Church of the Nativity
  • Home
  • 150th Events
  • Updates Page
  • Livestream Mass
  • Parish Life
    • About Us
    • Bulletin
    • Homilies
    • Welcome Newcomers
    • Becoming Catholic
    • RCIA
    • School of Religion
    • Mission & Vision
    • Calendar
    • Online Giving
    • Father Lucky Book
    • Spirit of Nativity Book
    • FORMED
  • Worship
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Holy Hour for Priests and the Parish
    • Novenas
    • Fatima Mass and Celebration
    • Holy Hour / Happy Hour
  • Sacraments
    • Baptism
    • Eucharist
    • Confirmation
    • Penance (Reconciliation)
    • Anointing of the Sick
    • Marriage
    • Holy Orders
  • Ministries
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Faith Formation Classes
    • Nativity Adopt-a-Family
    • Thursday Group
    • Men's Prayer Group
    • Visiting the Homebound
    • Respect Life Committee
    • Altar Society
    • Legion of Mary
    • Extraordinary Ministers & Lectors
    • Altar Servers
    • Holy Hour / Happy Hour
  • Community
    • St. Vincent de Paul Society
    • Nativity Mixer
    • Nativity Men's Club
    • Italian Catholic Federation
    • Mid-Peninsula Catholic Moms
    • Vallombrosa Center
    • St. Patrick Seminary
    • St. Francis Center
    • St. Anthony Dining Hall
    • Archdiocese of San Francisco
    • Catholic Charities
    • San Mateo Pro Life
    • Western Association for the Order of Malta
    • EWTN
    • USCCB
  • What Catholics Believe
    • Our Faith
    • Being Catholic Today
    • Welcome Newcomers
    • Returning Catholics
    • What Is the Catholic Church?
    • We are the Church
    • What Do Catholics Believe? >
      • Catholic Essentials
      • Papacy & Christian unity
      • Scripture
      • Saints
      • Mary
      • Prayer
      • Liturgical Calendar
  • Nativity School
  • Donations
  • Contact Us
    • Staff
    • Parish Registration
    • Parish Email List
    • Send a Message
    • Directions
  • Online Resources-Prayer and Worship
  • Home
  • 150th Events
  • Updates Page
  • Livestream Mass
  • Parish Life
    • About Us
    • Bulletin
    • Homilies
    • Welcome Newcomers
    • Becoming Catholic
    • RCIA
    • School of Religion
    • Mission & Vision
    • Calendar
    • Online Giving
    • Father Lucky Book
    • Spirit of Nativity Book
    • FORMED
  • Worship
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Holy Hour for Priests and the Parish
    • Novenas
    • Fatima Mass and Celebration
    • Holy Hour / Happy Hour
  • Sacraments
    • Baptism
    • Eucharist
    • Confirmation
    • Penance (Reconciliation)
    • Anointing of the Sick
    • Marriage
    • Holy Orders
  • Ministries
    • Eucharistic Adoration
    • Faith Formation Classes
    • Nativity Adopt-a-Family
    • Thursday Group
    • Men's Prayer Group
    • Visiting the Homebound
    • Respect Life Committee
    • Altar Society
    • Legion of Mary
    • Extraordinary Ministers & Lectors
    • Altar Servers
    • Holy Hour / Happy Hour
  • Community
    • St. Vincent de Paul Society
    • Nativity Mixer
    • Nativity Men's Club
    • Italian Catholic Federation
    • Mid-Peninsula Catholic Moms
    • Vallombrosa Center
    • St. Patrick Seminary
    • St. Francis Center
    • St. Anthony Dining Hall
    • Archdiocese of San Francisco
    • Catholic Charities
    • San Mateo Pro Life
    • Western Association for the Order of Malta
    • EWTN
    • USCCB
  • What Catholics Believe
    • Our Faith
    • Being Catholic Today
    • Welcome Newcomers
    • Returning Catholics
    • What Is the Catholic Church?
    • We are the Church
    • What Do Catholics Believe? >
      • Catholic Essentials
      • Papacy & Christian unity
      • Scripture
      • Saints
      • Mary
      • Prayer
      • Liturgical Calendar
  • Nativity School
  • Donations
  • Contact Us
    • Staff
    • Parish Registration
    • Parish Email List
    • Send a Message
    • Directions
  • Online Resources-Prayer and Worship
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

Penance (Reconciliation)

Sacrament of Healing

At Our Parish

The Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation 

Saturdays
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. with an Opus Dei Priest
3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. with one of our parish priests

You may also make an appointment with one of our priests by calling the parish office 650-323-7914
Picture



​The Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation)

There are four steps in the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
  1. We feel contrition for our sins and a conversion of heart to change our ways.
  2. We confess our sins and human sinfulness to a priest.
  3. We receive and accept forgiveness (absolution) and are absolved of our sins.
  4. We celebrate God’s everlasting love for us and commit to live out a Christian life.

Sin hurts our relationship with God, ourselves and others. As the Catechism states:

The sinner wounds God’s honor and love, his own human dignity…and the spiritual well-being of the Church, of which each Christian ought to be a living stone. To the eyes of faith no evil is graver than sin and nothing has worse consequences for the sinners themselves, for the Church, and for the whole world. (CCC 1487, 1488)

A mature understanding of sin includes reflecting upon our thoughts, actions and omissions as well as examining the patterns of sin that may arise in our lives. With contrite hearts, we are also called to reflect upon the effects of our sins upon the wider community and how we might participate in sinful systems.

Contrition and conversion lead us to seek a forgiveness for our sins so as to repair damaged relationships with God, self, and others. We believe that only ordained priests have the faculty of absolving sins from the authority of the Church in the name of Jesus Christ (CCC 1495). Our sins are forgiven by God, through the priest.

The Spiritual effects of the Sacraments of Reconciliation include:
  • reconciliation with God by which the penitent recovers grace
  • reconciliation with the Church
  • remission of the eternal punishment incurred by mortal sins
  • remission, at least in part, of temporal punishments resulting from sin
  • peace and serenity of conscience, and spiritual consolation
  • an increase of spiritual strength for the Christian battle (CCC 1496)
​
Individual confession with a priest is the principal means of absolution and reconciliation of grave sins within the Church. The Sacrament of Reconciliation frees us from sinful patterns of behavior and calls us to complete conversion to Christ. Reconciliation heals our sins and repairs our relationships.
This is the Sacrament in which sins committed after Baptism are forgiven. it results in reconciliation with God and the Church. (US Catholic Catechism for Adults, Glossary)

Contact Us 

Office hours:  ​Mon-Fri  9:00am-4:00pm
Phone:  650-323-7914
Fax:  650-323-3231

210 Oak Grove Avenue
Menlo Park, CA  94025

Email: ​nativityparish@sbcglobal.net
​
​Directions

Livestreamed Masses
YouTube Church of the Nativity Channel



Join Us for Mass
Schedule:

Weekday Daily Mass:
Mon-Fri:  7:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. Saturday:  8:00 a.m.

Holiday observance:  9:00 a.m. 
(One Mass Only)

​Saturday Vigil: 5:00 p.m.
Sunday:   (8:00 a.m. Livestreamed), 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

Holy Days:  7:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m.                                   & 7:00 p.m.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
 Hearing Loop Enabled
​ Switch hearing aid to T-coil

Picture

​Site powered by Our Sunday Visitor
ADMIN LOGIN