Good Shepherd Catholic Church

400 N. Saginaw Street, Montrose, MI 48457-0974 - Phone: 810-639-7600
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Home
  • Our Parish
    • Join Our Parish Family
      • About Us
        • Visiting Us
    • Staff/Directory
      • Fr. Brian Lenz & Fr. Ginu Abraham
      • Pastoral Council
        • PC Minutes
      • Commission Members
    • Online Giving
    • Becoming Catholic-OCIA
    • Map & Directions
    • Bulletins
    • Homily
    • Get Involved
      • Liturgical
      • Parish Groups
    • History of Our Parish
      • Mission Statement
    • Hall Rental
      • K of C Hall Rental
      • Parish Family Life Center
    • Parish Annual Report
    • Pastoral Care
      • Funerals
      • Anointing of the Sick
  • Worship / Prayer
    • Pray the Rosary
    • Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chaplet
    • Divine Mercy Chaplet
    • First Friday & Saturday Devotions
    • Patron Saints for Healing
    • Litanies
  • Schedules
    • Mass/Reconciliation
    • Religious Education Schedule
    • Parish Office Hours
    • May Ministry Schedule
    • Bingo Teams Schedule
  • Religious Ed
    • Religious Education Schedule
    • Religious Ed Calendar
    • Religious Ed Forms
    • Religious Ed Format
  • Sacraments
    • Anointing of the Sick
      • Communion to the Sick/Homebound
    • Baptism
    • Confirmation
    • First Communion
    • Reconciliation
    • Holy Orders
    • Matrimony
  • Resources
    • Daily Readings
    • Vocations
    • Learn and Share the Catholic Faith
    • Questions & Answers for Catholics
    • Catechism of the Catholic Church
    • The Eucharist and Mass: What Every Catholic Should Know
    • Good Books
    • Pro-Life Resources
    • Protecting God’s Children
    • Links
  • Contact Us
Search the site...
  • Home
  • Have You Asked These Questions?
  • Experience God’s Mercy

Experience God’s Mercy

Returning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation

How to Go to Confession

God forgives us, not with a decree, but with His love, healing the wounds of sin. Because He is involved in forgiveness, He is involved in our salvation.
– Pope Francis –

Reconciliation (also known as Confession or Penance) is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ in his love and mercy to offer sinners forgiveness for offenses committed against God. In Reconciliation, we acknowledge our sins before God and his Church. We express our sorrow in a meaningful way, receive the forgiveness of Christ and his Church, make reparation for what we have done, and resolve to do better in the future.

Every time we go to confession, God embraces us.
– Pope Francis –

FOUR STEPS TO RECONCILIATION

Step 1: Contrition

Contrition is “sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again.”

Step 2: Confession

The confession (or disclosure) of sins, even from a simply human point of view, frees us and facilitates our reconciliation with other

Step 3: Absolution

The priest speaks the words by which “God, the Father of Mercies”
reconciles a sinner to himself through the merits of the Cross.

Step 4: Satisfaction

An important part of our healing is the “penance” the priest imposes in reparation for our sins.

Do not be afraid of Confession!

– Pope Francis –

STEP 1: CONTRITION

Confession is not difficult, but it does require preparation.

Before we enter the Confessional, we should begin with prayer.
We should review our lives since our last confession, searching our
thoughts, words and actions for that which did not conform to God’s
command to love Him and one another through His laws and the laws of His
Church. This is called an examination of conscience.

How to make an examination of conscience

Begin with a prayer asking for God’s help.

Review your life with the help of questions based on the Ten Commandments.

There are various types of examinations of conscience but regardless of which one you use to prepare yourself for the Sacrament it should be rooted in Scripture; particularly, the Ten Commandments and Beatitudes. CLICK HERE for a few examples of Examinations of Conscience that can help you prepare for the Sacrament.

Tell God how truly sorry you are for your sins.

Make a firm resolution not to sin again.

If you are unsure about how to confess or you feel uneasy

Ask the priest to help you – This is what Father became a priest to do: to make us friends with God again.

Place your trust in God – Our Heavenly Father is merciful.

Remember that God loves you – He wants to give you this free gift of His mercy and His love.

Mass Times
First Steps

STEP 2: CONFESSION

Receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation

Enter the Confessional

The Sacrament of Reconciliation may be face-to-face or anonymous, with a screen between you and the priest. Choose the option that is the most comfortable for you.

Begin your confession

When you enter the confessional, the priest will give you a blessing or greeting. He may also share a brief Scripture passage. Make the Sign of the Cross and say, “Bless me Father for I have sinned, It has been [X days, weeks, years] since my last confession.”

Confess your sins

Confess all of your mortal sins to the priest in
number and kind. Without being strictly necessary, confession of
everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by
the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us
form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be
healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving
more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy,
we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful.

After you have confessed all of your sins

Say “I am sorry for these and all of my sins.“The
priest will then offer you advice to help you be a better Catholic,
such as how to better work with the graces that God is giving you in
your life, or ways to combat your weaknesses or habitual sin. He will
then assign a penance.

Say an Act of Contrition

This is a way of expressing your sorrow for your sins.

Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I
detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of
hell; but most of all because they offend you, my God, who are all good
and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of your
grace to confess my sins, do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

The priest, acting in the person of Christ, then absolves you from your sins.

STEP 3: ABSOLUTION

Restoration of friendship with God

When the priest absolves you, he will say these words:

God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and the resurrection of his Son
has reconciled the world to himself
and sent the Holy Spirit among us
for the forgiveness of sins;
through the ministry of the Church
may God give you pardon and peace,
and I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

For those who receive the sacrament of Penance with contrite heart
and religious disposition, Reconciliation is usually followed by peace
and serenity.


STEP 4: SATISFACTION

Completing the penance imposed by the priest

Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must “make satisfaction for” or “expiate” his sins.

This satisfaction is also called “penance.” When one finishes Confession one leaves free, grand, beautiful, forgiven, candid, happy. This is the beauty of Confession!
– Pope Francis –

Bulletins

May 25, 2025
May 18, 2025
May 11, 2025
May 4, 2025

Social Media

 

RSS Catholic News

  • 2 Mexican officials assassinated: The Church expresses ‘profound consternation’
  • Georgia attorney general: LIFE Act doesn’t require keeping pregnant brain-dead woman alive
  • In new interview, JD Vance explains how his Catholic faith informs his political views

St. Robert School

robert-catholic

Online Giving

Powers Catholic

powers-catholic

Get Involved

faith in actionI will show you my faith by my deeds.-James 2:18

Contact Us

  • 810-639-7600
  • Contact Us

Catholic Radio

Ave Maria2

© 2025 Good Shepherd - Made with ♥ by Diocesan