There is no limit or measure to this essentially divine Forgiveness, 146 whether one speaks of "Sins" as in Luke ( ⇒ 11:4), "debts" as in Matthew ( ⇒ 6:12). We are always debtors: "Owe no one anything, except to Love one another." 147 The Communion of the Holy Trinity is the source and criterion of truth in every relation ship. It is lived out in Prayer, above all in the Eucharist. 148

This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us. the teaching of Christ goes so far as to require the Forgiveness of offenses. He extends the commandment of Love, which is that of the New Law, to all enemies. 39 Liberation in the spirit of the Gospel is incompatible with hatred of one's enemy as a perSon, but not with hatred of the evil that he does as an enemy.

"Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has Forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal Sin." 136 There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his Sins and the Salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. 137 Such hardness of Heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.

Mortal Sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is Love itself. It results in the loss of Charity and the privation of sanctifying Grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's Forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's Kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of perSons to the justice and mercy of God.

It is precisely in the Passion, when the mercy of Christ is about to vanquish it, that Sin most clearly manifests its violence and its many forms: unbelief, murderous hatred, shunning and mockery by the leaders and the people, Pilate's cowardice and the cruelty of the soldiers, Judas' betrayal - so bitter to Jesus, Peter's denial and the disciples' flight. However, at the very hour of darkness, the hour of the prince of this world, 126 The sacrifice of Christ secretly becomes the source from which the Forgiveness of our Sins will pour forth inexhaustibly.

The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to Sinners. 113 The angel announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their Sins." 114 The same is true of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of redemption: "This is my Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the Forgiveness of sins." 115

Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed. If man commits evil, the just judgment of conscience can remain within him as the witness to the universal truth of the good, at the same time as the evil of his particular choice. the verdict of the judgment of conscience remains a pledge of hope and mercy. In attesting to the fault committed, it calls to mind the Forgiveness that must be asked, the good that must still be practiced, and the virtue that must be constantly cultivated with the Grace of God:

Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity the joy and the demands of the way of Christ. 22 Catechesis for the "newness of life" 23 in him should be: -a catechesis of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master of life according to Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and strengthens this life; -a catechesis of Grace, for it is by grace that we are saved and again it is by grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life; -a catechesis of the beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in the beatitudes, the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the human Heart longs; -a catechesis of Sin and Forgiveness, for unless man acknowledges that he is a sinner he cannot know the truth about himself, which is a condition for acting justly; and without the offer of forgiveness he would not be able to bear this truth; -a catechesis of the human virtues which causes one to grasp the beauty and attraction of right dispositions towards goodness; -a catechesis of the Christian virtues of Faith, hope, and Charity, generously inspired by the example of the saints; -a catechesis of the twofold commandment of charity set forth in the Decalogue; -an ecclesial catechesis, for it is through the manifold exchanges of "spiritual goods" in the "Communion of saints" that Christian life can grow, develop, and be communicated.

It is here that the Father of the family, the mother, children, and all members of the family exercise the priesthood of the baptized in a privileged way "by the reception of the Sacraments, Prayer and thanksgiving, the witness of a holy life, and self-denial and active Charity." 168 Thus the home is the first school of Christian life and "a school for human enrichment." 169 Here one learns endurance and the joy of work, fraternal Love, generous - even repeated - Forgiveness, and above all divine worship in prayer and the offering of one's life.

The man of the Old Testament lives his sickness in the presence of God. It is before God that he laments his illness, and it is of God, Master of life and death, that he implores healing. 98 Illness becomes a way to Conversion; God's Forgiveness initiates the healing. 99 It is the experience of Israel that illness is mysteriously linked to Sin and evil, and that Faithfulness to God according to his law restores life: "For I am the Lord, your healer." 100 The prophet intuits that suffering can also have a redemptive meaning for the Sins of others. 101 Finally Isaiah announces that God will usher in a time for Zion when he will pardon every offense and heal every illness. 102

The Sacrament of Penance can also take place in the framework of a communal celebration in which we prepare ourselves together for confession and give thanks together for the Forgiveness received. Here, the perSonal confession of Sins and individual absolution are inserted into a liturgy of the word of God with readings and a homily, an examination of conscience conducted in common, a communal request for forgiveness, the Our Father and a thanksgiving in common. This communal celebration expresses more clearly the ecclesial character of penance. However, regardless of its manner of celebration the sacrament of Penance is always, by its very nature, a liturgical action, and therefore an ecclesial and public action. 90

The Byzantine Liturgy recognizes several formulas of absolution, in the form of invocation, which admirably express the mystery of Forgiveness: "May the same God, who through the Prophet Nathan forgave David when he confessed his Sins, who forgave Peter when he wept bitterly, the prostitute when she washed his feet with her tears, the Pharisee, and the prodigal Son, through me, a Sinner, forgive you both in this life and in the next and enable you to appear before his awe-inspiring tribunal without condemnation, he who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen."

