Confession Makes a Comeback

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Sin never goes out of style, but confession is undergoing a revival.

This February at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI instructed priests to make confession a top priority. U.S. bishops have begun promoting it in diocesan newspapers, mass mailings and even billboard ads. And in a dramatic turnaround, some Protestant churches are following suit. This summer, the second-largest North American branch of the Lutheran Church passed a resolution supporting the rite, which it had all but ignored for more than 100 years.

online.wsj.com/article/SB119033883026834766.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks
 
mommyof4 said:
Sin never goes out of style, but confession is undergoing a revival.

This February at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI instructed priests to make confession a top priority. U.S. bishops have begun promoting it in diocesan newspapers, mass mailings and even billboard ads. And in a dramatic turnaround, some Protestant churches are following suit. This summer, the second-largest North American branch of the Lutheran Church passed a resolution supporting the rite, which it had all but ignored for more than 100 years.

online.wsj.com/article/SB119033883026834766.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks
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excellent article! 👍
 
Now, if only priests would talk about sin in their homilies. I think the vast majority of us think whatever we do, if we think it’s not a sin, then it’s not a sin, never mind what the Church says about the matter. It seems as though sin has lost its meaning. For myself, I rediscovered the value of Confession about 4 years ago and I must say it is one of the major blessings in my life. Through God’s grace found there, and ONLY through God’s grace, have I been able to conquer sins that are considered mortal by the Church. Regularly going to Confession keeps me on the straight and narrow. Without it, I know absolutely that I would fall back into my old ways of doing things without batting an eye.
 
i don’t know about your priest, but ours always speaks about the danger of sin, he speaks about confession, hell, Purgatory, and you name it. he doesn’t leave anything important out.
 
Soooo glad to see this coming from our wonderful Pope Benedict. 🙂
 
My priest never discusses sin, and he has de-emphasized confession more and more. He keeps whittling down the time and making it more inconvenient.
 
TraditionalCath said:
i don’t know about your priest, but ours always speaks about the danger of sin, he speaks about confession, hell, Purgatory, and you name it. he doesn’t leave anything important out.
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I haven’t heard anything remotely like this since I was in high school. Closest we’ve ever gotten to sin, confession, hell, purgatory was a homily about 6 months ago about foriveness and the absolute necessity of it.😦
 
Haven’t heard sin mentioned from the pulpit in a very long time. I did hear one priest explain why the two hours a week for confessions in our parish with three priests was being cut to a single hour. He said, “Confession is a ‘minor sacrament’.”
It is good to hear that Papa Ratzi is trying to turn the tide, and apparently with some success. In the parish where I now live, it is not unusual to have two or three priests with long lines, even though sometimes the weekly confessions are cancelled with no notice.
 
Our Msgr. frequently mentions sin and confession in his homilies, and there is a reminder in every bulletin that only those who are properly spiritually prepared should receive Communion.

He hears confessions two days a week and there is always a long line.

We had a visiting Opus Dei priest one Sunday and after his homily on sin I noticed that many more people than usual refrained from receiving Communion.
 
Roslyn said:
Papa Ratzi?
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Affectionate term for Pope Benedict XVI- “Papa” from the Italian (Pope=Papa) and “Ratzi” from the Pope’s last name- Ratzinger. Thus, “Papa Ratzi”

Personally, the last parish I attended had a priest who professed to be “very humbled” when present at people’s confessions, yet had it scheduled for 1/2 a week, and once mentioned, in his homily, that it “wasn’t necessary”. 🤷

Both he and the father at my current parish speak much, much more about God’s love and mercy than sin. It’s too bad. It’s like my kids and lentils. They don’t like 'em, but they’re good for them. I’d rather be uncomfortable for the duration of a homily than for all eternity.
 
Our priest and deacons mention both sin and confession often. A few years ago, I started teaching Sunday school at my parish. I make it a point to mention the need for confession almost every week. For three years, my classes have been the only ones where EVERY student received the sacrament when it was offered (each class has a designated Sunday, and it is offered to all students each week). THe age group I teach: tenth grade. I impress upon them the understanding that every one of us sins and needs the help that confession offeres. So far, so good.

By the way, when I went to the training class at the diocese office, we were told NOT to tell the kids that they “had” to go or “needed” to go. This was not a directive from our Bishop, but from a “psychologist” I am so far in violation of that statement. My pastor and DRE know that I do this, and they encourage it!
 
Does anyone know on what information they based the statement, “Private confession, which arose in monasteries in the seventh century, became mandatory for Christians in 1215.” This seems to imply that confession was not mandatory prior to 1215.
 
The operative word here is “private”. Before that time, confession and sometimes heavy penance were very public.
 
Roslyn said:
Papa Ratzi?
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Rather endearing, even if it does make me giggle a bit. 😃

Still, what a lovely man - he deserves every bit of respect and love we have, and perhaps a warm cuddly nickname as well. 😉
 
mommyof4 said:
Sin never goes out of style, but confession is undergoing a revival.

This February at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI instructed priests to make confession a top priority. U.S. bishops have begun promoting it in diocesan newspapers, mass mailings and even billboard ads. And in a dramatic turnaround, some Protestant churches are following suit. This summer, the second-largest North American branch of the Lutheran Church passed a resolution supporting the rite, which it had all but ignored for more than 100 years.

online.wsj.com/article/SB119033883026834766.html?mod=fpa_editors_picks
Click to expand...
Our local Church did lots of stories in the bulletin, it was also mentioned during Mass. One thing that I think helped is that they held an informative “learning session” so that people who had not gone in years could refamiliarize themselves with the sacrament.

Nohome
 
Nohome said:
Our local Church did lots of stories in the bulletin, it was also mentioned during Mass. One thing that I think helped is that they held an informative “learning session” so that people who had not gone in years could refamiliarize themselves with the sacrament.

Nohome
Click to expand...
What a wonderful idea!
 
mommyof4 said:
What a wonderful idea!
Click to expand...
It was actually a rather entertaining exercize. They did some role playing where the priest played himself and a very well respected member of the parish confessed his sins. They both had scripts and the sins were things you would NEVER expect from this guy in 100 years. He blushed as he read them and everyone, including the priest, laughed. The priest then told the participants that he never laughs during confession which got more laughs.

I can’t say if this got more people to go, but I’m sure it would be useful for someone who had abondoned the practice years ago.

Nohome
 
Nohome said:
It was actually a rather entertaining exercize. They did some role playing where the priest played himself and a very well respected member of the parish confessed his sins. They both had scripts and the sins were things you would NEVER expect from this guy in 100 years. He blushed as he read them and everyone, including the priest, laughed. The priest then told the participants that he never laughs during confession which got more laughs.

I can’t say if this got more people to go, but I’m sure it would be useful for someone who had abondoned the practice years ago.

Nohome
Click to expand...
How innovative and charming. He sounds like a good pastor.
 
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