We do not receive the sacrament as frequently as before the council. The truth is that many Catholics have abandoned the practice altogether. For many, communal penance is preferred over private confession, and better yet, when they can receive general absolution, they like it even more. There is much more to be done. T hose who have abandoned the sacrament altogether need to be invited back.
Confession is a wholesome and graced act.
It is a concrete manifestation of God's loving forgiveness. It is Jesus Christ, through the ministry of His church, healing our moral wounds, and helping us get up again. It is the celebration of reconciliation so powerfully imaged for us in the story of the prodigal child's return. The father threw a huge party. But there is no sacramental celebration without the sacrament.