"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life"                John 3:16
 
"On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." When He had said this, he showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."           John 20:19-23

 
Fr. Peter Ryan, SJ, Executive Director, Secretariat of Doctrine for United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explains the institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation:  “Jesus loves every single person who ever lived and will not willingly lose anyone. So, at great cost to himself, He makes salvation available to everyone. But He never imposes it on anyone. Rather, He instituted the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation to offer us opportunities to freely turn back to Him when we have foolishly turned away.”
 
God gives us the gift of forgiveness because his love for us is so deep.  The Lord does not ignore our sins, rather He calls us to be holy.  He empowers us to holiness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and by giving us the Holy Spirit. 
 
We cooperate with His grace by humbly admitting our sins and turning back to the Lord.  We go to a priest and confess with honesty any sins we have committed and how often we have committed them. We reflect specifically on our thoughts, words and deeds, in how we have failed the commandments of God. 
 
Jesus entrusts the gift of forgiveness to his Church and the priest, acting in the person of Jesus, is prepared to forgive sins that are sincerely confessed by a penitent with a firm purpose of amendment. 
 
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops provides these documents to help you make a good Confession and be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

 An Examination of Conscience
How to Make a Good Confession