How can people be drawn back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

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njlisa

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Dear Friends in Christ:

I was received into the Catholic Church 27 years ago. I readily accepted the Sacrament of Reconciliation with great joy. When the priest pardons my sin, I’m ready to start over with confidence in God’s forgiveness.

Over the years, as I understand it, some Catholics no longer embrace this sacrament. What can be done to bring Catholics to the joy of Reconciliation?
 
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Most people who self-identify as Catholic do not actually practice by taking part in the sacraments. I don’t know if there are statistics showing how many Mass-going Catholics also go to confession, but I would guess there’s a high correlation. So the real question becomes how do you get Catholics to move from a cultural identification to a real practice of their faith.

I think it requires a knowledge of and connection to Jesus. If someone has a real, life-giving relationship with the Lord, the rest follows.
 
Remind your fellow Catholics that the Sacrament of Reconciliation a great personal gift of Christ. That it brings
growth in faith and friendship with the Lord, if you approach it with a repentant heart.
 
I sometimes wonder if it is due to the shortage of Priests; although it may also be that the church wants us to focus more on the positive sides of our faith than the negative.

Frankly, I love the sacrament of confession, and I wish it were more pronounced. But some people don’t feel this way. I’ll tell my Mom to go, and she’ll tell me she doesn’t have to go because she hasn’t done anything wrong. My response is - “I would go every day, if I could - because a sacrament is an outward sign that confers grace - and I’ll take all the goodness and graces I can get!” A lot more people seem to see things more her way. I obviously can’t judge my Mom or anyone else, but I dont see why people wouldn’t want all the grace they can get.
 
My priest would kind of joke, “free confessions this week.” It is sad that most Catholics can’t even take a few minutes out of their day.
 
I think there is much to be said about a lack of sense of personal sin.

If you do not have sins to actually confess (or something worth confessing that may or may not be a sin), you have no reason to go and seek absolution for those sins.

I rarely feel prepared for Reconciliation when it’s offered, and I have yet to find an examination of conscience that speaks to my heart in a way to convict me of personal sin.

If everything we do can be rationalized to a societal behavior, or a conditioned response, or a result of illness - somehow not a free choice, then what sin is there to confess?

EDIT: I’m not saying I’m not a sinner, or trying to be proud or arrogant. I’m probably the blissfully-idiotic-sinner. I just don’t often know what to say. I’ve been told that some things aren’t a sin before. Why waste my time or the confessor’s if I don’t know what to say? There are others in line.
 
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When I’ve done something wrong, it weighs on my conscience. I’m sad, and I want to get back on the right path. Jesus gave his Apostles the authority to forgive sins. And when I go to confession, I am linked to Our Savior’s forgiveness.
 
You can confess venial sins, and normally we don’t have to dig very deep to find those. Were you rude to someone? Did you skip daily prayers or pray them without proper attention? Did you gossip? Did you spend Sunday shopping or doing unnecessary work that could have waited till Monday? Did you goof off at work to the point of not fulfilling your responsibilities? The list goes on.

If you don’t see your sins, pray sincerely that the Lord would show you your soul the way He sees is. And He will. Also, the graces you receive in confession help you recognize your sins more easily.
 
How long a period of time is that? (Did it take to triple)
 
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I guess my post was to give an anecdotal response to “How can people be drawn back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation?”

If you don’t see a reason to go (personal sin), you won’t go. Draw people back by showing them, or helping them uncover, why they need to go.

Most of the recent attempts I have heard to draw people back focus on emotions. It might be true that some people feel just SO WONDERFUL after going. I have rarely, if ever, felt that affect. Most of the time it’s more like “Whew. That’s over. I’m doing the penance. Box checked.” And, that was after considerable soul-searching and fretting to find something to confess.

It might be that testimonials that preach how great they felt afterwards ring hollow to those who try it again and just don’t feel the same emotion. It can actually become a future disincentive.
 
Definitely, emotions have nothing to do with it. I’ve never had much of an emotional response after confession either.
 
Sounds like one of the lords heavy hitters right there. My confessions are scattered all across the USA but I’ve met awesome priests who helped me crush quite a few dozen sins at a time.
 
I have similar feelings about the first priests I had at my church as a child. All of my sacraments were done there, alter server, the whole nine yards! One died and I was an altar server at all 3 of his funeral/memorial services (yes he was so loved he had 3 services), and he taught me how to be an altar server. The judo master himself, lol

Those days are so far gone, turn on the radio and look out your window and the world is nothing like it once was. But we can’t dwell on the past.

What I can say about the topic here “how can we get people into that confessional” is that step 1, tell them it’s taking the dunce hat off not keeping it on.

That misconception is feral. It isn’t going to the principles office, it’s getting suspended from school without punishment or illness. People have it ALL WRONG…

I thought about this the other day, as to why I’m not a priest… because I’d hold up a lighter and say, “it’s this or confession, what’s harder, let’s be real here” lol
 
When the Church gets back to fulfilling the key mission given to the Catholic Church by Christ…the salvation of souls. The identification and condemnation of sin is necessary in carrying out that mission. Doesn’t seem to be too much of that going on …many have promoted themselves from tax collector to accountant looking for ways to say sin is not a sin…loophole catholics
 
By the preaching of Mathew 16:13-20 and showing the church did not make this up. Also by talking about the number of reality shows where people embarassingly and publically want to seek forgiveness and acknowledge wrong so the need for a sacrament in a private setting is much better, more healing, and more relavant. During the reconciliation services this can should be done and also in Lent and Advent.
 
At the end of the Year of Mercy, I asked one of the +75 year old priests in the area if more people are going to Confession than before. His answer was that those who go to Confession go more often than before. Hopefully this will inspire more to go more regularly.

In my parish I can say that there are more people going compared to three years ago but on the other hand we have had a lot of people move into the area as well. We have more Masses on weekdays and Sundays and there is always Confession offered before Mass.
 
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