Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has been reflecting on the Holy Eucharist for the past few weeks during his weekly general audiences, and continued this reflection today during his audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall in Vatican City.

“In reflecting on various parts of the Mass, today he spoke about the penitential rite, the Confiteor, where we say that we confess that we’ve sinned. The Holy Father spoke about the fact that here is our opportunity to beg the intercession of Our Lady, of the angels, of the saints, to help us along our path of holiness and of course, along our path of conversion. And we pray that God will have mercy on us, that he will forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life,” said Ashley Noronha, Relevant Radio^® Rome Correspondent in her weekly “Relevant in Rome” feature on Morning Air^®.

“He reminded us, though, that it’s not like the regular absolution that’s granted in the sacrament of confession. This does not remit our mortal sins but it does express our trust in God’s promise of forgiveness and reconciliation. And when we do that, we join great biblical figures before us who’ve done the same.”

Noronha reports that today the Holy Father told the faithful, “We have to focus on confessing our sins at that moment. We have to recognize our weaknesses and failings and this is the opportunity for us to call on His mercy.”

“Sometimes we’re tempted to confess other people’s sins, all those around us. ‘Guess what so-and-so did,’ or ‘I only did this because so-and-so made me do it!’ But [Pope Francis] says this is the time to strike our breast and recognize our own sins. And this is how we do good and become authentic witnesses to Christ,” explains Noronha.

View the full text of Holy Father’s message: General Audience Message, January 3, 2018

https://relevantradio.com/2018/01/morning-air-jan-03-2018-hour-2/