Do you ever feel like you're wasting your Priest's time at confession?

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Sometimes I do.

Priests are so overworked in our area. I really don’t normally have mortal sins to confess.

Should I cut 'em some slack or what?
 
No! That’s part of the job description. But, if you are, say, constantly making outside appointments for confession of venial sins, that might be tying up some of his time. If you’re showing up at the regularly scheduled time for confessions, where else was the priest going to be? As long as you’re not shoving little old ladies out of the way to get there, of course. 😛 A priest’s time is valuable and they are busy, but hearing confessions is an important part of their duties.
 
Any priest worth his salt knows the value of confession, even for venial sins, and should be happy to take a small amount of his time to grant the incredibly sublime gift of Absolution. Just remember the rule of thumb for Confession: be blunt, be brief, begone!
 
Not one bit. This is part of their vocation, to administer this Sacrament. They do so prayfully and reverently. At least, this has been my experience so far.
 
Never felt like I was wasting his time. But once I remember lining up for confession in plenty of time. Several people ahead of me took longer than usual so by the time it was my turn, the priest asked me if I “had to go” or “could it wait?” Mass was about to start. I wanted to say " Yes I “had” to go. That’s what confession was for" but instead I said “I’d be ok 'til next time” Was just a wee bit annoyed.
~ Kathy ~
 
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Katie1723:
Never felt like I was wasting his time. But once I remember lining up for confession in plenty of time. Several people ahead of me took longer than usual so by the time it was my turn, the priest asked me if I “had to go” or “could it wait?” Mass was about to start. I wanted to say " Yes I “had” to go. That’s what confession was for" but instead I said “I’d be ok 'til next time” Was just a wee bit annoyed.

~ Kathy ~
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At the Church I live closest to, confession is from 4-5pm on Saturday. If you get in line after 4:15 you can forget it.

People standing in line find out which priest is in which confessional, then see who they want. One of the Priests likes it short and sweet, while the other will take all the time you need no matter how many people are in line.
 
Tonight is our Parish Penance Service-I am so nervous-I ask the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to any sin that would separate me from God. How can that ever be a waste of time? Just the grace that you receive will make the Priest more joyfull. Confession is not ever a waste of time, for you or the Priest.
 
Rebecca New:
Tonight is our Parish Penance Service-I am so nervous-I ask the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to any sin that would separate me from God. How can that ever be a waste of time? Just the grace that you receive will make the Priest more joyfull. Confession is not ever a waste of time, for you or the Priest.
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Rebecca, you are wonderful!

And just a reminder from my wonderful Pastor…
The Priest does not receive the Grace without YOU. It takes a confessor and a confessee (is that a word?) to make the Sacrament.

You have the right attitude!
 
One time I went to confession in a different parish. It was the oddest situation I ever experienced in a confessional. The priest
was looking at the crossword puzzle page of the newspaper
throughout the confession and said very little. Other members
of my family said the same thing. We haven’t gone back
there for confession since. What would you think if this
happened to you?
 
In our parish, confession is scheduled for after-Saturday Mass at 7pm. (I don’t know why not before Mass???) Anyway, after Mass, Father was just hanging out with some folks in the pews, so after several minutes, I just asked if he could hear our confessions (my husband and sister-in-law were with me). After making a face and rolling his eyes, he said, “yeah” in a really beligerent tone and walked away to do something or other before he came back to hear our confessions. I was so upset I turned to my husband and said, “Forget it, let’s go. I’d rather confess to someone who wants to do his job.” Did I mention I have a real temper problem? I was absolutely furious–I even forgot and left my veil and coat on the pew when I was leaving. (I remembered when I got outside and it was 25 degrees out.)

My husband said, “Let’s just do it now.” He’s a saint, btw, and even said, “Did you confess getting so angry just now?”:o Anyway, some priests act like you’re asking for a car loan or something when you ask for a confession where I live. That’s what I get for livin in the Bible Belt, I reckon.
 
Do I ever feel like I’m wasting the Priest’s time at confession? Only when the priest keeps interupting and telling me to hurry up and get on with it.
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rachelleah:
In our parish, confession is scheduled for after-Saturday Mass at 7pm. (I don’t know why not before Mass???) Anyway, after Mass, Father was just hanging out with some folks in the pews, so after several minutes, I just asked if he could hear our confessions (my husband and sister-in-law were with me). After making a face and rolling his eyes, he said, “yeah” in a really beligerent tone and walked away to do something or other before he came back to hear our confessions. I was so upset I turned to my husband and said, “Forget it, let’s go. I’d rather confess to someone who wants to do his job.” Did I mention I have a real temper problem? I was absolutely furious–I even forgot and left my veil and coat on the pew when I was leaving. (I remembered when I got outside and it was 25 degrees out.)

