Christ is the first sacrament of God for he is the sign of God’s love and reconciling presence in the world. The Church is the sacrament of Christ for she is the witness and continuation of Christ’s ministry here on earth. It is the Sacrament of Penance that continues Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation. This ministry of reconciliation consists of the celebration of repentance, through ongoing conversion, and reconciliation with God.
It might be helpful if we took a moment to explain the meaning of reconciliation as this term was reintroduced in the 1974 reform of the Rite of Penance. This sacrament has two titles assigned to it – the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Sacrament of Penance. Reconciliation as initiated by God, signifies a healing of the division or alienation that is created by sin and restores our harmony with Him. The whole process of inner conversion, which should be learned at an early age, is expressed by contrition, confession, absolution and satisfaction. It is understood that “confession” is an admitting of one’s sin but this is only one part of the process. The actual confession of sins should not be given undue emphasis, but should be a part of the catechist’s curriculum in teaching the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Baptism is the fundamental sacrament of conversion and reconciliation and because of this the unbaptized are not able to participate. In the Sacrament of Baptism we die and rise in Christ to a new life. In our rebirth we become children of God and are incorporated into the Church. The Sacrament of Reconciliation would not make sense, theologically speaking, to someone who is not yet baptized. It is understood that the Sacrament of Reconciliation can be refereed to as “second baptism” in that it renews the sacramental grace given to us at our baptism, it restores us to full participation in the Church and it provides for the opportunity of ongoing conversion.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is also related to the Holy Eucharist in that it is a sign of unity, it proclaims and effects our reconciliation with our Heavenly Father and it celebrates the totality of God’s saving action in Christ. It is in the Sacrament of Reconciliation that the Church deals with the sin among its members. In this sacrament she assists the sinner in conversion and leads them to reconciliation in a way it cannot do in the Eucharist.
It is important to note here the discipline of Holy Mother Church in regards to reception of first Reconciliation and first Communion.[1] The Church has declared that first Reconciliation is to precede first Communion. It also notes that there should be an ample time between the reception of both Sacraments in order that confusion may not be built up among the children.
There are multiple forms for celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Children can be taught many way of God’s forgiveness in order that the sacramental expression is given a context experienced through ones whole life, rather than one isolated experience. The basis for understanding God’s love and forgiveness is the experience in a child’s life at school and at home. Children need consistent and constant sincere love and forgiveness in their lives. It is from this experience that they can come to know the love of the Father.
The “New Rite of Penance” describes three situations in which the Sacrament of Reconciliation can be experienced. The first way is the simple, individual form of a penitent alone with a confessor. The second is a communal service, which incorporates individual reception of the sacrament, and the third way is a rare possibility of communal confession with a general absolution. Each of these ways of celebrating the sacrament are facilitated in different ways, thus my following posts will include a discussion of each of them.[2]
[1] Sacred Congregation for the Discipline of the Sacraments, Sanctus Pontifex, (24 May 1973), at EWTN, http://www.ewtn.com.
[2] Pastoral Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance with Children, Archdiocese of St Louis, (1998).
First Reconciliation 
In this post you mentioned the connection between a child’s first Confession and first Holy Communion – Confession is to precede Communion. Oftentimes the first receptions of these two sacraments are viewed as temporally close together, perhaps a week apart or so. Sanctus Pontifex mentioned leaving ample time between these two sacraments in order to avoid confusion. Do any documents address how to handle first Confession and first Communion in a situation in which a child was baptized but did not receive the other sacraments of initiation at the regular ages? Such a child would be older and could benefit from the Sacrament of Penance well before he is ready to make his first Communion. It seems reasonable, therefore, that someone in this situation should be catechized about Confession as soon as possible and make his first Confession early in the process of preparing for first Communion which usually occurs around Easter. Thus, months could separate the two sacraments. While I see no reason why this would be a problem, I am curious as to what any relevant Church documents say.
The documents researched did not mention the specifics of the catechizing those children who are beyond the traditional age of first reception. It would seem to correct to say that that child could be catechized early on in preparation for their first Confession and then later receive their first Communion. In reading the documents I am led to believe that the pastor would have a role in setting up the time frame in which the child would receive those sacraments. The documents discuss the norm of catechizing children at the age of reason, but they do not go into specific detail beyond that age.