If a person attempted reconciliation but the priest failed to show up?

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s.cono

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I pose this as a hypothetical question based on real events of the past two days:

Suppose a person wanted to make confession, before mass, on the day and hour posted in the bulletin, but on that day the priest failed to show up. He’s told that the deacon will be serving communion, but no confession would be available until tomorrow. So the person leaves, comes back the next day and the exact same thing happens. No priest, no confession. There would not be another opportunity for confession for three days, assuming the priest shows up that day.

In the mean time, if this person dies crossing the street on the way home, or at any other time before the three days pass, and he has mortal sin he wanted to confess, but due to the priest not being there, he couldn’t, is it on him, or on the priest who wasn’t there? Is he bound to go to hell or is he forgiven?

I know if it were me, I’d try real hard to make an act of perfect contrition. Traveling to attempt to get confession in a different town might increase your risk of having something bad happen to you.

I saw this happen to a guy yesterday and today at the adjacent parish where I attend mass on the two weekdays they offer it. I felt really bad for him. He looked troubled and was pacing back and forth in front of the reconciliation rooms for some time, before being informed the priest wasn’t coming. I don’t know why the priest wasn’t there these two days. It wasn’t mentioned by the deacon. Adoration was canceled as well.
 
If I were the guy… I would go online and look for somewhere else to go to confession if I was that distressed. It is not “on” the priest. That is not fair to even offer. The guy could also be killed in an accident on the way home from church after not going to confession, so to say traveling increases his chances of something bad happening is kind of ridiculous.
 
Of course it’s rather unlikely. That is why I posed this hypothetically. But anything could happen.

The next closest parish is 7 miles distant, but the same priest is the pastor there. I don’t mean any disrespect to the priest. He has a lot on his plate since they combined these two parishes.
 
Do you believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins, only to deny us salvation because of a “technical error” or a condition we couldn’t control? What we get in confession is absolution. It’s assurance that our sins our forgiven. But God can forgive the sins of anyone He sees fit. What do you think God would do in that situation?
 
I would try really hard for perfect contrition. That’s what I would personally do if I couldn’t find another venue.
 
s.cono said:
I would try really hard for perfect contrition.
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Perfect contrition will certainly tide you over in the meantime - and also allow you to receive the Eucharist until you can get to confession. That said, it’s important to take a step back and actually consider the purpose of the sacrament. We’re not saying sorry to God for His sake, we’re doing it for ours. God doesn’t need us to say sorry to Him - he already knows we’re sorry - instead, we’re saying sorry for our own sake - we need to hear it for ourselves. So by the same token, going to confession isn’t about avoiding God’s wrath and divine retribution (incidentally, that’s imperfect contrition) it’s about conversion - becoming, with the help of God’s grace the person He calls us to be, who He made us to be.
 
Thanks for that. I am ignorant in a lot of respects, having recently returned to the church after being away for 40 plus years. I re-read the question I posted and I can see where it looks like it might have come from a teenager. I didn’t mean any disrespect.
 
None taken! Reconciliation is a sadly misunderstood sacrament but, for what it’s worth, welcome home!
 
InThePew said:
Perfect contrition will certainly tide you over in the meantime - and also allow you to receive the Eucharist until you can get to confession.
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Really? That’s a new one on me. I always thought that perfect contrition would keep you from going to Hell should you drop dead before you can get to confession, but not that you were allowed to receive Holy Communion before you’d actually confessed and been absolved of your mortal sin.
 
Wait, do I get to decide where I think this person goes heaven or hell? Hmmm. I like the power of this!
 
Canon 916: those conscious of grave sin not yet confessed are not to receive Holy Communion “without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.”

No opportunity to confess would of course include the priest not showing up!
 
Yes, but I thought the “grave reason” basically meant you were in danger of death, like you were seriously ill or about to go into battle or something.

See for example this Catholic Answers apologist column addressing the question.


