Reconciliation is a wonderful sacrament of God’s mercy that restores a relationship killed by sin. It is a “moment of intense prayer,” “source of true interior peace,” and a way “to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy” (Pope Francis, Misericordiae Vultus, 17):

God’s forgiveness knows no bounds. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God makes even more evident his love and its power to destroy all human sin… All of us know well the experience of sin. We know that we are called to perfection (see Matthew 5:48), yet we feel the heavy burden of sin… In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, God forgives our sins, which he truly blots out; and yet sin leaves a negative effect on the way we think and act. But the mercy of God is stronger even than this. It becomes indulgence on the part of the Father who, through the Bride of Christ, his Church, reaches the pardoned sinner and frees him from every residue left by the consequences of sin, enabling him to act with charity, to grow in love rather than to fall back into sin (ibid, 22).

The sacrament of God’s merciful love rebuilds the loving relationship that brings true happiness, reinforcing it with habits of love—virtues—that prevent us from falling back into sin.

God can forgive any sin, even the most serious, becoming man to confer on Christ’s Body, the Church, the power to forgive sins: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you… If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven…” (John 20:21-22; CCC 982).

Pope Francis saw the Church as a field hospital for the wounded in battle. When the priest hears confessions, he can’t focus on minor wounds but must first stop the bleeding or get the person breathing again (see Interview with Antonio Spadaro, 2013). That is why the Church distinguishes mortal from venial sin. “There is sin which is mortal” (1 John5:16), as it “kills” our relationship with God. Marital infidelity would be mortal as it kills the relationship with one’s spouse and with God at the center of that relationship. Venial sins—such as neglecting prayers or not sharing a toy with a sibling—may not kill our relationship with God or others but still detracts from it. The church teaches us that:

One commits a mortal sin when there are simultaneously present: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent.This sin destroys charity in us, deprives us of sanctifying grace, and, if unrepented, leads us to the eternal death of hell. It can be forgiven in the ordinary way by means of the sacraments of Baptism and of Penance or Reconciliation (CCCC 395).

When we have committed a mortal sin, we should go to the sacrament of Penance right away so that our Lord can “stop the bleeding.” This is why the priest may ask us a few questions: to try to find the full extent of the wound needing healing, just as the doctor may poke around a bit to see whether a bone or spleen is broken and needs immediate intervention.

Whereas mortal sin kills our relationship with God, venial sin weakens that relationship and disorients our emotional disposition to prefer immediate, created pleasures over a permanent relationship with God and the everlasting happiness that awaits us in heaven. We should also confess these sins.

One commits a venial sin, which is essentially different from a mortal sin, when the matter involved is less serious or, even if it is grave, when full knowledge or complete consent are absent. Venial sin does not break the covenant with God but it weakens charity and manifests a disordered affection for created goods. It impedes the progress of a soul in the exercise of the virtues and in the practice of moral good. It merits temporal punishment which purifies (CCCC 396).

Internal sins—thoughts, desires, gloating over a sin—may never become exterior actions, but still can be mortal. Pornographic fantasizing or having an emotional affair, for example, may stay on the inside but have dire consequences in relationships. As our Lord said:

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man (Mark 7:21-22).

Let’s make a good confession to quickly return to the battlefield as apostles of peace and joy.