Access To Confession

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Fr. JLT:
Shame on whom? Perhaps we read it differently, but I also put it together with one of her posts on another thread here that says, “with the way things are going a lot more priests are becoming convicts, so I assume they would be able to hear confessions (if they have faculties in prison).”

I also know my weekly experience of Confessions from both sides of the screen and know how people treat it.

– Fr. l.
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Fr.J.,
As SHJ said, not everyone has read every comment by everyone on this forum, and in my opinion your reply to Puzzlannie had nothing to do with what she said in this thread. As a matter of fact her first post in this thread was very supportive of priest in general.

Now in further response to your previous reply to my question, I am sorry you have been treated so harshly by some of your parishners during your time of illness. I do know what it is to be extremely sick and I do hope your medical problems are long behind you. When I started this thread I said that I had just been watching a classic episode of Mother Angelica Live, and I am going to quote a statement Mother Angelica made to a caller who had an upseting incident with his pastor during a confession outside of the normal day and time alloted at his parish. She told him “Keep going to confession, even at 5 o’clock in the morning, as a Catholic that is your right”. I am aware that there are quite a few priest who have disagreed with a lot of what she has said, but I have never heard of any of them that have ever proven her to be wrong.
In wrapping up this post I want to thank you for your service to our Holy Mother Church, and I pray that our good God gives you many years more to serve her. I also thank you, one veteran to another for your service to our country, you truly know the price of our freedom. God bless you, and keep you always.
Linda H.
 
Fr. JLT:
Hey, folks!!! :tiphat:

PUZZLEANNIE: Great. So you sin and you think the world needs to stop for you to go to COnfession? Should ahve thought of that before you sinned. Preists are not the salves, animals in cages or bacteria under a microscope that many think we should be. NEITHER is the Church Wal-Mart, with 24-hour drive-through attention on demand. Think of sin and the sacraments in terms of a Catholic . . . not as a spoiled “me me me, instantly satiated” consumer.

– Fr. L.
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oops, did it again, but now I know I can rely on your understanding and forgiveness. I certainly did not imply that we should be able to have 24-hour service, believe me, working in the parish office I am very familiar with the priest’s point of view on this. What I meant to point out was the fact that at most parishes here, there is only a half hour or so set aside for confessions, even though lines are long, and people are regularly turned away when Mass begins. I am sure the priests would love to take care of them after Mass, but most must then travel to their missions to take care of those people. I was trying to highlight the general attitude toward confession, and to wish we could find ways to serve those who do understand its necessity. think you and I could get together for a little nip of that JD?
 
I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on all points. I particularly disagree with the idea of going to confession, even at 5 if necessary. This leads to a presumption of God’s mercy, a situation that has been rampant in the USA for decades, unfortunately. While the Church clearly states that receiving the Sacraments is the “right” of every Christian, she does not say, nor can she say, that it is the “right” of every Christain to have the Sacraments provided for them. That’s simply impossible now, as it always has been and always will be. We’ve become a bit too materialistic and democratized in the Church when we start talking about the sacraments in terms of rights. None of us has any right to salvation. Neither does anyone have the “right” to expect the world to stop spinning on its axis when one decides to sin. One should think of that before deciding to sin. Yes, decided. By definition, if one has not decided to sin, then one has not sinned.

– Fr. L.
 
I do agree with something PuzzleAnnie said. If the only time for Confession is 30 minutes before Mass, and the line is continually long and people get turned away, things need to be changed. I think the Church does have an obligation to serve the needs of the parish, including extending Confession times if all the people can’t be served.
 
Fr. JLT:
I also know my weekly experience of Confessions from both sides of the screen and know how people treat it.

– Fr. l.
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Many here, I am sure, would be grateful if you could help us understand a little better what the other side of the grille feels like. Do you find that people misunderstand or abuse the privilege? That they just want a little personal conversation and don’t understand the purpose of the Sacrament? That they don’t understand important moral distinctions? Do you have more people these days scheduling private confessions (I mean in advance, respecting your calendar – not just showing up at random hours)?

Often in Confession, a penitent feels that he is hearing the voice of Christ himself (OK, you ALWAYS here the voice of Christ himself), but sometimes it feels like Alter Christus is taking a nap. (OK, we shouldn’t be thinking about how it feels.)

