We begin the Mass with the Penitential Act; we prepare with an acknowledgement of our sins, of our need for God’s mercy. Pope Francis spoke very strongly about the connection between our need for God’s mercy and the Mass: “We go to Mass because we are sinners and we want to receive God’s pardon, to participate in the redemption of Jesus, in his forgiveness. The ‘Confession’ which we make at the beginning is not ‘pro forma’, it is a real act of repentance! I am a sinner and I confess it, this is how the Mass begins! …. We must go to Mass humbly, like sinners” (February 12, 2014).
“At the beginning of Mass, as a community, we perform the Penitential Act through a formula of general confession, recited in the first person singular. Each one confesses to God and to his brothers and sisters to having ‘greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do’. Yes, even in omissions, that is, in having neglected to do the good I could have done. We often feel that we are good because — we say — ‘I did no harm to anyone’. In reality, it is not enough to refrain from doing harm to our neighbour; we must choose to do good, by seizing opportunities to bear good witness that we are disciples of Jesus. It is good to emphasize that we confess to being sinners both to God and to our brothers and sisters: this helps us understand the dimension of sin which, while separating us from God, also divides us from our brothers and sisters, and vice versa. Sin … severs the relationship with God and it severs the relationship with brothers and sisters, relationships within the family, in society and in the community ….
After the confession of sins, we ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Angels and Saints to pray to the Lord for us. In this too, the communion of Saints is valuable: that is, the intercession of these ‘companions and life examples’ … supports us on the journey toward full communion with God, when sin will be abolished once and for all” (January 3, 2018).