Entrusted to the Church by Jesus Himself, the sacraments are visible, physical signs to successfully pour God's invisible life into ours.

The Holy Mass is deeply rooted in Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and every gesture, response, and prayer has a specific meaning.

The Mass has two main parts: the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Through the Word (Holy Scripture) God speaks to us through the Scriptures. We sit to listen and learn from the Old Testament, the Psalms, and the New Testament letters. We stand for the Gospel out of deep respect, because it contains the direct words and actions of Jesus Christ.

The Eucharist is vital to Catholics. It's the core of our faith. Through it, we encounter Jesus and receive him as spiritual sustenance. Bread and wine become Jesus' body and blood. This meal nourishes us, deepens our connection to God and others.

It's the ultimate act of worship, offering grace and blessings that facilitate growth. It unites us with Jesus and the Church throughout history. We approach the Eucharist with reverence and gratitude, aware of its significance in our faith journey.

Even if you’ve never been to Mass before or it’s been a while, you are most welcome to join us!

The Sacrament of Confession (also known as Reconciliation or Penance) can seem intimidating or mysterious to newcomers, but at its heart, it is simply a profound, personal encounter with God's mercy.

1. Who is actually forgiving the sins?

One of the biggest misconceptions is that the Catholic Church teaches that a human priest has the ultimate power to forgive sins. The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear: only God forgives sins.

The priest does not act on his own power. Instead, he acts in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). God uses the priest as a physical, human instrument.

2. Why not just go straight to God?

This is the most common question newcomers ask. First, Catholics do believe that you should pray and ask God for forgiveness directly and immediately whenever you sin.

However, Catholics believe Jesus established a specific, physical way for His followers to receive forgiveness. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His Apostles, breathed on them, and said:

"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." (John 20:22-23).

If Jesus gave the Apostles (and by extension, the priests who succeeded them) the authority to either forgive or retain sins, they first had to hear what the sins were in order to make that judgment. You cannot forgive or retain a sin you do not know about. Furthermore, the New Testament explicitly instructs believers to "confess your sins to one another" (James 5:16).

3. The Psychological Benefit

God knows that human beings are physical and social creatures. When we deeply hurt a friend or spouse, feeling sorry on the inside isn't always enough to heal the relationship—we usually need to look them in the eye and say, "I'm sorry."

Confession is essentially a conversation with God. Saying our sins out loud strips away our pride and forces us to be honest with ourselves. Even more importantly, when the priest says the words of absolution ("I absolve you from your sins..."), you get to physically hear with your own ears that you are forgiven. You are given objective certainty of God's mercy, rather than having to rely on your own shifting, subjective feelings of guilt or remorse.

4. The Seal of Confession

To make this process safe, the Church has an absolute, unbreakable rule called the Seal of Confession. A priest can never, under any circumstances, reveal what is said in the confessional. It is meant to be a completely safe place to unburden your soul.

How It Works (The Basic Steps)

When a Catholic goes to confession, the process generally looks like this:

1. Examination of Conscience: Before entering, you reflect on your thoughts, words, and actions to identify your sins.

2. The Confession: You enter the confessional (you can choose to be face-to-face or behind a privacy screen), state how long it has been since your last confession, and name your sins.

3. Penance: The priest offers some brief spiritual advice and gives you a "penance" (usually a prayer or an act of charity) to help repair the spiritual damage of the sin.

4. Act of Contrition: You recite a short prayer expressing your genuine sorrow to God.

5. Absolution: The priest speaks the prayer of absolution, acting in the person of Christ to forgive the sins.

At the end of his Gospel account Luke records a story of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus (Luke 24). Jesus decided to have a Bible study with two of his Disciples (who were unaware of who they were walking with). After the Bible study was done Jesus decided to “break bread” with them so that he could reveal himself in a fresh way. During the breaking of the bread Jesus gave the bread to the two Disciples. As they received the bread from his hands they noticed who they were sitting with but then…he disappeared from their sight. Jesus’ last act was to leave them with his presence in bread form.

Immediately the two Disciples looked at each other and commented that during the Bible study their hearts had been burning. It was their resurrected Lord and Master himself. In place of his personal presence Jesus gave his presence in the form of broken bread.

Like in this gospel account, adoration is where Catholics recognize, adore and worship the person of Jesus Christ as God in the Eucharist, the broken bread.

A week or so prior to the Emmaus Road incident Jesus was had broken bread with his 12 Disciples and said, “this is my body, broken for you.” A few hours later he was betrayed he went to Mount of Olives with them. But before he was betrayed he asked them “could you not spend one hour with me?” (Matt 26)

Whether it is 1 minute or 1 hour, the time we spend in adoration is a time when we can listen to Jesus with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. It is a powerful time of spiritual communion with our Lord, and we try to enter into his life, death and resurrection more deeply by spending time with him, asking for the graces we need for our everyday lives, for our families and our friends. Sometimes just slowing down and making ourselves ready makes our “hearts burn” as on the Road to Emmaus.

What do I do during adoration?

Many times we overthink our time of adoration, but adoration is simply a time to spend with Jesus Christ. Simply spending time with him is always a life-changing experience.

St. Mother Theresa used to do adoration daily with the nuns from the Missionaries of Charity. She believed her time in adoration was essential to their active mission to the poorest of the poor all around the world. St. John Vianney recounts a story about one of his parishioners who would spend hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament in adoration. Amazed by this, he asked the man "What do you do in adoration?" and the man replied "I look at Him and He looks at me."

It can be helpful to reflect on our lives during adoration, calling to mind the times in which we have failed to follow Christ, seeking his forgiveness and receiving strength to renew our call to conversion, and call to mind what we are thankful for, so that we can express gratitude. Many people also love to read Sacred Scripture or the writings of the Saints during their time in adoration and reflect on those words in the presence of the Eucharistic Christ. CCY has a bookshelf by the Priests office where some devotional literature is also available.

Adoration is a place where we reverently worship Our Lord, so we avoid eating, drinking (besides water), listening to music out loud or a podcast, talking, or laying down on the aisles so as to respect others and keep the prayerful and silent atmosphere of the chapel. Although you are praying privately and intimately with our Lord, our faith is communal and you are also in a communal space.

Do I need to bring anything to adoration?

Some find it helpful to bring a journal, a Bible, a Rosary, or another tool to help them pray during adoration. However, nothing is required other than yourself. Jesus Christ loves us as we are, so it is not necessary to have an "agenda" during our time of adoration, but it is necessary that we allow our hearts to give and receive this divine love. While it is good to bring helpful items, it's important to not pile on things to do and read and forget about the One who is present on the altar.