a) What is Confession?
Confession or reconciliation is a sacrament instituted by Jesus through which we obtain pardon for our sins and receive grace from God to help us do good, resist temptations and avoid occasions that could lead us to sin.
Venial sins may be forgiven through Holy Communion, prayer, sacrifices, and good deeds done as acts of reparation, but mortal sin may ordinarily be forgiven only through Confession.
By committing mortal sin, we refuse God our love. But he continues to love us infinitely, and waits for us to return, like the prodigal son. In Confession, God himself talks to us and forgives us, through the priest. Hence, we should listen attentively to the priest’s words during Confession.
b) How do we Live Frequent Confession?
Our Mother the Church asks us to confess our mortal sins at least once a year. But an Altar Server, who wants to please God in all that he does, may freely decide to confess more often, even once or twice a month, depending on what he thinks God asks of him in his prayers, and on his parish priest’s advice (See Appendix for a guide to Confession).
We must confess all our mortal sins, indicating the number of times or how often we have committed them. We may also confess venial sins (especially if we cannot remember any mortal sin since our last confession) or mortal sins that we have already confessed before (mentioning such fact), especially if we are struggling hard against those particular sins.