Your post is kind of leaving the impression that if somebody just has perfect contrition but the priest doesn’t show up for scheduled confessions that day (because he’s ill, his car broke down, he had to suddenly go give a dying person the last rites etc) then they can go ahead and receive communion.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
Your post is kind of leaving the impression that if somebody just has perfect contrition but the priest doesn’t show up for scheduled confessions that day (because he’s ill, his car broke down, he had to suddenly go give a dying person the last rites etc) then they can go ahead and receive communion.
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Fair point. There does need to be a grave reason, however “grave” in canon law means “serious” - so not just because you’d like to or because it would be nice to do it. At the same time, limiting it only to something as serious as “danger of death” would be going too far in the opposite direction. It’s not something though that’s easy to define beyond “serious,” and for good reason - what makes something grave depends can vary depending on the particular context.
 
There are times when I can’t make it to confession at our church, & honestly sometimes I wanna avoid our priest because while he can be the most sensitive of people, he can at times (I’ve been on the receiving end of it) very grumpy - even insensitive. I try to give him the benefit of the doubt thinking he may be having a bad day, but it does discourage me from seeking him out for confession.

On days when I can’t make it to our own parish or confession isn’t regularly scheduled for that day, there are other nearby parishes I can go to for Reconciliation if need be. Thankfully we have more than a few nearby…
 
My confession was delayed a couple weeks because of similar circumstances. People in Old Testament times did not have confession as we know it today. That does not mean they were condemned after death. Sailors on submarines go out on 6 month deployments, so they have no chance for the sacrament.

God’s ways are not our ways.
 
s.cono said:
I pose this as a hypothetical question based on real events of the past two days:

Suppose a person wanted to make confession, before mass, on the day and hour posted in the bulletin, but on that day the priest failed to show up. He’s told that the deacon will be serving communion, but no confession would be available until tomorrow. So the person leaves, comes back the next day and the exact same thing happens. No priest, no confession. There would not be another opportunity for confession for three days, assuming the priest shows up that day.

In the mean time, if this person dies crossing the street on the way home, or at any other time before the three days pass, and he has mortal sin he wanted to confess, but due to the priest not being there, he couldn’t, is it on him, or on the priest who wasn’t there? Is he bound to go to hell or is he forgiven?

I know if it were me, I’d try real hard to make an act of perfect contrition. Traveling to attempt to get confession in a different town might increase your risk of having something bad happen to you.

I saw this happen to a guy yesterday and today at the adjacent parish where I attend mass on the two weekdays they offer it. I felt really bad for him. He looked troubled and was pacing back and forth in front of the reconciliation rooms for some time, before being informed the priest wasn’t coming. I don’t know why the priest wasn’t there these two days. It wasn’t mentioned by the deacon. Adoration was canceled as well.
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Perfect contrition is a grace from God and every soul is given this grace prior to their death (the grace can be rejected but it is given to the soul).

It’s impossible for a soul to be damned as a result of an accident.
 
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If this person is seeking to confess with a contrite heart, assuming he needs to do so to be saved, God will infallibly ensure that he does. As Jesus promises:

Matt. 7:[7] Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you.

He elaborates on this elsewhere:

John 16:[24]…Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full.

The condition on His promise is to give what we seek is that it make our joy full, that is, it is good for our salvation (that’s what full joy is).

Secondly, He also desires all to be saved (see also 1: Tim 2:4):
Matt. 18:[11] For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. [12] What think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them should go astray: doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains, and go to seek that which is gone astray? [13] And if it so be that he find it: Amen I say to you, he rejoiceth more for that, than for the ninety-nine that went not astray. [14] Even so it is not the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
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Therefore, God grants us anything we seek if it is conducive to our salvation (in fact, if He ultimately denies what we seek it means not getting it is even better for our salvation). The Roman Catechism sums this up when discussing this principle of prayer:
For God will either grant what is asked, and thus they will obtain their wishes; or He will not grant it, and that will be a most certain proof that what is denied the good by Him is not conducive either to their interest or their salvation, since He is more desirous of their eternal welfare than they themselves.
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A contrite person on seeking confession is seeking sanctifying grace itself, therefore getting being absolved before death is always conducive to his salvation and the Lord promises that the person will find what he or she seeks. If he does his part, God will do His.
 
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