Sometimes, if you show up five minutes after the hour for confession is scheduled to begin the priest has left the building because “nobody showed up.”
 
Fr. JLT:
I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree on all points. I particularly disagree with the idea of going to confession, even at 5 if necessary. This leads to a presumption of God’s mercy, a situation that has been rampant in the USA for decades, unfortunately. While the Church clearly states that receiving the Sacraments is the “right” of every Christian, she does not say, nor can she say, that it is the “right” of every Christain to have the Sacraments provided for them. That’s simply impossible now, as it always has been and always will be. We’ve become a bit too materialistic and democratized in the Church when we start talking about the sacraments in terms of rights. None of us has any right to salvation. Neither does anyone have the “right” to expect the world to stop spinning on its axis when one decides to sin. One should think of that before deciding to sin. Yes, decided. By definition, if one has not decided to sin, then one has not sinned.

– Fr. L.
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Fr.L,
While I will agree that we disagree, and I was almost ready to let our disagreement go by the wayside until I read the last part of your reply to me. You have left me confused with this statement “By definition, if one has not decided to sin, then one has not sinned.”:confused: So tell me this, if I in a state of shock or sudden outrage, take our heavenly fathers name in vain, are you saying that I haven’t sinned? I could break the second commandment, but since I had not “decided to sin” everything o.k., that’s a new one on me.:ehh: I am honestly looking forward to your thoughts on this, and I would appreciate it if you would give me a reference point so I can explain it to my confessor this Saturday.
Linda H.
 
Hmm. Yes, like Linda H., I think this might be a subject that could use more clarification. While I think I understand the “decided to sin” part in theory, there are many sins–sins of anger, sexual sins, especially–where the “decision” is made in the heat of passion or perhaps never deliberately decided in the manner that a moral theology text might contemplate.
 
The thing with priests being available for confession is that often nobody comes. I go past a church on the way to work, which has confession available from 12.00 to 6.00. I often call into the church during the day or on Saturday and I see the priest on duty go into the confessional at a quarter to the hour and nobody comes, he leaves at a quarter past the hour and comes back again (or someone else does) at a quarter to the hour. I think that must be very disheartening. By the way, there are notices up around the church telling people to call to the sacristy if the priest isn’t around. The church is attached to an Augustinian priory so this system is possible.

My church at home has confessions every Saturday and before Mass on the First Fridays. Last First Friday I was the only one waiting to go to Confession at the evening Mass.

Final point, any priests I have approached re. getting confession have always been very nice and tried to facilitate me. EG. on the Friday before my First Communion, we went to get confession after Mass (I’d made my First Confession about five weeks before). We were late and the Church was locked but we met the priest on the road and he heard my confession at his house - I thought that was really nice. Particularly looking back on it now, after all there’s not much an eight year old will have to confess.
 
Ter,

I’m sure it is a blessing to live where there are so many Catholic Churchs and priest so readly availble. I live in a rural area of the southeastern USA, where we are lucky to have 1 Catholic church per county. Priorys’ are hard to come by around here. I will agree there are shortages of parishners in line for confession throughout our Holy Mother Church on Saturday afternoons, but there is also a shortage of scheduled times to hear confessions at many of our parishes here in the USA. That and the difficulty in locating a priest in a time of need, are the gist of most of the comments on this thread.
Linda H.
 
Yes, it is a blessing that I must remind myself of. Usually I go to confession in the middle of the week before the 5:30pm Mass. (Confessions 5 to 5:25) I’m often amazed to get there at 5:00 and find a line of 10-15 people at the confessional.

My brother lives on the outskirts of Atlanta and has to drive 30 minutes for the nearest church, so it’s a lot less convenient. (Not so many Catholics down south.)
 
Fr. JLT:
Regarding the Padre Pio comment, I have used it many times or, I say, “Sorry, I got a D+ in my bilocation course in the Seminary.” hehehehe When I say that, I can usually see the look on the angry person’s face change and actually realize the situation. It’s all good. 🙂
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When they figure out how to make Star-Trek-style transporters, you’ll have an easier time of it 😛

They’ve already figured out how to make transparent aluminum (ref: Star Trek IV). Can transporters be far behind?

DaveBj
 
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