The spiritual life is a constant striving toward the perfection Christ wills for his Church: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). Yet every Catholic knows this painful truth: even after confession and firm resolutions to avoid sin, we can (and sometimes do) fall again.
When that sin is mortal, we ought to “have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible” after committing it (CCC 1452). We must return to God in repentance, who is ”rich in mercy and knows our frame” (Ps. 103:14). The Council of Trent calls the sacrament of confession the “remedy of life,” given to those “who, after baptism, may have delivered themselves up to the servitude of sin and the power of the devil” (Session 14, Chapter 1). In this sacrament, we entrust ourselves to the faithfulness of God, who promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
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