After we confess our sins to God, through the priest, we
receive absolution, or forgiveness from God, when the priest
says the following prayer: Our Lord Jesus Christ, by his
divine grace, as also by the gift and power vouchsafed unto
his holy Disciples and Apostles, that they should bind and
loose the sins of men: (For he said unto them: Receive ye
the Holy Spirit: Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted;
and whosesoever ye shall bind or loose upon earth shall be
bound or loosed in heaven.) By that same power, also,
transmitted unto us from them, this my spiritual child N.,
is absolved, through me, unworthy through I be, from all
things wherein as mortal, he hath sinned against God,
whether in word, or deed, or thought, and with all his
senses, whether voluntary or involuntary; whether with
knowledge or through ignorance…Amen."
This prayer of absolution is asking God to forgive our
sins and bring us back into communion with Him. It is a
"reconciliation," just as in the story of the Prodigal
Son. Confession is a sacrament of forgiveness and love.
God forgives us our wrongs because He loves us. He wants
us also to forgive others who may have hurt us. In this
way, we can all be in communion with God and with each
other. We should remember God's love and forgiveness for
us when people ask for forgiveness from us.