The Forgiveness of Sin and restoration of Communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains. While patiently bearing sufferings and trials of all kinds and, when the day comes, serenely facing death, the Christian must strive to accept this temporal punishment of sin as a Grace. He should strive by works of mercy and Charity, as well as by Prayer and the various practices of penance, to put off completely the "old man" and to put on the "new man." 84

The confessor is not the master of God's Forgiveness, but its servant. the minister of this Sacrament should unite himself to the intention and Charity of Christ. 71 He should have a proven knowledge of Christian behavior, experience of human affairs, respect and sensitivity toward the one who has fallen; he must Love the truth, be Faithful to the Magisterium of the Church, and lead the penitent with patience toward healing and full maturity. He must pray and do penance for his penitent, entrusting him to the Lord's mercy.

The Law of the Gospel fulfills the commandments of the Law. the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, far from abolishing or devaluing the moral prescriptions of the Old Law, releases their hidden potential and has new demands arise from them: it reveals their entire divine and human truth. It does not add new external precepts, but proceeds to reform the Heart, the root of human acts, where man chooses between the pure and the impure, 22 where Faith, hope, and Charity are formed and with them the other virtues. the Gospel thus brings the Law to its fullness through imitation of the perfection of the heavenly Father, through Forgiveness of enemies and Prayer for persecutors, in emulation of the divine generosity. 23

The first work of the Grace of the Holy Spirit is Conversion, effecting justification in accordance with Jesus' proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel: "Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." 38 Moved by grace, man turns toward God and away from Sin, thus accepting Forgiveness and righteousness from on high. "Justification is not only the remission of Sins, but also the sanctification and renewal of the interior man. 39

Christian Prayer extends to the Forgiveness of enemies, 144 transfiguring the disciple by configuring him to his Master. Forgiveness is a high-point of Christian prayer; only Hearts attuned to God's compassion can receive the gift of prayer. Forgiveness also bears witness that, in our world, Love is stronger than Sin. the martyrs of yesterday and today bear this witness to Jesus. Forgiveness is the fundamental condition of the Reconciliation of the children of God with their Father and of men with one another. 145

Thus the Lord's words on Forgiveness, the Love that loves to the end, 142 become a living reality. the parable of the merciless servant, which crowns the Lord's teaching on ecclesial Communion, ends with these words: "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your Heart." 143 It is there, in fact, "in the depths of the heart," that everything is bound and loosed. It is not in our power not to feel or to forget an offense; but the heart that offers itself to the Holy Spirit turns injury into compassion and purifies the memory in transforming the hurt into intercession.

This "as" is not unique in Jesus' teaching: "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"; "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful"; "A new commandment I give to you, that you Love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." 139 It is impossible to keep the Lord's commandment by imitating the divine model from outside; there has to be a vital participation, coming from the depths of the Heart, in the holiness and the mercy and the love of our God. Only the Spirit by whom we live can make "ours" the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. 140 Then the unity of Forgiveness becomes possible and we find ourselves "forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave" us. 141

With bold confidence, we began praying to our Father. In begging him that his name be hallowed, we were in fact asking him that we ourselves might be always made more holy. But though we are clothed with the Baptismal garment, we do not cease to Sin, to turn away from God. Now, in this new Petition, we return to him like the prodigal Son and, like the tax collector, recognize that we are sinners before him. 133 Our petition begins with a "confession" of our wretchedness and his mercy. Our hope is firm because, in his Son, "we have redemption, the Forgiveness of Sins." 134 We find the efficacious and undoubted sign of his forgiveness in the Sacraments of his Church. 135

The first movement of the Prayer of Petition is asking Forgiveness, like the tax collector in the parable: "God, be merciful to me a Sinner!" 105 It is a prerequisite for righteous and pure prayer. A trusting humility brings us back into the light of Communion between the Father and his Son Jesus Christ and with one another, so that "we receive from him whatever we ask." 106 Asking forgiveness is the prerequisite for both the Eucharistic liturgy and personal prayer.

