Page 5 - First Reconciliation

I Prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation
The Bible tells us a story about the first man and woman.
God commands the man and the woman not to eat from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil.
But they disobey God. We call this Original Sin.
This story of the first man and woman tells us about ourselves. We are born with Original Sin, which separates us from God.
We are purified from Original Sin when we receive the Sacrament of Baptism. But, even after Baptism, we are still free.
We can obey, and we can disobey.
We can help others. We can hurt and harm
others.
We have to learn what is good and what is evil.
Jesus teaches us to love God
and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Sometimes we fail. We sin. We do mean, unloving actions.
Our Church has a sacrament for asking and receiving forgiveness. This is the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
This Sacrament also has the names Penance and Confession.
We tell a priest we are sorry for our unloving actions.
God forgives our unloving actions when we are sorry.
God’s love for us is a gift
to help us grow holy as he is.
Our Church calls this gift sanctifying grace.