confession Archives - Amazing Catechists

Prepare for Lent with Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving

As we make our way through this period of Ordinary Time after Christmas you may already be thinking about Lent (Ash Wednesday is on February 18 in 2026). I have always found that my most fruitful Lents have been after some careful and prayerful preparation before the season begins. Here is our round up of posts to help you prepare for Lent with prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in mind.

Are you helping children prepare for their First Reconciliation in your home or parish? Or, maybe you have older kids who need a refresher on the Sacrament of Penance. I have also included some helpful resources for teaching kids about the Sacrament of Confession. Enjoy!

Ash Wednesday

The Night Before Ash Wednesday

Regina Hiney shares this creative poem about the night before Ash Wednesday. Maybe you could share this poem with your students on Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) to remind them what the season of Lent is all about.

Ash Wednesday and Being Thankful for the Changing of Seasons

Christopher Smith, OP has some excellent points to consider for your prayer and fasting this Lent.

How to Pray and Fast with Children on Ash Wednesday

Want to keep Ash Wednesday simple and prayerful? In this article, I share how to so just that!

Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving to Prepare for Lent

6 Ways to Pray Your Way Through Lent

“Lent has begun! If you are in need of some inspiration, take a look at these ideas to help you keep your resolutions. No resolution can succeed without prayer, however, so here are six ways to improve your prayer life this Lent.”

Strengthen Your Lenten Journey Through Fasting

“When you hear the word ‘fasting,’ do you automatically cringe? Do you dread Ash Wednesday or Good Friday? Or do you embrace the self-denial of fasting on those days? If you’re like most people, you might not look forward to Ash Wednesday or Good Friday, the Church’s compulsory days of fasting. However, when you become accustomed to the regular practice of fasting throughout the year, these “compulsory” days are opportunities for abundant graces and spiritual growth.”

An Alphabetical Lenten List

Prepare for Lent with this clever method from Deanna Bartalini. Make a list for Lent using each letter of the alphabet to inspire you prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Lenten Ideas

A post full of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving ideas for individuals, families, and the classroom. The fasting ideas are great since they will give you some ideas that aren’t just fasting from food.

9 Questions for Lent

Use this post to check-in on yourself during your Lenten journey. Read and reflect on 1 or 2 each day, or review the entire list at the end of each week. It will also be helpful in examining your conscience throughout Lent!

We Call This Friday Good

Amanda Woodiel reflects on her experience praying the Sorrowful Mysteries every day of Lent (except Sundays). Read this post and discern if you would like to try the same thing for your Lenten prayer journey.

A Lenten Tea

Read about this meaningful Lenten Tea idea from Alice Gunther. She also includes ideas for scripture and themed snacks.

40 Meatless Lent Recipes and Meal Plan

Here are 40 of our family’s favorite meatless recipes for you to pick and choose from. I also included a sample Lent meal plan that you can easily edit, as well as instructions for praying and fasting for Ember Days during Lent.

Lent Bible Lesson Plans

The Sword of February

Explain the liturgical season of Lent using the bible. Where does the word “Lent” come from? Why is Lent 40 days? Find the answers and more in this detailed Bible Lesson from Christian LeBlanc.

First Reconciliation Preparation

Sin Dims the Candle: An Object Lesson for Confession

Try out this simple and effective object lesson for teaching kids about Confession! Teach them about sin and how healing the Sacrament of Reconciliation truly is using only a jar and a candle.

Examination of Conscience for Kids

Here is a straightforward and simple Examination of Conscience for kids. Be sure to share this with your kids who are preparing for First Penance – or, any kids who you would like to encourage to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation!

What’s so Temporal About This Punishment? | The Importance of Penance

After teaching kids about Reconciliation, be sure to follow up with a lesson on Penance. What is Penance and we do we need it? Marc Cardaronella breaks it all down for us in this post.

How to Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in 7 Steps

Your child may be preparing to receive his or her First Reconciliation, or you may be looking for a refresher on how to receive the Sacrament yourself! Today, I am sharing 7 steps for receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Lent Podcasts from Homeschooling Saints

If you haven’t checked out the Homeschooling Saints podcast, you really should! Even if you don’t homeschool, I know you will find lots of great ideas in these Lent posts:

1. Choose a Transformative Lent with Christ Stefanick

2. Keeping Lent with Littles

3. Family Lenten Traditions

4. The Lenten Cookbook

6 Ways to Pray Your Way Through Lent

By Karee Santos

Lent has begun! If you are in need of some inspiration, take a look at these ideas to help you keep your resolutions. No resolution can succeed without prayer, however, so here are six ways to improve your prayer life this Lent.

1. Make a daily prayer date with God. Best friends talk every day, so use the days of Lent to renew and deepen your friendship with God. If you don’t pray every day, pick a specific time and commit to spending just five minutes telling God what’s in your heart. If you already have a habit of daily prayer, add five more minutes to your regular time. For example, if you normally pray ten minutes a day, make it fifteen minutes a day for Lent. Scheduling prayer for the same time every day will help you keep your commitment. You wouldn’t break a standing date with your husband, your mom, or your best friend unless you absolutely had to. So try to make and keep that daily prayer date with God.

