317. Reconciliation with God through confession

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic ChurchLesson 317

Ave Maria series

How can a person be delivered from serious sin and reunited with God?

In order to heal the break with God that is caused by a serious sin, a Catholic Christian must be reconciled with God through confession.  [1856]  224-239

  

“If there were no forgiveness of sins in the Church, there would be no hope for eternal life and eternal deliverance.  Let us thank God, who gave his Church such a great gift.”  St. Augustine (354-430)

[1856]

1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God's mercy and a conversion of heart which is normally accomplished within the setting of the sacrament of reconciliation: 

When the will sets itself upon something that is of its nature incompatible with the charity that orients man toward his ultimate end, then the sin is mortal by its very object . . . whether it contradicts the love of God, such as blasphemy or perjury, or the love of neighbor, such as homicide or adultery. . . . But when the sinner's will is set upon something that of its nature involves a disorder, but is not opposed to the love of God and neighbor, such as thoughtless chatter or immoderate laughter and the like, such sins are venial.(St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologia I-II,88,2, corp. art.)¹³⁰ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

Saint  John Chrysostom