From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on Conversion of Heart: Reconciliation with one's brother before presenting an offering on the altar, Love of enemies, and Prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful Forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and seeking the Kingdom before all else. 64 This filial conversion is entirely directed to the Father.

The Temple of Jerusalem, the house of Prayer that David wanted to build, will be the work of his Son, Solomon. the prayer at the dedication of the Temple relies on God's promise and Covenant, on the active presence of his name among his People, recalling his mighty deeds at the Exodus. 29 The king lifts his hands toward heaven and begs the Lord, on his own behalf, on behalf of the entire people, and of the generations yet to come, for the Forgiveness of their Sins and for their daily needs, so that the nations may know that He is the only God and that the Heart of his people may belong wholly and entirely to him.

Beginning with the Old Testament, all kinds of juridical measures (the jubilee year of Forgiveness of debts, prohibition of loans at interest and the keeping of collateral, the obligation to tithe, the daily payment of the day-laborer, the right to glean vines and fields) answer the exhortation of Deuteronomy: "For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, 'You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor in the land.'" 248 Jesus makes these words his own: "The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me." 249 In so doing he does not soften the vehemence of former oracles against "buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals . . .," but invites us to recognize his own presence in the poor who are his brethren: 250

Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, Forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and diSinterested service are the rule. the home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery - the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the "material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones." 31 Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them:

There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God's almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his Forgiveness without Conversion and glory without merit).

The first commandment is also concerned with Sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption: By despair, man ceases to hope for his perSonal Salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the Forgiveness of his Sins. Despair is contrary to God's goodness, to his justice - for the Lord is Faithful to his promises - and to his mercy.

Since the initiative belongs to God in the order of Grace, no one can merit the initial grace of Forgiveness and justification, at the beginning of Conversion. Moved by the Holy Spirit and by Charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life. Even temporal goods like health and friendship can be merited in accordance with God's wisdom. These graces and goods are the object of Christian Prayer. Prayer attends to the grace we need for meritorious actions.

Justification detaches man from Sin which contradicts the Love of God, and purifies his Heart of sin. Justification follows upon God's merciful initiative of offering Forgiveness. It reconciles man with God. It frees from the enslavement to sin, and it heals.

Forgiveness of Sins brings Reconciliation with God, but also with the Church. Since ancient times the bishop, visible head of a particular Church, has thus rightfully been considered to be the one who principally has the power and ministry of Reconciliation: he is the moderator of the penitential discipline. 66 Priests, his collaborators, exercise it to the extent that they have received the commission either from their bishop (or religious superior) or the Pope, according to the law of the Church. 67

The contrition called "imperfect" (or "attrition") is also a gift of God, a prompting of the Holy Spirit. It is born of the consideration of Sin's ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner (contrition of fear). Such a stirring of conscience can initiate an interior process which, under the prompting of Grace, will be brought to completion by Sacramental absolution. By itself however, imperfect contrition cannot obtain the Forgiveness of grave Sins, but it disposes one to obtain forgiveness in the sacrament of Penance. 52

When it arises from a Love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called "perfect" (contrition of Charity). Such contrition remits venial Sins; it also obtains Forgiveness of mortal Sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to Sacramental confession as soon as possible. 51

"In the Forgiveness of Sins, both priests and Sacraments are instruments which our Lord Jesus Christ, the only author and liberal giver of Salvation, wills to use in order to efface our Sins and give us the Grace of justification" (Roman Catechism, I, 11, 6).

Baptism is the first and chief Sacrament of the Forgiveness of Sins: it unites us to Christ, who died and rose, and gives us the Holy Spirit.

The Creed links "the Forgiveness of Sins" with its profession of Faith in the Holy Spirit, for the risen Christ entrusted to the Apostles the power to forgive Sins when he gave them the Holy Spirit.

