Reconciliation Preparation
Welcome
This website contains the materials necessary for you to prepare your child for the sacrament of reconciliation. The at-home module will take roughly 2 hours, spread across 4 individual sessions with one daily activity and one parent project. We invite you to journey with your child and embrace the process of growing, healing and learning together.
The goal of this document is to accompany you and your family in your child's journey towards receiving the sacrament of reconciliation for the first time. This will then allow your child to receive Jesus for the first time in the Sacrament of Eucharist in June 2024.
Dear Parents,
You as Mom or as Dad, are the most important person(s) in the life of your child. In fact, you are just like God for them. You have brought them into life, you care for their every need, and you love them unconditionally. So, what better person to prepare your child to receive one of the most beautiful sacraments of the Catholic Church - the sacrament of forgiveness / reconciliation on their way to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist!
Reconciliation is an opportunity to comfort and reassure your child that regardless of whether their actions are ‘good’ or ‘bad’, you still love them. God still loves them.
And this is the best part, our sins are forgiven, gone, no longer exist, erased from our souls!!!
Gods steadfast love is enduring forever, no matter what.
We, as adults, also need that comfort and reassurance. We also struggle with that interior call to goodness. Everyday life is messy and we get caught up in all sorts of situations. Without the assurance that we are loved and lovable, we may find ourselves stuck with feelings of anxiety, insecurity and fear. These burdens we carry reveal that we are indeed in need of healing.
Reconciliation is a sacrament of healing - Jesus is present to heal our fears, our insecurity and our anxiety through the forgiveness of sin. He knows what we do, what we carry from our childhood and He waits for us to come to Him so that He might heal us.
The Steps:
Step 1: Attend the Reconciliation Information night on February 12, 7pm.
*If you have not already submitted your childs Baptism certificate, this would be a good time to bring that for us to scan and have on file.
Step 2: Spend some time familiarizing yourself with this page, especially the FAQs that might help you feel more at ease and empowered to do this work. Guiding your child through this stage will likely bring up a few of your own feelings along the way, we encourage you not to shy away from allowing God to speak to you as well during this experience with your child.
Step 3: Decide when you and your family would like to begin the module. What kind of timeframe works best for your family, one activity a week? one intense week of daily activities? You know your family best, review the activities and ensure you have the supplies and are prepared for when you begin. We recommend that you follow the order of activities and space them out. It is not recommended to do all of the activities at one time. Each activity is designed to take roughly 30 minutes. The activities instructions page can be found here.
Activity 1: Daily say the Our Father prayer with your child. (before dinner or bed is an easy way to create the habit)
Activity 2: Reflection and prayer
Activity 3: Woven heart craft
Activity 4: Nature walk
Activity 5: Examination of conscience
Step 4: Write a love letter to your child, this is a memento they can keep to remember the love that flows across their life, the love of their parent. You don't need to be an eloquent writer for this to be special letter, it just needs to be words from the heart.
Step 5: Attend the First Reconciliation Celebration on April 6 2024, 1-3pm
Remember to bring: The love letter to your child, 2 woven hearts (with candies or chocolates in a baggie), and the rock.
