Five priests at any one session are available to hear confession of various languages in SHC
By Catherine Wan
Apr 1 2022
KOTA KINABALU – In the Roman Catholic Church, people go to confession to say sorry for the wrong (sin) in their lives and to experience God’s healing through forgiveness. Confession also permits reconciliation with the Church, which is wounded by the sins people commit.
With relaxation of SOP by the government starting 1 April 2022, parishioners are encouraged to seize the opportunity of individual confession at Sacred Heart Cathedral (SHC) during the Lenten season.
SHC has opened online registration for individual confession from Mar 21- Apr 8 (except for Apr 7l) via www.shckk.org/individual-confessions/with three available time slots each day from Monday to Friday: 8:30 am -9:30 am; 10:30 am – 11:30 am and 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm. Each time slot is limited to 200 people and no walk in is allowed.
Safety measures are taken to curb the spread of covid-19 through proper partition between confessor and penitent, and proper sanitation after confession of each penitent
The sacrament of confession or reconciliation enables the penitent to restore his/her relationship with God and becomes ‘clean of heart’ in order to see God (Mat 5:8).
This sacrament also provides us with opportunities to examine our intentions and conscience, to ‘come clean’ with God so that we are free from the bondage of sins.
Like the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, it reflects the boundless mercy of the Heavenly Father who embraces with joy the return of every repentant heart. He forgets the past sinful ways of the child and forgives readily by restoring the fallen dignity of the prodigal son.
In other words, the sacrament of reconciliation or confession helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in our spiritual life. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as He is merciful.
Hence, do not hesitant to prepare yourself for confession so that you will experience encouragement and healing of forgiveness as you learn to forgive others.
