13I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Forgiveness is the crux of Christ's work. Salvation requires forgiveness. Anyone with unfinished business in regards to restitution for sins needs to hear Christ tell us we must forgive and make the situation as right as we possibly can. Jesus gave us the ministry of reconciliation, which is the exact subject of tonight's Gospel reading.
Reconciliation happens through the forgiveness of sin.
If sin is retained that is, if we refuse to confess it, we lose our fellowship with God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and with the Church. God cannot receive sin. This is the reason the ministry of reconciliation is at the very heart, the very center of the Church. Jesus Christ came, lived, died, and rose to forgive sins so that we may be reconciled to God. The forgiveness of sins is the entire core of our ministry.