On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,” Jesus showed himself to his apostles. “He breathed on them, and said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:19, 22-23)
Catholics celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation because we recognize that sometimes we fail to do as we ought and because we believe in God’s mercy and forgiveness. The priest can help you and you can trust the Holy Spirit to guide you.
One who desires to obtain reconciliation with God and with the Church, must confess to a priest all the unconfessed grave sins he remembers after having carefully examined his conscience. This confession of venial faults, without being necessary itself, is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church.
The spiritual effects of the Sacrament of Penance are:
- reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace;
- reconciliation with the Church;
- remission of the eternal punishment incurred by the mortal sins;
- remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin;
- peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation;
- an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle.
First Reconciliation Preparation (for children in grade 2 and up)
Thank you for considering Sacrament Preparation at Sacred Heart. As a team, we have decided to postpone First Reconciliation classes until the new year (2021) to potentially aim for in-person classes with both the parents and the children. This will depend on the future COVID-19 situation.
If you would prefer to begin immediately and/or would be more comfortable with taking this at home, we recommend that you sign up for the Diocesan Sacramental Preparation. This home-based program recognizes parents as the primary teachers of the Faith. In order to assist the parents in their role, the Diocese provides coaching support for parents delivered via Zoom. Find more information Here. We would recommend you consider registering with other parishes if you choose this route so that your child can receive their sacrament as soon as you are done catechesis with the diocese. For this route, please contact us at evangelization@sacredheartcalgary.ca to provide you with a letter to your chosen parish to allow permission.
We will be releasing more information regarding the program and registration for our Parish’s classes in December 2020. The dates (subject to change) will be as follows:
- First Reconciliation (2021) – Saturdays @10:15am to 12pm unless otherwise stated
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- January 16th
- January 23rd
- January 30th
- February 6th
- Celebration: Sunday, February 7th @3PM
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- First Communion (2021) – Saturdays @10:15am to 12pm unless otherwise stated
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- February 20th
- February 27th
- March 6th
- March 13th
- Celebration: Sunday, March 14th @3PM
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*Dates and times are subject to change
