Confession after mass

[phil19034]

I’m a little puzzled. No one is required to receive communion at every Mass or at any particular Mass. One can always wait until after going to confession. So I don’t see the need for an exception or special waiver.

I agree. In America, there seems to be what I will call a heretical mindset of needing to receive all the time. I know of too many Catholics who feel like receiving each week (or even each day) is more important than making sure they are worthy of receiving.

Not too long ago, Nuns used to have to receive permission from their spiritual directors (who were priests) in order to receive communion every Sunday. Later, they needed permission to receive communion every day.

I believe St. Therese of Lisieux needed permission from her spiritual director to either receive every Sunday or every day. I forget how often she received communion, however, I believe I remember a priest talking about it during the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

God bless!

 

[VictoriaAdAeternam]

Wrong answer. These days one must be an informed Catholic and unfortunately be able to rebut even the clergy if nessisary. A good priest would offer confessions before all Masses without having to be asked and more rarely even have them available during Mass.

 

[phil19034]

Still doesn’t stop some… I was at an Ash Wednesday service a couple years ago where the parish had at least 8 Masses on Ash Wednesday. There was a volunteer who was distributing ashes and serving as a EMHC at all 8 masses. She said she received communion all 8 times because it wouldn’t be right for her not to receive.

 

[phil19034]

VictoriaAdAeternam:

A good priest would offer confessions before all Masses without having to be asked and more rarely even have them available during Mass.

Please don’t disparage any priest that is not able to offer confession right before Mass. Especially a daily Mass. Priests in my state are spread so thin, they often have 3-4 parishes miles apart to get to and outside of regularly scheduled confession times or by appointment, aren’t readily available in church to hear confessions right before Mass. Even parishes in the larger towns or smaller cities only have one priest per parish and he’s expected to be available for more than confession and Mass. There are only a couple of parishes in the big city that have 2 priests and that’s because of the amount of parishioners they have. It’s rare to have them both in the same place at the same time, concelebrating Mass, so expecting most parishes to be offering confession at the same time Mass in going in isn’t realistic for most places.

I agree.

However, I also agree that there are many parishes in some dioceses where they could easily have confession before Mass but don’t.

Confession before Mass is a great thing to offer, IF there is time for it.

 

[tafan2]

I have never heard of a dispensation like this. I thought dispensation were for merely legal/discipline issues, eg marrying a cousin, missing mass on Sunday. Not receiving communing due to not being in a state of grace seems a little different to me.

 

[regression]

that’s what the priest told us.

 

[tafan2]

I don’t doubt your honesty. I do doubt if a priest can give such a dispensation. I might be wrong. I have never heard of it before.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

Confession during Mass, like praying the rosary during Mass is one of those practices that thankfully is going away. Before Mass, yes - and we’re fortunate that we do have that here. During Mass you should be present and focused on the altar.

 

[LisaB]

You can be present and focused on the altar while in confession line.

 

[Cor_ad_Cor]

But not in the confessional.

 

[LisaB]

I agree ideally everyone would confess before Mass starts but in practice, it’s better to offer confession during Mass than not at all. In my parish we usually have two priests hearing confessions but the line is so long, they are never finished by the time Mass starts.