2. Add a rosary to your day. St. Louis de Montfort said that praying the rosary was like giving a bouquet of roses to the Blessed Virgin Mary. So, make your mother happy this Lent. Saying an entire set of mysteries takes 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how fast you recite the prayers. If that’s too much time, just say the fifth Sorrowful Mystery — one Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, and one Glory Be while meditating on Our Lord’s crucifixion. Say it with your spouse and your kids, and include your whole family in this beautiful tradition of prayer.

3. Make a morning offering. Offer your entire day to God, and he will bless you for it. First thing in the morning, connect with him and ask for his support and consolation throughout the day. You can recite this exquisite formal prayer, penned by St. Ignatius of Loyola: Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me: I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more. But you can also go a simpler route and create your own morning offering. Our family likes to say, “God please help me to do what you want today.” It takes just a few moments and can bring so much peace to your day.

4. Ask for God’s help more than usual. Sometimes when we feel stressed or overwhelmed, we forget to call on God’s strength. Mini-crises hit us more than once a day, on average, and they give us ample opportunity to request divine assistance. Even if your schedule is too harried to carve out specific times for prayer, you can choose a one-sentence prayer (also called an aspiration) to reach out to God throughout the day. Many people use the Jesus prayer, which is “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.” Other possibilities are “God, make haste to help me” or “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.”

5. Keep a prayer journal. If you decide to make Lenten resolutions, it’s a good idea to keep track of how well you’re doing. Writing down your success (or your failure!) is a great way to ensure accountability. So at the end of the day, you can note down in a journal whether you kept your resolutions that day or not. It will give you extra impetus to stay on track through the whole 40 days of the season.

6. Go to weekly confession. The Church encourages us to go to confession especially during Lent. Many people go at least once, but you don’t have to stop there. Going to weekly confession during Lent will bring you an avalanche of graces. Telling the priest about your progress with your Lenten resolutions will enhance your ability to persevere. Take the whole family with you on Saturday afternoons, and everyone can benefit from this powerful sacrament.

May God bless you during this holy season of Lent! And if you have other ideas for improving prayer life during Lent, please let us know in the comments!

Copyr. Karee Santos, 2014. Image courtesy of Pixabay.

This post appeared on amazingcatechists.com on Feb 15, 2024.

How to Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation in 7 Steps

By Alex Resch

What is the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic church:

“ Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of his Church: above all for those who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and to recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present this sacrament as “the second plank [of salvation] after the shipwreck which is the loss of grace.” CCC 1446

Wow! How good is God to allow us to purify our soul with this amazing sacrament? You can read more details about the sacrament of Reconciliation (also know as “Penance” or “Confession”) in the Catechism of the Catholic Church starting at CCC 1440.

7 Steps for Receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation

To receive the Sacrament of Penance you must:

1. Examine your conscience.

2. Be truly sorry for your sins (complete contrition).

3. Determine not to sin again.

4. Confess your sins to a priest in the Sacrament of Penance.

5. Do the penance given by the priest.

During the year that your child will receive the sacrament of Reconciliation, start practicing the following steps daily.

These are the steps that your child will use throughout his or her entire life when receiving the sacrament.

I have also created some handy cards to help anyone prepare to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation! Simply print, laminate and cut. You can keep them from getting lost by punching a hole and putting them on a binder ring or piece of yarn.

Step 1: Examination of Conscience

Pray to the Holy Spirit to reveal what since you need to confess. Do this before heading off to church. Below, is a simple Examen appropriate for your entire family. Be sure to note how many times you committed each sin, if applicable. You can also write down what you would like to confess and bring it with you. Then, be sure to tear it up afterwards and throw it away. Or, use the laminated card in the Reconciliation set to simply wipe them away after Confession!

Step 2: Entering the Confessional

When it is your turn, enter the confessional and kneel at the kneeler facing the screen. Alternatively, you can sit in a chair usually provided.

Start your confession by doing the Sign of the Cross and saying out loud:

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bless my Father, for I have sinned. It it my first confession (or, it has been XX days, weeks, months, or years since my last confession). Here are my sins.”

Step 3: Confessing Your Sins

Now, confess your sins in the order of the 10 commandments and tell how many times you committed each sin, if possible.

For example, “I missed Mass twice on 2 Sundays” or “I cheated 3 times in math class.”

Then, say:

“I am truly sorry for these sins and any others that I have forgotten.”

Step 4: Receiving your Penance

Next, the priest may offer a word of advice or counsel. He will also give you your penance.

Your penance may be 1 Hail Mary or 3 Our Fathers, etc. It could even be to apologize to the person who you hurt.

Step 5: Act of Contrition

Now, the priest will ask you to say the Act of contrition. Be sure to say it from your heart. You are talking directly to God when you go to confession. God is forgiving you through the priest, and you are receiving grace from God when you receive this sacrament!

Step 6: Receiving Absolution

Next, bow your head as the priest says the Absolution. The priest will say:

“God, the Father of mercies, through the death and 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.”

