Reconciliation

Reconciliation is the act of bringing us back to God when we have separated ourselves from Him and the church through sin.  When we sin we turn away from God and the church.  In the sacrament of Reconciliation we are made clean.  We know that the healing and forgiveness of sins were an important part of Jesus’ ministry.  And because of this it is an important part of the Church’s ministry.

Reconciliation is two different acts, confession and penance.  Confession is the act of confessing our sins to a Priest and penance is the act of reparation.  These concepts were not invented by the Catholic Church, but can be found in the Bible.  In Leviticus 19: 20-22, we read:

“If a man lies carnally with a woman . . . they shall not be put to death . . . but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him . . . before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.” “If a man lies carnally with a woman . . . they shall not be put to death . . . but he shall bring a guilt offering for himself to the Lord, to the door of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for him . . . before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed shall be forgiven him.”