Catholics shunning confession?

[bluezone7]

This is a very interesting article:

slate.com/id/2130589/?GT1=7407

I attempted to address this topic before in this forum but many of the people who posted responses treated the situation like it was not a big deal. Oh well … to me it still is.

 

[Karin]

A Church that I am looking to join has a Perprtual Adoration and the Priest has said because of this he has seen a LARGE increase in people going to confession…perhaps this is one answer to get more people to go to Confession?

 

[Della]

It IS a big deal if our fellow Catholics are avoiding confession so they can contracept and commit other sins and still feel free to receive the Holy Eucharist! I think our homilests ought to be preaching “no confession–no communion” to their people who think they can go on fooling God. In the early Church people had to confess before the whole congregation and were barred from receiving communion until after they’d done long penances. Now days people pop in and out of Mass as they please, receive with mortal sins on their souls, and believe they’re just fine. Yes, it IS a sad state of affairs.

 

[bauerice]

May I have say here? I go to confession once a month, more if needed. I converted 3 years ago and love the confessional. I have left the parish I attended for RCIA. They almost never had a priest for confessions availiable. The only time set aside for confessions was 15 min before Mass. The 2 priests we had rarely showed up. The pastor is 74 and the other is in his 80’s and in and out of the hospital. This doesn’t seem to be the exception. I showed up at the Cathedral in our city at the time listed in the bulletin. No priest was availiable. I had to search around until I found churches that have a regular time set aside. I found a church in our city that has Confession an hour an a half everyday(7 days a week). The lines are VERY long. My point is…Is the confessionals empty because some parishes have abanded it or abanded because no one shows up?

 

[Sir_Knight]

Della:

It IS a big deal if our fellow Catholics are avoiding confession so they can contracept and commit other sins and still feel free to receive the Holy Eucharist! I think our homilests ought to be preaching “no confession–no communion” to their people who think they can go on fooling God. In the early Church people had to confess before the whole congregation and were barred from receiving communion until after they’d done long penances. Now days people pop in and out of Mass as they please, receive with mortal sins on their souls, and believe they’re just fine. Yes, it IS a sad state of affairs.

If people want to receive communion while in a state of mortal sin, it’s their own soul that they are putting at risk. Receiving the Eucharist is a double edge sword – those that receive it worthily, bring themselves closer to salvation; those that receive it unworithily, bring themselves closer to condemnation.

 

[spiritblows]

Dear Bluezone,
The article is entirely right on. It hit the nail squarely on the head.

 

[thistle]

spiritblows:

Dear Bluezone,
The article is entirely right on. It hit the nail squarely on the head.

The priests are my local church regularly make comments about the long lines of people receiving Communion but short lines for Confession.
I think its an educational matter. Maybe during a homily or after a Mass has ended the priests should give some teaching on this. Many folks don’t know often that they have committed a mortal sin. I have found this applies mainly to cradle Catholics. Converts, like me, seem to learn a lot more at RCIA than cradle Catholics know.

 

[Catherine_Grant]

As this thread is discussing the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist, it was moved into the Liturgy and Sacraments forum.

 

[Lorrie]

I usually go to confession bi-weekly. The sacrament of reconciliation is something I adore, the cleansing effect is unreal. The parish I attend has a priest there for 45 minutes before each Mass (7 days a week). I went to confession this past Sunday and there was only one person waiting outside (granted I did arrive early). I desperately want to give people the benefit of the doubt and just assume they’re going elsewhere, sometimes its hard though.

 

[spiritblows]

Lorrie:

I usually go to confession bi-weekly. The sacrament of reconciliation is something I adore, the cleansing effect is unreal. The parish I attend has a priest there for 45 minutes before each Mass (7 days a week). I went to confession this past Sunday and there was only one person waiting outside (granted I did arrive early). I desperately want to give people the benefit of the doubt and just assume they’re going elsewhere, sometimes its hard though.

Well, they’re not going to my parish or any other parish where I’ve gone to confession.

The thing I really like about the article is how they point out how generally confessional our society has become, yet how inversely the sacrament of confession has fallen out of favor. It’s an interesting psychological phenomina, don’t you think? I mean, back in the 1940’s very few people knew that FDR was in a wheelchair. People respected privacy so much more. Back when I was a kid you didn’t have people going on TV airing their dirty laundry, people didn’t blab to anyone about using vibrators, anti-depressants, or getting vacsectomies, etc and so forth. Nowadays, people share every sordid detail of their lives, but won’t go to an anonymous confession with a priest behind a screen. It doesn’t make a bit of sense.