After making the Sign of the Cross with the priest, and you should reply:

“Amen.”

The priest may say a few more closing words, followed by “Go in peace.”

You respond:

“Thanks be to God.”

Thank Father and then leave the confessional.

Rejoice! Your soul is as clean as the day of your baptism!

Step 7: Prayers of thanksgiving and penance after Confession

After you leave, spend a few moments in prayer. Thank God for His mercy and forgiveness.

Complete your penance immediately or as soon as possible.

Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation Often as a Family

After your child receives his or her first sacrament of Reconciliation be sure it is not the last! In fact, one of the precepts of the church is to receive the Sacrament of Penance at last once a year.

Your entire family can now go to confession together.

What other questions do you have about confession? Please leave them in the comments!

“Go and Sin No More”

By Maureen Smith

As I reflected on this Sunday’s Gospel, the words of Jesus to the woman caught in adultery struck me. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”

What must it have been like for this woman who was known for and identified by her sin? When Jesus forgives her she stands as a new creation, freed from her past.

Nevertheless, Jesus is aware that, while she is cleansed of her sin, she will encounter the same temptations, the same situations, and the same people and therefore cautions her and instructs her very clearly.

Jesus does not gloss over the fact that she has sinned. But he does look upon her with a gentle and merciful gaze because he wants to heal her from the harm wrought in her soul by sin. He desires to free her from the clutches of the evil one and give her the grace to follow the path God has for her.

We are given these same instructions every time we leave the confessional and after Mass to “go and sin no more.” In fact, they are of particular significance during our Lenten journey, a season of repentance and conversion of heart.

Jesus does not condemn us but he does take our sins seriously. He died for them, after all! He does not desire perfection for its own sake, but for our own freedom, that we might be restored to our original dignity and be drawn closer to His Sacred Heart.

But what if we don’t feel ready to change? What if we are not sorry? If you think you are the only person who struggles with these problems and questions, know that you have at least one other friend out there who finds herself in the midst of this struggle.

Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on ourselves to conquer our resistance to grace! The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel remind us that we are not bound by our past. Jesus’ redemptive and transformative grace is more powerful than if we had never sinned, because “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). This kind of healing love is the answer to our feeble hearts.

Few people know that the Sacrament of Confession is a healing Sacrament. Only recently did I come to know this fact. So, sometimes when I approach the confessional, knowing that my heart is not “firmly resolved to sin no more” but willing it to be, I confess this state of my soul and ask for the healing necessary to be free from whatever is holding me back from doing the will of God and from letting go of my attachment to sin.

As we see in the image of the woman caught in adultery, the Lord comes to us, his children, as we are, knowing our sinfulness and our inability to choose the narrow path over what is easy. He not only forgives us but gives us a share in his power to resist temptation and choose life.

This invitation by Jesus to start anew reminded me of the following passage from the Old Testament that I encourage you to take to heart during your Lenten pilgrimage.

“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and holding fast to him” (Deut 30: 19b, 20a).

The next time you enter the presence of the Blessed Sacrament or the Confessional, consider asking the Lord for this healing, to choose life.

When you leave Mass or exit the Confessional and hear those beautiful words of the priest, “go in peace,” remember the words of Jesus in the Gospel today and remember that his healing and grace is with you.

Sin Dims the Candle: An Object Lesson for Confession

By Sarah Reinhard

We were sitting in the church pews with no lights on. It was early evening in late January, and dark was coming quickly.

In the front, on the step leading up to the altar, there was a candle burning in front of a mirror.

Our First Communicants were gathered on the floor in front. They weren’t looking too nervous, considering that they were moments from their First Reconciliation.

“See the candle burning brightly?”

The kids nodded. And, in some cases, they leaned forward or jumped a little to show their enthusiasm.

“That candle is our soul, with Jesus making it burn. When we’re baptized, the candle is lit.”

It made me pause, that image of the baptismal candle. I remembered my own daughter’s baptism, holding the candle as I balanced her body in my arms.

“But sin is so easy sometimes.” Here the leader held up a glass mason jar. She started lowering it gently over the candle.

“It doesn’t seem to be making a big difference. See how the candle is still burning?”

And it was. The kids could see it and so could I. What’s the big deal about sin anyway?

“But we keep doing it. We keep stepping away from God. We slowly give in to sin again and again, in small ways, ways that seem invisible and unimportant.”

The candle was almost covered by the jar but still going. It was starting to flicker a bit, and as she ended her sentence, setting the jar down on top, it dimmed quite a bit.

“What’s happening?”

There was, of course, a budding scientist in the crowd. “There’s no oxygen!” he announced.

“That’s what sin does! It takes away our soul’s oxygen!” She pulled the jar off just before the flame went completely out. “And that’s what Reconciliation does! It lets the flame glow strongly and brightly!”

There was a stampede of kids to the confessional, and it made me want to go, too. I used the same lesson a few days later with my fifth-grade class, with the lights out. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a way for them to go to confession, though I did find out later that at least one of them did go to confession.

What object lessons do you use to teach about confession?