The Catholic Church has Seven Sacraments. They are Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance and Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders and Matrimony. The two sacraments in your spiritual tool box that can be and should be used often are the Eucharist and Penance and Reconciliation.

Penance (and Reconciliation) is a sacrament of healing. While the Eucharist is a sacrament of initiation because each time we receive Jesus in the Sacrament of the Eucharist we renew our life in Him and provides us spiritual food for life’s journey.

The Catholic Church requires every Catholic to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive the Eucharist at least once each year during the Easter Season. Depending on what’s going on in your life, I would say that’s not really enough for either sacrament for the average Catholic.

Regarding the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation – “Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the Spirit. By receiving more frequently through this sacrament the gift of the Father’s mercy, we are spurred to be merciful as he is merciful.” CCC 1458

I have to say the more often you go, whether quarterly, monthly or weekly, you will notice patterns of sin that you cannot if you go just once a year. If you go more often – more details will emerge and you will remember them. The less often, the less detail and more generic – and in my opinion – provides less effective healing.

Same thing regarding the Eucharist. The more often a person comes to the light, the more light they receive, the closer they draw to the fire, the warmer they are! The nearer they approach sanctity, the more saintly they become. Why wouldn’t you want to be close to Christ as often as you possible can?

Here’s a handy guide to Making an EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE and a Good Confession from confirmationstudy.com most Catholic Churches have them in the narthex or near the confessionals.