Confession/Reconciliation

The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession)

Jesus gave to his Apostles the power to forgive sin when he appeared to them after the Resurrection:

Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you. -After saying this, he breathed on them and said,- Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained. (John 20:21-23)

This power the Apostles passed on to their successors, and so it has come down through two millennia to bishops and priests today.

The Sacrament is a Sacrament of healing: putting one’s guilt into words, and confiding it to Jesus
in the person of the priest, is an immensely consoling and liberating experience.