The Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession, Penance)

Not only does it [the Sacrament of Penance] free us from our sins but it also challenges us to have the same kind of compassion and forgiveness for those who sin against us.  We are liberated to be forgivers.  We obtain new insight into the words of the Prayer of St. Francis: "It is in pardoning that we are pardoned." Jesus entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to the Church.  The Sacrament of Penance is God's gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven.  In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sins.  With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God. "In him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  The Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as the Sacrament of Confession or Penance) is an experience of the gift of God's boundless mercy. (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.)

The Sacrament of Eucharist

The celebration of Mass, as the action of Christ and of the People of God arrayed hierarchically, is the center of the whole of Christian life for the Church both universal and local, as well as for each of the faithful individually. For in it is found the high point both of the action by which God sanctifies the world in Christ and of the worship that the human race offers to the Father, adoring him through Christ, the Son of God, in the Holy Spirit. In it, moreover, during the course of the year, the mysteries of redemption are celebrated so as to be in some way made present. As to the other sacred actions and all the activities of the Christian life, these are bound up with it, flow from it, and are ordered to it. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that the celebration of the Mass or the Lord’s Supper be so ordered that the sacred ministers and the faithful taking part in it, according to the state proper to each, may draw from it more abundantly those fruits, to obtain which, Christ the Lord instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood and entrusted it as the memorial of his Passion and Resurrection to the Church. (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.)

Preparing for Reconciliation and the First Eucharist 

Before students can receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist in the 2nd grade, they must receive religious instruction in the 1st grade, either in a Catholic school or in a PSR program, and be enrolled for 2nd grade.  Be sure that your child attends religion class if you want them to receive the sacraments.

If you are a parishioner of St. Jude and your 2nd grade child attends Catholic school or PSR outside of St. Jude Parish, please contact our parish office if you have not done so for information regarding First Reconciliation & Eucharist.  According to Diocesan Guideline, sacramental preparation for parents and their children's celebration of these sacraments must take place in the parish in which you are registered and worship.

If you are scheduled to receive your First Eucharist in 2024, please click here for the full packet.

If you have any questions, please contact Matt Conine, Director of Christian Formation, at 225-766-2431.