There is no offense, however serious, that the Church cannot forgive. "There is no one, however wicked and guilty, who may not confidently hope for Forgiveness, provided his repentance is honest. 527 Christ who died for all men desires that in his Church the gates of forgiveness should always be open to anyone who turns away from Sin. 528

After his Resurrection, Christ sent his Apostles "so that repentance and Forgiveness of Sins should be preached in his name to all nations." 524 The apostles and their successors carry out this "ministry of Reconciliation," not only by announcing to men God's forgiveness merited for us by Christ, and calling them to Conversion and Faith; but also by communicating to them the forgiveness of Sins in Baptism, and reconciling them with God and with the Church through the power of the keys, received from Christ: 525

"When we made our first profession of Faith while receiving the holy Baptism that cleansed us, the Forgiveness we received then was so full and complete that there remained in us absolutely nothing left to efface, neither original Sin nor offenses committed by our own will, nor was there left any penalty to suffer in order to expiate them.... Yet the Grace of Baptism delivers no one from all the weakness of nature. On the contrary, we must still combat the movements of concupiscence that never cease leading us into evil " 521

Our Lord tied the Forgiveness of Sins to Faith and Baptism: "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved." 519 Baptism is the first and chief Sacrament of forgiveness of Sins because it unites us with Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our justification, so that "we too might walk in newness of life." 520

The Apostle's Creed associates Faith in the Forgiveness of Sins not only with faith in the Holy Spirit, but also with faith in the Church and in the Communion of saints. It was when he gave the Holy Spirit to his Apostles that the risen Christ conferred on them his own divine power to forgive Sins: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." 518

Because we are dead or at least wounded through Sin, the first effect of the gift of Love is the Forgiveness of our Sins. the Communion of the Holy Spirit 126 in the Church restores to the baptized the divine likeness lost through sin.

The Holy Spirit is at work with the Father and the Son from the beginning to the completion of the plan for our Salvation. But in these "end times," ushered in by the Son's redeeming Incarnation, the Spirit is revealed and given, recognized and welcomed as a person. Now can this divine plan, accomplished in Christ, the firstborn and head of the new creation, be embodied in mankind by the outpouring of the Spirit: as the Church, the Communion of saints, the Forgiveness of Sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Christ's death is both the Paschal sacrifice that accomplishes the definitive redemption of men, through "the Lamb of God, who takes away the Sin of the world", 439 and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man to Communion with God by reconciling him to God through the "Blood of the covenant, which was poured out for many for the Forgiveness of Sins". 440

Jesus gave the supreme expression of his free offering of himself at the meal shared with the twelve Apostles "on the night he was betrayed". 429 On the eve of his Passion, while still free, Jesus transformed this Last Supper with the apostles into the memorial of his voluntary offering to the Father for the Salvation of men: "This is my body which is given for you." "This is my Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many for the Forgiveness of Sins." 430

Jesus, Israel's Messiah and therefore the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, was to fulfil the Law by keeping it in its all embracing detail - according to his own words, down to "the least of these commandments". 330 He is in fact the only one who could keep it perfectly. 331 On their own admission the Jews were never able to observe the Law in its entirety without violating the least of its precepts. 332 This is why every year on the Day of Atonement the children of Israel ask God's Forgiveness for their transgressions of the Law. the Law indeed makes up one inseparable whole, and St. James recalls, "Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it." 333

Jesus invites Sinners to the table of the Kingdom: "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." 258 He invites them to that Conversion without which one cannot enter the kingdom, but shows them in word and deed his Father's boundless mercy for them and the vast "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents". 259 The supreme proof of his Love will be the sacrifice of his own life "for the Forgiveness of Sins". 260

Jesus' public life begins with his Baptism by John in the Jordan. 228 John preaches "a baptism of repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins". 229 A crowd of Sinners 230 - tax collectors and soldiers, Pharisees and Sadducees, and prostitutes - come to be baptized by him. "Then Jesus appears." the Baptist hesitates, but Jesus insists and receives baptism. Then the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes upon Jesus and a voice from heaven proclaims, "This is my beLoved Son." 231 This is the manifestation ("Epiphany") of Jesus as Messiah of Israel and Son of God.

Christ sent his Apostles so that "repentance and Forgiveness of Sins should be preached in his name to all nations." 41 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." 42 The mission to baptize, and so the Sacramental mission, is implied in the mission to evangelize, because the sacrament is prepared for by the word of God and by the Faith which is assent to this word:

The gathering of the People of God begins with Baptism; a Church must have a place for the celebration of Baptism (baptistry) and for fostering remembrance of the baptismal promises (holy water font). The renewal of the baptismal life requires penance. A church, then, must lend itself to the expression of repentance and the reception of Forgiveness, which requires an appropriate place to receive penitents. A church must also be a space that invites us to the recollection and silent Prayer that extend and internalize the great prayer of the Eucharist.

