Confession time over, and no time for my confession

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oneseeker2

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This happens at this parish regularly. There are more people in line in confession than there is time to hear them. If I was not able to confess, can I still take the Eucharist tomorrow. It’s not my fault that the priest sent 5-6 of us away.

Oneseeker2
 
oneseeker2 said:
This happens at this parish regularly. There are more people in line in confession than there is time to hear them. If I was not able to confess, can I still take the Eucharist tomorrow. It’s not my fault that the priest sent 5-6 of us away.

Oneseeker2
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If you are aware of mortal sin, no you should not receive the Eucharist.

Go early and ask the priest to hear your confession before mass, otherwise refrain from communion.

Also approach the pastor at another time and ask him to expand confession times or bring he request to your parish council.
 
It’s unfortunate the times for confession at your parish are so limited. It sounds like you either need to get there early or go to another parish for the sacrament. As 1KE said, let your pastor know that there is a need.
 
oneseeker2 said:
More than a dozen views and no answer?
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Patience, much? Some of us can view but have a hard time posting from our phones. Some just don’t have the answer. Some don’t want to attempt an answer and risk being wrong.

1ke was right (as she often is). Go to Mass. If you are aware of mortal sin on your soul, refrain from receiving the Eucharist. A Catholic is still obligated to participate at Mass on Holy Days of Obligation (including Sundays) whether they can receive Communion or not.

I can feel some of your frustration at not being able to go to Confession. There were about 4 people turned away at my church this afternoon. After Father had heard Confessions from 3:00 pm to 3:55 pm he had to leave a few people behind in order to ready himself for the 4:00 pm Mass. Since he was due at another church in the parish for a 5:30 pm Mass he could not hear those remaining confessions after Mass. I always get to church at least 30-45 minutes early so that I can be one of the first in line.
 
If you are aware of any mortal sin committed; refrain from Communion until Confession is attended.
 
if you have any mortal sins then ABSOLUTELY NOT.

also, I’m not sure about where you live, but you can go on your diocese website and look up all the mass times and confession times for every catholic church in your surrounding area. You can also call your priest and arrange an appointment.
 
oneseeker2 said:
This happens at this parish regularly. There are more people in line in confession than there is time to hear them. If I was not able to confess, can I still take the Eucharist tomorrow. It’s not my fault that the priest sent 5-6 of us away.

Oneseeker2
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I went somewhere Thursday to go to confession at the time they normally have it and this was scheduled in the bulletin at that time well I was the first one in line I usually am and I prefer to go during the weekdays and would you know it? The lady told us the priest said that he wasn’t going to hear confessions until after Mass because of a penance service and I could not do it at that time so I left and was not able to go to confession until today. I used to make appointments to go to confession a lot because that was the best way for me to get to confession. If I am knowingly in a state of mortal sin I will not receive the Eucharist but that doesn’t usually happen. I can remember a time when I went to confession, and there were so many people there that the priest had to celebrate Mass before he could get to all of us and he told us that if we were already there before mass started he would hear our confessions after Mass and he did. I stayed for Mass it was a Vigil Mass, I did not receive the Eucharist and went to confession afterwards. I don’t know your schedule but generally what I do is if I can I try to go during the weekdays but I don’t know how many places you have available around you to hear confession. Honestly a few weeks ago I just walked into the church and asked the priest if he was hearing confessions and he said he can and that was it.
 
It’s tough, because there are so many demands on a priest’s time. I feel for you, seriously. Honestly, the biggest problem with confession today is that most parishes hold their confession times around the same time. Every once in a while, you’ll get an outlier, a place that starts confessions at like 2:00. But most places seem to have confessions starting somewhere around 3 or 4, depending on when the Saturday evening Mass starts. As such, it is often quite difficult to get to another parish’s confessions if you have been waiting in line for confession. If it’s quite often that you seem to be toward the end of the line, though, try to get to confession early - especially if the parish remains unlocked during the day. And do check around. Even though most parishes have their confessions at around the same time, there might be a couple exceptions. There may be parishes that offer confessions between consecutive Masses on Sunday (some even have a 2nd priest available for confessions during Mass). Some parishes have confessions available on weekdays/weeknights (there’s a parish in Rio Rancho, NM - close to Albuquerque - that, at least in the past, had confessions available every day of the week!). Regardless, be thankful that you belong to a parish in which the faithful take going to confession seriously. In many parishes, priests often end up spending the entire time set aside for confessions alone in the confessional with few (or even no) people coming to confession.
 
