The Penitential Rite is NOT the same as the Sacrament of Confession. During Mass, our mortal sins are not forgiven sacramentally, we still need to go to Confession for those. Our venial sins, on the other hand though, are forgiven as we begin our celebration of Mass, acknowledging our sinfulness, our unworthiness to participate in & to receive the sacrifice that we celebrate. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t need to think about our sins or that if we just stand up & say the “magic words” our sins are magically forgiven. When we are invited to acknowledge our sins, or to reflect on our need for God’s mercy, or whatever words the Priest might use, we really need to do that. And yes, it’s still a very, very good idea to make Sacramental Confession a regular practice of our spiritual journey.

  There are a few different options for the Penitential Rite, we’ll look at the first one this week & the others in my next column. The first option for the Penitential Rite is what is known as the Confiteor. We may not recognize the name, but we probably know the prayer. It’s the one that begins, “I confess to you Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters.” There are 4 parts to the prayer. First, we ask God to forgive the things that we’ve thought. Thoughts themselves can lead to sinful actions & so we need to think about & acknowledge what whose might be. Second, we ask God’s forgiveness for the things that we’ve said, our harsh words, our short temper. Third, we ask forgiveness for any sins that we’ve actually done. And finally, there’s our confession of anything that we’ve failed to do. Sometimes our sins are the actions that we’ve actually done, the ways we’ve actually hurt people in word or action & sometimes we sin by skirting our responsibilities in a sense, by not stepping up when we could or by not doing what needed to be done. Even though the moment of silence before the prayer may be brief, we can take some time before Mass to center ourselves & call to mind our sins.