To reconcile means to “restore” or to “square” something. Whether it’s relationships, a financial ledger, or your faith, the goal of reconciliation is to bring people together or to make something whole again.
In business, reconciliation is an accounting process that compares two sets of records to ensure they add up to the same number. Account reconciliation is particularly useful for explaining the difference between two financial records or account balances.
In religion, reconciliation is also known as confession, and most of the clergy will tell you that repentance must come before reconciliation. In the Roman Catholic Church, congregants attend confession to seek forgiveness for a particular sin. During confession, a priest listens to the sinner and imposes a penance for their sin. After absolution, the sinner reconciles his faith with God.