Sorry for being impatient waiting for a reply, and thanks for the answers. One thing that I am finding frustrating is not being able to take communion bc I was turned away from confession. It’s like I’m being punished for the lack of time. :mad: After all, I tried to confess, and I can’t take the sacrament. 😦 It doesn’t seem right or fair. It’s like I’m being blocked from that special closeness with God through no fault of mine. I can’t imagine that is pleasing to the Lord.
To respond to other posts, this is not my usual parish, just conveniently located.
Oneseeker2
 
The only thing I can suggest is that you look at that situation, not having your confession heard plus not being able to receive, as part of your penance. Use that as a time to gain merit and offer it for your intentions or perhaps for the priest who may feel pulled this way and that trying to take care of many needs. Keep in mind too, that when you make the decision not to receive out of respect for the Eucharist, you can repair for those who receive when they have mortal sin on their soul and haven’t been to confession in years. This is a time of merit and an opportunity to gain graces. God bless.
 
oneseeker2 said:
This happens at this parish regularly. There are more people in line in confession than there is time to hear them. If I was not able to confess, can I still take the Eucharist tomorrow. It’s not my fault that the priest sent 5-6 of us away.

Oneseeker2
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Too bad, especially in the Year of Mercy. This is, alas, a common problem. Try to see if your priest can schedule confessions for a longer period of time, or on another day of the week. If not, and this becomes a habitual problem, you might want to find another parish, and write perhaps write to the bishop. Priests must make time to hear confessions.

Benedicat Deus,
Latinitas
 
oneseeker2 said:
Sorry for being impatient waiting for a reply, and thanks for the answers. One thing that I am finding frustrating is not being able to take communion bc I was turned away from confession. It’s like I’m being punished for the lack of time. :mad: After all, I tried to confess, and I can’t take the sacrament. 😦 It doesn’t seem right or fair. It’s like I’m being blocked from that special closeness with God through no fault of mine. I can’t imagine that is pleasing to the Lord.
To respond to other posts, this is not my usual parish, just conveniently located.
Oneseeker2
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It’s really too bad you were not able to confess your sins. I’m going to say something that might not come across the way it’s meant. Your comment “It’s like I’m being blocked from that special closeness with God through no fault of mine” really struck me wrong. First, did someone make you commit your sins? Or was it you? Second, your sin has already put some distance between you and God. And your comment “I can’t imagine that is pleasing to the Lord” really hit me hard. Do you think your sin was pleasing to our Lord? Perhaps we take confession for granted. We sin (distance ourselves from God) and know that confession (at our convenience) will absolve us of those sins, and then we can receive the Holy Eucharist.

I know how special receiving the Holy Eucharist is to me. And I am truly sorry you won’t be able to receive.

God Bless You.
 
some parishes have long lines of people waiting to go to confession and others there is no wait at all

try to go as soon as early as possible in a parish that has no lines
 
Sometimes I’ll dash to the next suburb to attend Reconciliation there if there is a long line.
 
oneseeker2 said:
One thing that I am finding frustrating is not being able to take communion bc I was turned away from confession. It’s like I’m being punished for the lack of time. :mad: After all, I tried to confess, and I can’t take the sacrament. 😦 It doesn’t seem right or fair. It’s like I’m being blocked from that special closeness with God through no fault of mine. I can’t imagine that is pleasing to the Lord.
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But it is your fault. You are being ‘blocked’ because you have separated yourself from God through your own choice to commit a mortal sin.