The formula of absolution used in the Latin Church expresses the essential elements of this Sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all Forgiveness. He effects the Reconciliation of Sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the Prayer and ministry of the Church:

Over the centuries the concrete form in which the Church has exercised this power received from the Lord has varied considerably. During the first centuries the Reconciliation of Christians who had committed particularly grave Sins after their Baptism (for example, idolatry, murder, or adultery) was tied to a very rigorous discipline, according to which penitents had to do public penance for their Sins, often for years, before receiving Reconciliation. To this "order of penitents" (which concerned only certain grave sins), one was only rarely admitted and in certain regions only once in a lifetime. During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the "private" practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the Sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest. This new practice envisioned the possibility of rePetition and so opened the way to a regular frequenting of this sacrament. It allowed the Forgiveness of grave sins and venial sins to be integrated into one sacramental celebration. In its main lines this is the form of penance that the Church has practiced down to our day.

During his public life Jesus not only forgave Sins, but also made plain the effect of this Forgiveness: he reintegrated forgiven Sinners into the community of the People of God from which sin had alienated or even excluded them. A remarkable sign of this is the fact that Jesus receives sinners at his table, a gesture that expresses in an astonishing way both God's forgiveness and the return to the bosom of the People of God. 44

Christ has willed that in her Prayer and life and action his whole Church should be the sign and instrument of the Forgiveness and Reconciliation that he acquired for us at the price of his Blood. But he entrusted the exercise of the power of absolution to the apostolic ministry which he charged with the "ministry of Reconciliation." 42 The apostle is sent out "on behalf of Christ" with "God making his appeal" through him and pleading: "Be reconciled to God." 43

Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of Communion with him. At the same time it damages communion with the Church. For this reaSon Conversion entails both God's Forgiveness and Reconciliation with the Church, which are expressed and accomplished liturgically by the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. 38

Reading Sacred Scripture, praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the Our Father - every Sincere act of worship or devotion revives the spirit of Conversion and repentance within us and contributes to the Forgiveness of our Sins.

The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways. Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, Prayer, and almsgiving, 31 which express Conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others. Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining Forgiveness of Sins: effort at Reconciliation with one's neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the Salvation of one's neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of Charity "which covers a multitude of Sins." 32

Jesus calls to Conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the Kingdom: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." 16 In the Church's preaching this call is addressed first to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel. Also, Baptism is the principal place for the first and fundamental conversion. It is by Faith in the Gospel and by Baptism 17 that one renounces evil and gains Salvation, that is, the Forgiveness of all Sins and the gift of new life.

"YOU were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." 9 One must appreciate the magnitude of the gift God has given us in the Sacraments of Christian initiation in order to grasp the degree to which Sin is excluded for him who has "put on Christ." 10 But the apostle John also says: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 11 and the Lord himself taught us to pray: "Forgive Us Our Trespasses," 12 linking our Forgiveness of one another's offenses to the forgiveness of our Sins that God will grant us.

It is called the Sacrament of confession, Since the disclosure or confession of Sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man. It is called the sacrament of Forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace." 6 It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the Love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God." 7 He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother." 8

By the same Charity that it enkindles in us, the Eucharist preserves us from future mortal Sins. the more we share the life of Christ and progress in his friendship, the more difficult it is to break away from him by mortal Sin. the Eucharist is not ordered to the Forgiveness of mortal sins - that is proper to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. the Eucharist is properly the sacrament of those who are in full Communion with the Church.

Holy Communion separates us from Sin. the body of Christ we receive in Holy Communion is "given up for us," and the Blood we drink "shed for the many for the Forgiveness of Sins." For this reaSon the Eucharist cannot unite us to Christ without at the same time cleansing us from past sins and preserving us from future sins:

Because it is the memorial of Christ's Passover, the Eucharist is also a sacrifice. the sacrificial character of the Eucharist is manifested in the very words of institution: "This is my body which is given for you" and "This cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my Blood." 185 In the Eucharist Christ gives us the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he "poured out for many for the Forgiveness of Sins." 186

From the very day of Pentecost the Church has celebrated and administered holy Baptism. Indeed St. Peter declares to the crowd astounded by his preaching: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your Sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." 26 The Apostles and their collaborators offer Baptism to anyone who believed in Jesus: Jews, the God-fearing, pagans. 27 Always, Baptism is seen as connected with Faith: "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household," St. Paul declared to his jailer in Philippi. and the narrative continues, the jailer "was baptized at once, with all his family." 28