Reconciliation
Individual Confessions
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available by appointment throughout the year: please call the parish office at 502-897-2595. Communal penance services with individual Confessions are typically scheduled during the seasons of Advent and Lent.
First Reconciliation Preparation
When your child reaches the age of 7, the Church recognizes their capacity for reason and corresponding responsibility for their relationship to God. Your child is now capable of recognizing their moral failures toward God and others, and ready to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We prepare our children to recognize their blessings, freedom, responsibility, and culpability in light of God’s loving plan for our lives and God’s continuous offer of mercy, grace, and holiness.
Baptized children around the ages of 7 and 8 (second grade) are invited to participate in our First Reconciliation preparation program. Throughout this process, children use a workbook, videos, and conversations with parishioners to learn about the meaning of this sacrament and the life of Christian holiness.
For children significantly older than 7 or 8, or children who have not yet been baptized, preparation takes place in the context of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Children (RCIC), which is mapped out depending on your child’s specific needs.
How do I register my child for First Reconciliation preparation at St. Leonard Parish?
Please contact the parish office, at 502-897-2595 or via email.
What Is Baptism
By its very nature, baptism is a public, communal event. It is not a private event affecting only the family, but a sacramental event bringing about the addition of a new member into the Body of Christ, the Church. For this reason, the Church of the Holy Spirit always strives to administer baptism in some public context.
Normally, this is accomplished by celebrating baptism with a group of families all bringing their children forth at the same time or, for older children and adults, at the Easter Vigil.
Two Types of Baptism
INFANT BAPTISM
Infant Baptism– Baptism affects a child’s life here on earth and the child’s eternal salvation. Therefore, it is to be carried out with the seriousness proper to its dignity:
The parents and godparents are to be properly instructed on the meaning of this sacrament and the obligations attached to it. This instruction is carried out by the pastor or his delegate. Parents are urged to make arrangements for baptism preparation during pregnancy.
Parents, godparents and pastors are to take care that no name foreign to Christian sensibilities is given.
At least one parent must consent to having the child baptized
There must be a founded hope that the child will be brought up in the Catholic Church.
ADULT BAPTISM
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Children (RCIC) are programs of instruction for older children and adults who have never been baptized and wish to enter the Christian community.
Classes meet weekly throughout the year in order to prepare to receive this sacrament with baptism usually celebrated at the Easter Vigil.