Holy Communion is not something that we should feel ‘entitled’ to. If you have to refrain from receiving Communion then make a Spiritual Communion, but don’t go blaming anyone but yourself for the state of your soul.

There is no requirement to receive Holy Communion at every Mass, nor is this something we should feel entitled to.

We ought to be more concerned about dying in the state of unconfessed mortal sin than in the prospect of not being able to receive Communion because of this.
 
oneseeker2 said:
Sorry for being impatient waiting for a reply, and thanks for the answers. One thing that I am finding frustrating is not being able to take communion bc I was turned away from confession. It’s like I’m being punished for the lack of time. :mad: After all, I tried to confess, and I can’t take the sacrament. 😦 It doesn’t seem right or fair. It’s like I’m being blocked from that special closeness with God through no fault of mine. I can’t imagine that is pleasing to the Lord.
To respond to other posts, this is not my usual parish, just conveniently located.
Oneseeker2
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Offer it up.
 
Just to clear up a few things:

Yes, I realize that my sin is my fault and no one forced me to do so
Yes, I realize I am not entitled to anything
Yes, I realize that the bigger concern is not to die with unconfessed mortal sin
(which by the way is why I stood in line for a half hour at confession)!

I do still feel it unfair that when I stand in line for a half hour and don’t receive the possibility of confession that I am not able to receive. I did exactly what I was supposed to do. I feel he could have at least offered an absolution to those of us still standing there. The former associate priest of that parish, and a priest at a different parish have both done so. This priest didn’t seem to care.

oneseeker2

P.S. some of the snarkier comments is the big reason I don’t post very often. I don’t particularly like the feeling of being spanked on the hand or having a virtual finger wagged in my face simply for asking a question.
 
oneseeker2 said:
Just to clear up a few things:

Yes, I realize that my sin is my fault and no one forced me to do so
Yes, I realize I am not entitled to anything
Yes, I realize that the bigger concern is not to die with unconfessed mortal sin
(which by the way is why I stood in line for a half hour at confession)!

I do still feel it unfair that when I stand in line for a half hour and don’t receive the possibility of confession that I am not able to receive. I did exactly what I was supposed to do. I feel he could have at least offered an absolution to those of us still standing there. The former associate priest of that parish, and a priest at a different parish have both done so. This priest didn’t seem to care.

oneseeker2

P.S. some of the snarkier comments is the big reason I don’t post very often. I don’t particularly like the feeling of being spanked on the hand or having a virtual finger wagged in my face simply for asking a question.
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Hey oneseeker2,

I think we need to try to be patient with each other when communicating using only words and a few emoticons and assume the best in others. I think most people will react to what we type up having read things literally unless other explanation is given. So, for example, you originally posted:

“It’s like I’m being blocked from that special closeness with God through no fault of mine. I can’t imagine that is pleasing to the Lord.”

then later:

“Yes, I realize that my sin is my fault and no one forced me to do so.”

Just reading the words you wrote, I think it would be natural for someone to respond that while it wasn’t your fault that confession was ended before your turn (I think that is what you were saying at first) it was your fault for putting yourself in the position to need confession in the first place. (that is a point some others noted). Both are correct, I think.

At any rate, I understand your frustration. More than once I’ve been in a line for confession and the priest has to leave right when it is my turn to enter!! Ahh!! I know the frustration you feel.

If we are truly repentant of our sins, but were unable to obtain sacramental confession:
  1. No, we should not receive the Eucharist
  2. Yes, we can have confidence that God will forgive us of our sins and if we should happen to die in a state of “repented of mortal sin” (prior to sacramental confession) we can still obtain eternal life.
It is a frustrating situation but I don’t agree with you that it is unfair. I think we should leave that situation more upset with ourselves than anything else and strive to live more faithfully to Jesus.

Finally, I commend you for taking the reception of the Eucharist in a worthy manner seriously. It seems like many people do not do that these days.
 
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