program since July 2021, she has written her own curriculum for Reconciliation. She visited each school and PSR classroom to discuss original sin and the Ten Commandments. She also discussed that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who saves us from sin, and how this comes alive during Reconciliation.

“The Sacrament of Reconciliation is important because it is what restores us into a relationship with Christ,” Miss Glidewell says. “It really is proof of God’s abundant mercy to know that no matter what you’ve done, He will always be pursuing you and inviting you back to Him.”

It’s natural for students to be a bit nervous before they go to Confession. The more reassurance they receive from their parents and teachers, the better they feel.

“I worked to encourage excitement to experience Christ’s healing in this sacrament,” Miss Glidewell says.

And as Miss Glidewell points out, the more students receive the sacrament, the less intimidating it becomes. After all, this is only the first of many times these students will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“The more practiced and comfortable they are when they are younger with less serious sins, the easier it will be on them when they grow up and inevitably find themselves in a world full of more serious sin,” she says.

Miss Glidewell asks all parents to help model the Sacrament of Reconciliation for their children. She hopes all adults will receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation more often than just during Advent and Lent.

“If we are going to Reconciliation once every month or two, we are more apt to notice the little cracks in our soul before they become big cracks that turn into habits,” Miss Glidewell says. “It allows us to reflect more often and deeply than trying to remember all that has happened once or twice a year.”

We offer our heartfelt congratulations to all those who received this beautiful sacrament for the first time!