Confession: Sacrament of Mercy

Father Wade Menezes, a Father of Mercy, explains why confession is the sacrament of mercy. He addresses questions about how to examine one’s own conscience, how to help others to confession, and the effects of confession in the penitent’s life.

Questions Covered:

• 19:32 - If a 10 year old child wants to confess her sins, but has not had her first confession and her mother is not giving her any catechism, can she receive permission to confess a priest and be forgiven?
• 27:42 - My godson has decided to not go to confession. What kind of advice do you have for me to talk to him about this?
• 41:53 - I was told if you had a grave sin, like an abortion, you cannot just go to a priest for confession, but must go to someone like an archbishop. Is this true?
• 43:24 - Do you have a gentle examination of conscience to draw someone to the sacrament?
• 48:50 - How do you talk to non-Catholics to help them understand that confession is not evil and that being able to confess to a priest is much more helpful than doing it yourself?
• 51:50 - If there are people in our lives that will not go to confession for whatever reason, but continue to go to communion, what responsibility do we have? How do we handle this?

Resources Mentioned:

• The Fathers of Mercy Website