Today Catholics feel the need and/or want to seek forgiveness by God and everyone, to do this they must go and see a priest or bishop. By seeking and receiving forgiveness through reconciliation God has forgiven them of their sins meaning they have a second chance to actively live like Jesus did.
A sin is only counted if you have actively and knowledgeably sought out to go against God, a sin cannot be done on accident nor by pressure of a serious threat e.g. held at gunpoint
Contrition:
Before going and receiving reconciliation a person must feel guilty or bad for their sins and want to be forgiven. A person who does not want and feel this is not worth or ready to receive the sacrament reconciliation.
Confession:
The next step to receiving the sacrament is by confessing your sins to the priest, thus admitting you have done wrong and seeking forgiveness this must be done to complete the process of reconcile.
Satisfaction:
The person reconciling should feel satisfied that he is now pure and sin free because God has forgiven him for his sins.
Absolution:
This is the “condition” in which you are forgiven by the priest on behalf of God and the church.
Why do Catholics confess to priests?
Catholics confess to priests because priests/ bishops alone have the “permission” to grant and ask God for our forgiveness without them helping us reconcile it would not be the same.
Reconciliation has special prayers in which the priest must ask God for your forgiveness.
That is why Catholics confess to priests.
Prayer in Sorrow
God of all consolation,
in your unending love and mercy for us,
you turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life.
Show compassion to your people in sorrow.
Be our refuge and our strength to lift us
from the darkness of this grief
to peace and joy in your presence.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
This is but one example of a prayer of sorrow these are prayers in which you ask God for his mercy and forgiveness.
The steps of the First Rite of Reconciliation go as following;
Be truly sorry for your sins.
The essential act of Penance, on the part of the penitent, is contrition, a clear and decisive rejection of the sin committed, together with a resolution not to commit it again, out of the love one has for God, which is reborn with repentance. The resolution to avoid committing theses sins in the future (amendment) is a sure sign that your sorrow is genuine and authentic. This does not mean that a promise never to fall again into sin is necessary. A resolution to try to avoid the near occasions of sin suffices for true repentance. God's grace in cooperation with the intention to rectify your life will give you the strength to resist and overcome temptation in the future
An examination on Conscience would be to think about your day and think back to see if you have done something on purpose to someone or something that wasn't very nice or something you wouldn't like to be done to you. This is what you would explain to the priest as your examination of Conscience
