1. Confession is the Sacrament we ask for whenever we know we have harmed our relationship with God by committing sin. We enter into the Sacrament in order to encounter our loving and merciful God who earnestly desires to reconcile us to Himself and rid us from all the things in our life that prevent us from being fully alive and truly happy! (see 1 John 1:9)

 
2. A sin is anything we do that goes against God’s design for worshipping Him, following His will, and loving others. A sin can also be not doing something we knew we should have done for God or for other people, but chose not to.
 
3. If we know there is a serious sin we willingly committed and have not confessed, we should not receive Holy Communion until after we have gone to Confession.
 
4. When we go to Confession, the priest is there, as a representative of Jesus and His Church, to hear us as we tell our sins to God, and can also give guidance about how to avoid sin in the future and be a Saint! (see John 20:21-23, Mat. 16:19)
 
5. Most importantly, the priest is there to give us absolution from God. This is an audbile assurance to us that God has heard our cry for help, and removed from us the weight of sin we have been carrying. (see Psalm 38:4-5, Heb. 12:1-2)
 
6. Absolution means that because we have confessed our sins to God with a contrite heart, we get to tangibly experience the grace of forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation in the Sacrament of Confession. (see Psalm 51:17)
 
7. When we hear the priest pray the words of absolution after we finish confessing our sins and saying we are sorry by praying an act of contrition, we know that our relationship with God is completely repaired; God takes that sin so far away from us that it’s as if it never happened at all. (see Psalm 103:11-13)
 
8. Three things are necessary when we go to confession:
a) We must be truly sorry for our sins (aka "contrition")
b) We must confess all of the sins that have never been confessed before
c) We must commit to doing everything we possibly can to never sin again.
 
9. Remember, we never need to be afraid of confessing something to God; God is always happy when we confess our sins and always loves us no matter what! Indeed, by the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, He has won salvation for us by laying down his own life, if only we choose to accept that incredible gift. (see Luke 24:44-48)
 
10. During our time in Confession, the priest will give us a penance, which is a simple action we can do or a prayer we can pray which we can offer to God as an act of reparation (see 2 Sam. 24:24-25) to help us focus our worship and love on Him, and be a simple first step toward our goal of being a Saint!

Below is a step-by-step guide on what to do when you go to Confession:

1. Set undistracted time aside to do an Examination of Conscience
   1. This helps you take honest stock of your life, identify areas of struggle, and become more aware of the ways God helps you.
   2. See Examination of Conscience at top of this page
2. What to do when you go to Confession
   1. After examining your conscience and telling God of your sorrow, go into the confessional. You may kneel at the screen or sit to talk face-to-face with the priest (during COVID-19 there might not be a face-to-face option).
   2. Begin your confession with the sign of the cross, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Then: “Bless me, father, for I have sinned; it has been (number of days, months, or years) since my last confession."
      1. If this is your first time ever going to confession, you simply say “This is my first confession.”
   3. Say out loud ALL the sins that you remember and roughly how many times you committed them since your last confession. Start with the one that is most difficult to say. After confessing everything you remember since your last good confession, you may conclude by saying, "For these and all my sins I am sorry."
   4. Listen to the words of the priest. He will give whatever guidance the Holy Spirit is prompting him to share with you.
   5. He will assign you a penance, so be sure and remember it. The penance is a simple act you can do after confession to express your love for God as a way to take an easy first step of living life from here forward, free from the burden of your sins.  
   6. The priest will invite you to make an Act of Contrition. You can use a memorized act of contrition, one that is printed out there in the confessional, or speak in your own words to God, expressing your sorrow for your sins, your love for Him, and your resolve to leave those sins behind.
   7. The priest will offer you the words of absolution. Listen very closely to what he is saying and understand in your heart that it is Jesus speaking directly to you in love.
   8. The priest might close by saying something like “Go in peace, your sins are forgiven,” to which you respond “Thanks be to God!” or he might say, "Give thanks to the Lord for He is good," and you answer, "His mercy endures forever!"
   1. As you leave, keep your mind and heart still and focused on God. If you have a spare moment, kneel in the church to give thanks to Him for giving you the grace of this beautiful Sacrament.
   10. As soon as possible, either right then in the church or later on, be sure to do the penance the priest gave to you and do it as a gift to God in return for all he has given you.