After saying this he breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained."
John 20: 22-23.

Only God forgives sins. Since he is the Son of God, Jesus says of himself, 'The Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins', and exercises this divine power: 'Your sins are forgiven.' Further, by virtue of his divine authority he gives this power to men to exercise in his name. CCC 1441

Christ institutes the sacrament of Penance for all sinful members of the Church: above all for thse who, since Baptism, have fallen into grave sin, and have thus lost their baptismal grace and wounded the ecclesial communion. It is to them that the sacrament of Penance offers a new possibility to convert and recover the grace of justification. CCC 1446.

After the homily at Sunday Mass, the priest asks the children to stand, with their parents.

Celebrant: My dear children, each one of us has been baptised, and so we are all sons and daughters of God. God loves us as a Father, and wants us to love him with all our hearts. He also wants us to be good to each other, so that we may live happily together.

But people do not always do as God wants. They disobey God and do not want to listen to him. We, too, often act like that.

This is what we call sin. When we sin, we turn our backs on God, and if we do something really bad we cut ourselves off from God; we are complete strangers to him.

God does not want us to be strangers. He wants us to be his friends. He loves us so much that, again and again, he is willing to forgive us the times we have disobeyed him. He has given us the wonderful gift of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which is the Sacrament of his Forgiveness, and now he offers that gift to you. Are you willing to come to him, tell him your sins and experience that forgiveness for yourselves?

Children: We are.

Celebrant: Parents are you willing to help these children to prepare for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, by showing them that you, too, are sorry for your sins and know your need of God?

Parents: We are.

The priest now invites the teachers and catechists to stand.

Celebrant: Teachers and catechists, you have a special role in preparing these children to receive the forgiving love of the Lord. Will you be people of faith and examples to them of what you teach to the?

Teachers and catechists: We will.

All: Lord, open our ears and our hearts today to the message of your Son, who calls us to repentance, so that we may walk in the newness of life. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Celebrant: Let us all stand and profess our faith together.