Confession

The Sacrament of Confession (or Reconciliation)

Confession at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church takes place on Saturday at 4:15 pm or you may wish to call the Parish Office (416-489-1540) to make an appointment to do so.

This is the Sacrament of the healing mercy of Christ through His minister, the priest for sins committed after Baptism.

"Many sins wrong our neighbour. One must do what is possible in order to repair the harm (e.g., return stolen goods, restore the reputation of someone slandered, pay compensation of injuries). Simple justice requires as much. But sin also injures and weakens the sinner himself, as well as his relationships with God and neighbour. Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must "make satisfaction for" or "expiate" his sins. This satisfaction is also called "penance." (CCC 1459)

Jesus instituted this Sacrament on Easter Sunday evening when He said to His Apostles, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retrain the sins of any, they are retained." (Jn 20: 23) By saying this, Jesus meant that we are to tell our sins to a priest - this is called, auricular confession.

Catholics must go to Confession if they have committed a serious sin. The Church recommends that people go to confession even if they have venial sins. Confession gives us the grace to be strong in the face of temptations to sin and to avoid the occasions of sin.

During Confession, the penitent must be sorry for his sins, confesses them in completeness and intend to make reparation for his sins. The priest absolves the penitent's sins in the Name of Christ and gives the penitent a prayer to say or a work of charity to do as a penance in order to make up or satisfy for the sins committed.

After going to Confession and having our sins forgiven, we are once again reconciled with God and with the Church and the eternal punishment due for our serious sins is forgiven.

People say that after going to Confession, they feel deep peace, freedom of conscience and God very close to their heart. It is good to know that our loving Father in heaven will never remember those sins because His Son Jesus suffered so much to free us.