In these extraordinary times, when one cannot go to a Priest for the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, it is meaningful to have a Prayer Service at home (personally/together) to receive God’s forgiveness. (This is of course, with the condition, of going for the Sacrament of Reconciliation when the priest is available.)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church 1430-31 reminds of the need for “Interior Penance”

Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, “sackcloth and ashes,” fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance.

Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time, it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s Mercy and trust in the help of His Grace.

God gives us the strength to begin anew. It is in discovering the greatness of God’s love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from Him. The human heart is converted by looking upon Him whom our sins have pierced!

INTRODUCTION

Kindly choose a prayerful atmosphere/location in the house and prepare an altar with the Bible, the Crucifix and lighted candles.

(A hymn to the Holy Spirit may be sung)

Sign of the CROSS

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

PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT for deeper awareness of oneself and the Grace to trust in the Mercy of the Lord.

O Holy Spirit, Source of all Light, Spirit of wisdom, of understanding, and of knowledge, Come to my assistance and enable me to prepare for a good reconciliation. Enlighten me, and help me now, to know my sins. Bring to my mind the evil which I have done and the good which I have neglected. Grant me, moreover, heartfelt sorrow for my offenses, so that I may be forgiven, and receive the gift of firm dedication, that I may always love God above all.

READING OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE

Through the Word of God, we receive the light to recognize our sins. We are called to conversion, and we become beneficiaries of God’s Mercy.

1st Reading (any one of the readings)
Isa 1:12-20 or Isa 43:1-3 or Ezek 18:21-23 or Joel 2:12-14

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

1. Happy the man whose offence is forgiven, whose sin is remitted. O happy the man to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no guile.

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

2. I kept it secret and my frame was wasted. I groaned all the day long; for night and day your hand was heavy upon me. Indeed, my strength was dried up, as by the summer’s heat.

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

3. But now I have acknowledged my sins; my guilt I did not hide. I said, “I will confess my offence to the Lord.” And you, Lord, have forgiven the guilt of my sin.

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

4. So let every good man pray to you in the time of need. The floods of water may reach high, but him they shall not reach.

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

5. You are my hiding place, O Lord; you save me from distress. You surround me with cries of deliverance.

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

6. I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go. I will give you counsel with my eye upon you.

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

7. Be not like horse and mule, unintelligent, needing bridle and bit, else they will not approach you. Many sorrows has the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, loving mercy surrounds him.

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

8. Rejoice, rejoice in the Lord, exult, you just! O come, ring out your joy!

Response: Lord, forgive the wrong, I have done

2nd READING (any one of the readings)
Rom 6:16-23 or Eph 2:1-10

GOSPEL READING (any one of the readings)
Mt 18:12-14 or Lk 15:11-32 or Lk 19:1-10 or Lk 23:39-43

 

After the readings, maintain a meaningful time of silence, reflecting on the Infinite Mercy of God

>> God, in His goodness, constantly draws us close to Him

>> Our sins have caused us to move away from His Love. It is His Love that should give us the confidence to run to Him and seek for His Mercy. Let us remember that “the ocean of God’s Mercy is greater than all our sins!”

>> We need to make a sincere repentance, have the firm resolve to sin no more and seek to grow in the virtues of the Kingdom.

>> We also need to do to works of penance by reaching out in service and love to one another, especially those with whom we have not cherished a good relationship

EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

We recollect all the sins that we have committed from our last confession. We offer to the Lord our weaknesses, temptations, sinful tendencies and lay them before the Mercy of the Lord.

We call to mind the Commandments of the Lord given to us through the Church and the particular duties of our state of life. Look into those areas wherein we have moved away from doing what God wanted – in thought, in word, in deed – by way of committing sins or by way of omitting the good that we could have done.

(Kindly spend some time in silence)

SORROW FOR SINS AND FIRM PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT

With a deep sense of sorrow for having wounded the heart of the Lord and for going away from His Love, we offer ourselves to the Mercy of the Lord and with a firm will, trusting in the Grace of the Lord, we pray the Act of Contrition:

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins because of Your just punishments, but most of all, because they offend You, my God, Who is all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your Grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin, Amen!

ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS

With a spirit of detachment from sin and a firm resolve to Love God above all and to reach out His Love to all the people in our life, we seek for God’s Pardon and Forgiveness

I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God, Amen!

(A suitable hymn may be sung.

God of Mercy and Compassion OR I’ve wandered far away from God OR Change my heart, O God or Any other)

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Merciful Jesus, thank You for helping me to ask forgiveness for my sins, and thank you for taking away my sins. Help me, dear Jesus, never to offend you again. May I take refuge in Your Mercy and being close to Your Divine Heart, may I always learn from You to seek and do the Will of the Father, and to reach out Your Love to all people in my life.

Mary, my Blessed Mother, hold my hand and lead me closer to Your Son and my Saviour. Dear St Joseph, O My Guardian Angel and all the Saints and Angels, intercede and pray for me, Amen!

AN ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

With a clean heart, let us spiritually receive Jesus into our hearts with this Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament! I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You, Amen!

(After a short time of silence, a suitable hymn of thanksgiving may be sung.

O give thanks to the Lord OR I have decided to follow Jesus OR All to Jesus, I surrender OR Any other)

CONCLUSION

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen!