Harder and harder to find confession times...WHAT DO YOU THINK?

[ak85]

Long time reader, first time poster so pardon me if this has been debated before. However, several years ago when I met my current wife I began “relearning” my faith and have since been much closer to God and the church. Since this time I have found that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is extremely important in my own spiritual life.

Nonetheless, I’m curious what confession scheduling is like in parishes around the country where you all are from. Here in Connecticut it seems as though the only time confession is offered is Saturdays or the dreaded by appointment. When I listen to daily mass on Sirius at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC I hear them advertise daily confession before each mass…Then I scramble through parish websites around here and confessions are only on Saturdays. Usually during the weekends I try to hit the outdoors so Saturdays I’m all over the place and I would really like to avoid visiting a different priest every time I go to confession.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic. God Bless,

 

[Yellow_Belle]

Nonetheless, I’m curious what confession scheduling is like in parishes around the country where you all are from. QUOTE]

My parish offers confession on weekdays from 10.30 am until 1.00 pm, and from 3 to 4pm. On Saturdays, from 11.00 am until 1.30pm and from 3.30pm until 5.45pm. And before you ask, yes, there is always a priest there at those times!

 

[Joe_5859]

Congrats on your first post!

I think it depends where you are at. In my experience, Confession is far more widely available now than it used to be. Growing up, I don’t know that there even was a regular Confession time at my parish (and it was a decent size parish). Now, it seems that any parish I go to has Confession at least once a week (and, as you say, “by appointment” ).

I have been fortunate in that the places I have lived in the last 12 years have had Confession pretty much every day. A lot of it has to do with (1) the demand for Confession and (2) the number of priests. When you live in a place where each priest seems to have two or more parishes, it’s hard for them to schedule Confession more than once a week, particularly when they hardly have anyone take advantage of the scheduled time to begin with.

You might try talking to one of the priests in your area and mentioning the idea of a Wednesday 7-8pm Confession time slot. Ask him to just try it out and see how it goes. Then, make sure to go there and get as many people as you can to go as well. Put the word out. If people want it, I’m sure any good priest would be more than happy to accommodate.

 

[ak85]

By the way the time slot in my parish and other parishes around here is only 30 minutes…Fortunately I haven’t seen any “clustered” churches around here (with one Priest serving several churches) and pray this is still the case a few years down the line. When I visited Poland last year it seems as though certain churches were open 24/7 for confession - just ring the bell :bigyikes:

 

[fabricdragon]

look for a Redemptorist Parish.
they are BIG on Confession times. our parish has confession twice daily, every day but Sunday…

as to the dreaded “by appt” i would say make an appt. and when you do, mention the difficulty in finding a confession time other than Saturday.

oh, and i am in Philly.

 

[Joe_5859]

By the way the time slot in my parish and other parishes around here is only 30 minutes…Fortunately I haven’t seen any “clustered” churches around here (with one Priest serving several churches) and pray this is still the case a few years down the line. When I visited Poland last year it seems as though certain churches were open 24/7 for confession :bigyikes:

30 minutes!? You can only get through half a dozen penitents in that time!

There are many underlying reasons for the dearth of Confession times. The larger society has lost the sense of sin, so, of course, who needs Confession if we’re all “good people” who will get to Heaven no matter what we do? Also, I think many priests believe (perhaps from experience) that most Catholics aren’t interested in Confession. Of course, the solution to this is catechesis on the sacraments.

I would recommend talking to a priest about it. The priests are, after all, kind of an important ingredient in the equation. It really should be a priority, and they should be promoting it. It can be sort of a vicious circle: The priest doesn’t offer many Confession times because no one comes and no one comes because there aren’t many Confession times.

I think that simply scheduling more Confession times (and being very visible in doing so) helps to convey to the parishioners the importance of Confession. Who could blame Johnny Pewsitter for thinking Confession isn’t that important when it is only on the schedule for a half hour a week. On the other hand, imagine the impact of looking in the bulletin to find that Confession is offered everyday (like Yellow Belle’s parish! )

Tell the priest that he can schedule the time and, if no one shows, he can get in his Liturgy of the Hours. He needs to pray for at least an hour a day anyway.

 

[ak85]

30 minutes!? You can only get through half a dozen penitents in that time!

There are many underlying reasons for the dearth of Confession times. The larger society has lost the sense of sin, so, of course, who needs Confession if we’re all “good people” who will get to Heaven no matter what we do? Also, I think many priests believe (perhaps from experience) that most Catholics aren’t interested in Confession. Of course, the solution to this is catechesis on the sacraments.

I would recommend talking to a priest about it. The priests are, after all, kind of an important ingredient in the equation. It really should be a priority, and they should be promoting it. It can be sort of a vicious circle: The priest doesn’t offer many Confession times because no one comes and no one comes because there aren’t many Confession times.

I think that simply scheduling more Confession times (and being very visible in doing so) helps to convey to the parishioners the importance of Confession. Who could blame Johnny Pewsitter for thinking Confession isn’t that important when it is only on the schedule for a half hour a week. On the other hand, imagine the impact of looking in the bulletin to find that Confession is offered everyday (like Yellow Belle’s parish! )

Tell the priest that he can schedule the time and, if no one shows, he can get in his Liturgy of the Hours. He needs to pray for at least an hour a day anyway.

You definitely bring up a good point about all of us being “good people”…I’m probably suffering from this as well thinking I don’t want to hassle a priest by scheduling a confession for a few little things when I can just wait until the next convenient time :\ …and then it’s like quicksand

 

[kooldood]

ak85, i go to a cluster (all the churches around here are clusters) and we have like 30-45minute long confessions. But you really can’t blame the priests. Almost nobody comes. It’s a shrinking diocese. . And in Mexico its like in Poland, confessions are 24/7 practically.

 

[fabricdragon]

You definitely bring up a good point about all of us being “good people”…I’m probably suffering from this as well thinking I don’t want to hassle a priest by scheduling a confession for a few little things when I can just wait until the next convenient time :\ …and then it’s like quicksand

even when it is offered daily, like here… it is easy to put it off, knowing that “i can go tomorrow” i have done it too much.

“Fool! do you not know that this very night shall your life be demanded of you”
right. confession is at 430 i thinnk…

 

[NPC]

I find that, generally, religious orders devote more time to confession times. In my home city there are Franciscans and Augustinians. The Franciscans offer confession for several hours each day (except Sunday, I think) - including from about 10am until 6pm on a Saturday. The Augustinians have confession for at least one hour from Monday to Saturday. I find it most convenient to go to the Franciscan church because of the fact that there is confession for so long each day - not just for the very limited slot that most churches provide. The cathedral church where I usually attend Mass offers the Sacrament of Reconciliation every weekday for half an hour before the evening Mass and also for one hour on a Saturday morning and another hour in the afternoon.

As far as I can tell, there are many churches which are only offering maybe 15 minutes before the vigil Mass for Sunday because the priests don’t see a huge need to devote any more time to the sacrament if there aren’t queues of people. The irony is - and the Franciscan church in my city bears witness to this - that if the sacrament is there frequently and for a significant period of time, people will avail of it, whereas if they’ve only a small window of 10 - 15 minutes before Mass they may be less likely to do so…

 

[PeterMuz]

Well, as far as the parishes in the Dallas area, I can’t think of a parish that does not have confessions both Saturday and one week night. One thing you can do is go to www.masstimes.org and they have confession times as well. You can search my zip code or city and state. I always double check the times with the parish website.

 

[kgbdman]

I live in a relatively small town, several parishes, but they are small by comparison to large city parishes. I know that my parish only offers the Saturday 4:00 to 4:45 pm schedule and “by appointment”. I don’t go there as a general rule; but the church I do go to I make an appointment. Trust me as frequently as I have to go, and with the urgency of the sacrament, 30 minutes isn’t a whole heck of a lot of time. Sometimes having the appointment eases the uneasiness of someone waiting and tapping his/her foot to make it in before the Vigil Mass begins.

I can tell you the priests I have called to see are all too happy to perform this Sacrament during any part of their day as it is their vocation; most are very willing and quite accommodating.

BTW, I do believe you reminded me to make an appointment. Thanks.

 

[katiebelle08]

I believe its the same way in Ohio, it seems like more and more priests don’t want to sit around in an empty confessional for hours and hours so they only give you a 1 hour block on a Sunday and a 15 minute time before each Mass on the weekends, and any other time by “the dreaded appointment.”

To be honest I have never gone to a priest and asked to go to confession, nor have I made an appointment or gone face to face. I’m sure it has a lot to do with my generation since I was born in 1989 who would really go to face to face now, unless they were on their death bed, at least that is how I feel. Although I know many people from my generation that feel the same way.

Okay back on topic in my church, in Ohio, we have confession available for an hour opening before Saturday night Mass, and 15 minutes before each Mass on Sunday. Either than those three times you have to have to have an appointment. I can’t say I agree with that because the Monsignor that comes for Mass Friday morning and Saturday morning also goes into the confessional for at least 20 minutes. I am personally more comfortable with him than any other priest but that’s probably because I’ve been confessing to him my entire life. Although this was customarily normal from the times the monsignor was ordained, the priests used to be in the confessional before every mass, at least the good ones.

Anyway I hope this helps. Just thought I would put in my thoughts.

Katie

Long time reader, first time poster so pardon me if this has been debated before. However, several years ago when I met my current wife I began “relearning” my faith and have since been much closer to God and the church. Since this time I have found that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is extremely important in my own spiritual life.

Nonetheless, I’m curious what confession scheduling is like in parishes around the country where you all are from. Here in Connecticut it seems as though the only time confession is offered is Saturdays or the dreaded by appointment. When I listen to daily mass on Sirius at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC I hear them advertise daily confession before each mass…Then I scramble through parish websites around here and confessions are only on Saturdays. Usually during the weekends I try to hit the outdoors so Saturdays I’m all over the place and I would really like to avoid visiting a different priest every time I go to confession.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic. God Bless,

 

[frenchbeatle]

I go to two different churches regularly. My home parish offers Confessions only 30 minutes before Saturday Mass, or by appt… The other church I go to is my “work” parish, the church I go to during my lunchbreaks at work. This parish offers confessions Monday-Saturday after the 7:00am Mass and Tuesdays and Thursdays after the noon Mass. I’ve gone after the noon Mass, and the lines are very long. Sometimes I’d wait 20 minutes before getting to the confessional! That always makes me so happy to see long lines.

BTW, I live in St. Paul, MN.

 

[Joe_5859]

even when it is offered daily, like here… it is easy to put it off, knowing that “i can go tomorrow” i have done it too much.

“Fool! do you not know that this very night shall your life be demanded of you”
right. confession is at 430 i thinnk…

Too true. There’s always an excuse not to go.

 

[dachsiemom]

Aside from the cathedral, I don’t know of any other parish in the diocese that has confessions any time except Sat. My parish has confessions 1 hour prior to the vigil mass. A couple parishes have confessions by appointment only. I don’t understand the “by appointment only” plan as I thought one should always have the option of behind the screen or face to face.

 

[Tracy24]

I’m in Canada but I too feel the frustration. My parish is clustered with 3 other parishes so basically we have one Priest trying to juggle 4 parishes and for the most part he handles it well.
Confession times are 30 minutes before each weekend Mass, this is 30 minutes per parish. I am a new Catholic and I make a point of going to confession at least once a month not only for my own spiritual well being but to also set an example for my 7 year old daughter so she can see mommy is going regularly and that it isn’t as scary as she has it built up to be in her mind(she had her first confession back in May and she is still not too sure about it all).

Anywhoo, I have always had to find Father before Mass and ask if he has time to hear my confession. This takes away my anonymity because he knows it is me on the other side of the screen. He has never come out and said anything but I feel like I am taking him away from his Mass preparations asking him to hear confession and I seem to always confess one particular sin regularly that is one I am struggling with but I feel like he may be getting frustrated with me because I keep falling into this one sin over and over again.

I am looking for another parish that has more flexibility in time schedules to make my confessions at.

 

[ibkc]

Around here, nearly all the parishes do “Saturday 4 - 5 PM or by appointment”, with a couple of notable exceptions which offer Wednesday 6 - 7 PM in addition to the Saturday. There is one parish that offers daily confession and confession before Sunday mass, and that is the one operated by the FSSP.

 

[jazzy_987]

I’m in Canada but I too feel the frustration. My parish is clustered with 3 other parishes so basically we have one Priest trying to juggle 4 parishes and for the most part he handles it well.
Confession times are 30 minutes before each weekend Mass, this is 30 minutes per parish. I am a new Catholic and I make a point of going to confession at least once a month not only for my own spiritual well being but to also set an example for my 7 year old daughter so she can see mommy is going regularly and that it isn’t as scary as she has it built up to be in her mind(she had her first confession back in May and she is still not too sure about it all).

Anywhoo, I have always had to find Father before Mass and ask if he has time to hear my confession. This takes away my anonymity because he knows it is me on the other side of the screen. He has never come out and said anything but I feel like I am taking him away from his Mass preparations asking him to hear confession and I seem to always confess one particular sin regularly that is one I am struggling with but I feel like he may be getting frustrated with me because I keep falling into this one sin over and over again.

I am looking for another parish that has more flexibility in time schedules to make my confessions at.

I’m in Canada too (Ontario…) and every church that I know of (nearby?) has 30-60 minutes on Saturday for confession. So I’m looking as well. It’s not just anonymity for me, but I’m very shy , and I get anxious easily talking to most people.

 

[acadian]

My parish has had the same schedule for the handful of years that I have been a parishioner: Saturdays from 3:00 - 3:30 and “15 minutes before daily Mass”. Daily Mass is at 6:30 a.m. three days a week. I never thought I would be able to conscious enough at that time of the morning to put together a coherent confession, but God surprises me.

First, though, I had to figure out what “15 minutes before daily Mass” actually meant. What it means at my parish is that the priest enters the confessional at 6:15 and exits at about 6:23 to prepare for 6:30 Mass.

I seldom have had to wait in line either on Saturday afternoon or in the early mornings. I always feel a sense of accomplishment just for making it during the alloted window of time. To be fair, though, when I make up my mind that I am going, I have never been disappointed by a priest not being there or by not making it in time.

We are a small parish in Louisiana with maybe 30 or so regular daily Mass goers. We have one priest, our pastor, who is also head of the Diocesean Tribunal and chancellor of our parochial school.

Can’t imagine ever making an appointment for confession, though I’m perfectly fine with the face to face aspect.