By Brea Cannon
Connecting Liturgy and Life
Editor’s note: For 2026, the weekly “Connecting Faith and Life” column has been renamed “Connecting Liturgy and Life.” The column consists of reflections on Part Two of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), which focuses on the Liturgy and the Sacraments.
cf. The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation CCC 1440-1454
Memories are an amazing gift! I am often reminded just how blessed we are that God gave us the ability to carry memories and experiences with us as we get older. I have many great memories from my childhood — playing in the creek beside our home, family vacations and time spent at my grandparents’ houses with cousins.
One of my most vivid memories from childhood was the night of my first reconciliation or confession. My religion class gathered in our little country church with our parents, religion teachers and our pastor Father Tom Kessler. It was a dark stormy night, but we were all safe and sound in the church. Father Tom was giving us kids a few final thoughts and words of encouragement ahead of our first confessions. He was probably trying to calm the nerves of our eight-year-old selves as we all sat silently in the church. As Father Tom was finishing his final thoughts before the confessions began, the unthinkable happened … the electricity went out in the church. There, seven of us kids sat nervous about our first confessions, and now the church was pitch black. Without missing a beat, Father Tom swiftly found something to light some candles.
As Father Tom was about to light the first candle, he began to tell us how our sin is like the darkness that filled the church – it is very hard to see our classmates and loved ones when we are sitting in darkness. As he lit the first of many candles, he explained to us how one spark of light can dispel darkness in even the biggest room, or how one person’s confession changes the world around him or her. He then continued to light many candles throughout the church and showed us how when many sparks are lit, darkness completely vanishes, our sight can be restored and our fear and doubt can be cast aside. Each of our reconciliations contribute to the world and to the people around us.
We can look to the Catechism as it talks about the sacrament of penance and reconciliation in paragraphs 1440-1454 to take a deeper dive into the profound gift and effects of the sacrament of reconciliation. This sacrament of healing brings us back to full communion with God and with the Church. Jesus gave the power to forgive sins to the apostles. This authority not only restores one’s relationship with God, but it also helps to connect people back to the Church. The sacrament is for all of the faithful, all those who sin.
The sacrament comprises two equally essential elements: the act of the penitent and God’s actions through the intervention of the Church in the form of priest or bishop who in the name of Jesus Christ forgives sins. The penitent, the one receiving the sacrament, has a role just as the priest or bishop hearing the confession. The penitent, according to the CCC 1450, is required “to endure all things willingly, be contrite of heart, confess with the lips, and practice complete humility and fruitful satisfaction.” The priest or bishop not only prays for the sinner but also gives him or her absolution, the essential element of the sacrament (CCC 1449).
It has been a few years since that dark stormy night, and over time, I have been able to unpack and expand on the thoughts shared by Father Tom that evening. I may not remember what I confessed at my first reconciliation or the events that happened when the power eventually came back on that evening, but I do remember the point Father Tom was trying to make that night. God deeply desires for us to be with him. He created us for himself and with frequent examination of our conscience and confession, we will more deeply desire to live solely for him and to be united with him one day in heaven.