Explaining how to confess to a priest to your child
By receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you are showing Jesus the desire to be close friends again by:
Greeting the priest
Making the sign of the cross
Receiving a blessing from the priest
Listening to the priest if he reads from the Bible
You are asking for forgiveness from Jesus by:
Confessing personal sins in secret
Listening to the penance given by the priest
Praying the prayer of sorrow (Act of Contrition)
You are accepting forgiveness of Jesus of all sins when the priest says the words of absolution
Don’t worry if you can’t remember any of the steps. The priest will help you.
Explaining penance to your child
After people have confessed their sins, the priest gives them a penance. He does this by giving:
A prayer to say and/or
Some good action to perform.
The purpose of the penance is for the person to show God that they are going to change for the better. The first step is the prayer or the good action given by the priest. The good action might be something that relates to the person’s sins. For example, it might be an action:
To show love in some way to parents because the person has sinned by disobeying them
To share toys with a brother or sister because the person has fought with them.
The priest can never, ever tell anyone what you tell him, not your parents, not the bishop or even the Pope! It is totally secret.
Don’t worry if you truly forget what your penance was, you can sit quietly and say the Lord’s Prayer.
By receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you are showing Jesus the desire to be close friends again by:
Greeting the priest
Making the sign of the cross
Receiving a blessing from the priest
Listening to the priest if he reads from the Bible
You are asking for forgiveness from Jesus by:
Confessing personal sins in secret
Listening to the penance given by the priest
Praying the prayer of sorrow (Act of Contrition)
You are accepting forgiveness of Jesus of all sins when the priest says the words of absolution
Don’t worry if you can’t remember any of the steps. The priest will help you.
Explaining penance to your child
After people have confessed their sins, the priest gives them a penance. He does this by giving:
A prayer to say and/or
Some good action to perform.
The purpose of the penance is for the person to show God that they are going to change for the better. The first step is the prayer or the good action given by the priest. The good action might be something that relates to the person’s sins. For example, it might be an action:
To show love in some way to parents because the person has sinned by disobeying them
To share toys with a brother or sister because the person has fought with them.
The priest can never, ever tell anyone what you tell him, not your parents, not the bishop or even the Pope! It is totally secret.
Don’t worry if you truly forget what your penance was, you can sit quietly and say the Lord’s Prayer.