My husband said, “Let’s just do it now.” He’s a saint, btw, and even said, “Did you confess getting so angry just now?”:o Anyway, some priests act like you’re asking for a car loan or something when you ask for a confession where I live. That’s what I get for livin in the Bible Belt, I reckon.
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So, did you go to confession with him or did you confess with someone else? Did you confess the fact that you became angry with him because he was neglecting his priestly duties?
 
NEVER feel that you are wasting the priest’s time (unless you are overly-scrupulous and are confessing things that aren’t at all sinful). It’s the priest’s duty to hear your confession.
Love,
Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)
 
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rachelleah:
In our parish, confession is scheduled for after-Saturday Mass at 7pm. (I don’t know why not before Mass???)

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May I suggest a couple of reasons why confession after Mass is “better” for the priest than confession before Mass.
  1. A lot of priests have a ritual they go through before Mass. One of my priest friends actually has a whole huge litany of preparation prayers in a picture frame set in glass resting on the table/cabinet in the sacristy. And before Mass he needs time to vest up and then perform the preparation ritual.
  2. A lot of priests, even very senior priests, are extremely anxious before Mass ( and very relaxed afterwards). They are anxious because they want to say the Mass perfectly. As an adult I have served at 500 Masses very close up to the altar (very small chapel). And from more than a few feet away, you couldn’t tell anything, but from five feet away, you could see the priest’s hands shaking as he followed the words in the book with his hand. He didn’t want to say one thing wrong or miss a word anywhere. This applies to every word of every prayer. There is also a lot of flipping pages back and forth, which drives them crazy at some times. And sometimes it happens that they get the wrong day’s prayer, despite all the previous preparation. The book mark ribbons must be set right and they do get messed up.
They also need to deliver a homily and many priests spend a day preparing and memorizing their talk.

Confessions before Mass can be distracting to many priests.

Once Mass is over, they are VERY relaxed.

Observe the next few times at Mass; see if the priest is, in fact, more relaxed after Mass.
 
Sir Knight:
Do I ever feel like I’m wasting the Priest’s time at confession? Only when the priest keeps interupting and telling me to hurry up and get on with it.

So, did you go to confession with him or did you confess with someone else? Did you confess the fact that you became angry with him because he was neglecting his priestly duties?
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Yep and Yep. Glad I did too.
 
This is so funny. I just asked my husband this question the other day. I have been to see my priest twice, two weeks between each visit. Sometimes I wonder if I am wasting his time, but I had a lot to tell him & I love listening to what he has to say. I feel so much better when I leave! I’m already wanting to go back and talk to him again. Maybe that’s a little too often, though. I don’t know.
I’m in RCIA right now & I just love going to the class & I love listening to our priest talk about things. I feel like I"m addicted to it! :eek:
 
I don’t think that confessions should be trivialized. Like Fr. George Rutler of EWTN said, venial sins are the **second ** worst things we can do.

I don’t think I ever worried about wasting a priest’s time. Some priests have listened very intently to what I said, and some have given me some interesting advice.

I guess I’m more interested in the light penances that I have been given.

I try to make those five Hail Marys the most sincere that I can. I seem to be constantly distracted during prayer, to begin with.

I think the value of art in churches is to help us focus a couple senses on prayer.
 
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BayCityRickL:
I don’t think that confessions should be trivialized. Like Fr. George Rutler of EWTN said, venial sins are the **second ** worst things we can do.

I don’t think I ever worried about wasting a priest’s time. Some priests have listened very intently to what I said, and some have given me some interesting advice.

I guess I’m more interested in the light penances that I have been given.

I try to make those five Hail Marys the most sincere that I can. I seem to be constantly distracted during prayer, to begin with.

I think the value of art in churches is to help us focus a couple senses on prayer.
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As any good confessor will tell a penitent, the continuing repetition of specific venial sins points to the weaknesses in one’s spiritual and religious makeup and is a 'signpost" that to ignore this weakness is to head down the road into more serious sin. As JPII used to comment when he spoke about the sacrament of Reconciliation, it is about much more than running in with a laundry list of sins and “unloading”, it is about spiritual advice, about reflection on the root causes of our weakness and sin, together with concrete intentions and a plan to try and improve overall.

Confessing ones sins cannot, it seems to me, be considered a waste of anyone’s time. It’s a necessity and I suspect God never tires of a penitent coming to Him and saying, I am sorry and I firmly promise to amend my life.

And in addition to art, the music and the homilies all call us to deeper reflection of the wide difference between what we are and what we are capable of being. They call us to make that bridge from this world and connect with the next in a very deep and meaningful way.
 
As a priest, one of my greatest joys is administering this sacrament. I’d encourage anyone to avail themselves and would never consider a confession to be a waste of my time. That’s what I’m there for! I’m sure the evil one would use any excuse to discourage people from going to confession, but the grace of God is worth it! Even a supposedly ‘trivial’ confession is good for the soul.

A priest who would consider the hearing of confessions to be a waste of time is a sad individual indeed. Administering the sacraments is at the heart of our vocation, so please don’t feel that it is a waste of our time.

Gods bless,
Fr Matt
 
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