Page 3 - First Reconciliation

God Forgives Our Sins
Jesus breathes the Spirit upon his followers.
Jesus sent his followers to share his teaching and to baptize all who believe. We call someone sent on a mission an apostle or a missionary.
Jesus gives his apostles the power to forgive people’s sins.
What is a sin? Actions that break God’s commandments are sins. We forget God’s love for us. We disrespect others. We fail to act the way Jesus teaches. We act in unloving ways. We are mean and disrespectful. Sin is the name for these actions.
We can always ask God and each other to forgive us.
A priest forgives our sins in the Sacrament
of Reconciliation. The priest shows us in words and actions that Jesus forgives us.
Our Priest Gives Us God’s Forgiveness
The priest uses the word absolve to tell us God forgives us. Absolve means take away.
He says:
“I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The priest uses an action to show us God forgives us. He holds his hand over our heads and makes the Sign of the Cross. This action shows us that Jesus is with us and blesses us.
Find the
I Forgive You cross sticker. Put it here.
Together in Jesus © 2018, P aum Publishing Group, a division of Bayard, Inc. All rights reserved. Art/photo credits: p. 1: Jim Burrows/Bayard, Inc.; p. 2: (illustration) Jim Burrows/Bayard, Inc., (photo) Mike Doyle/Bayard, Inc.; p. 3: (top) M. Migliorato/CPP/CIRIC/Bayard, Inc., (middle) Armineh Johannes/CIRIC/Bayard, Inc., (bottom) Corinne Simon/CIRIC/Bayard, Inc.; p. 4: Bayard, Inc. Excerpts from the English translation of Rite of Penance © 1975, ICEL.