"Make an appointment with your priest."

[Monkciate]

This phrase is used on these forums alot, and I find it to be an increasing joke in the wake of the fact that our priests already have Daily Planners with the margins scribbled well into the 25th hour of the day and it takes no less than two full weeks before an appointment can be made and then add a week until the appointment date is reached itself.

Soon the spiritual life of those of us in the States will resemble that of the Middle Ages or Mexico in the late 19th-early 20th century with the sacraments being received once a year (if fortunate).

I abide in this thing called “mortal sin” while my parish is being depleted of its resources, my pastor and confessor stretched way too thin, and no sign of relief in sight. Sometimes I think Luther was right.

 

[lizaanne]

Sometimes I think Luther was right.

About what? Turning his back on the Truth? Oh well, that just fixes everything doesn’t it!!

What is your point with this thread?

~Liza

 

[jmcrae]

I abide in this thing called “mortal sin” while my parish is being depleted of its resources, my pastor and confessor stretched way too thin, and no sign of relief in sight.

If you need to go to Confession, then go, at the scheduled time.

Just hit the highlights; don’t make it a 20-minute autobiographical speech. “Bless me Father for I have sinned. My last Confession was in Grade 4. I committed impurity and fornication at least once a week from the time I turned thirteen until I started coming back to Mass two months ago. I started shoplifting small items at the candy store twice a week when I was seventeen, until I got caught three months later. I skipped Mass nearly every Sunday from the time I turned 12 until two months ago. I used my collection money to buy Pogs, and I made Sally Jenkins bring me a Mass bulletin every week, to trick my mother into thinking I’d been to Mass. I also lied to my mother regularly about where I was going on the weekends.” Bam - hundreds of sins confessed, in less than a minute.

Sometimes I think Luther was right.

About what?

 

[Rence]

I called my pastor and asked if he could come to the house to give my mom absolution and communion and talk with me about questions I had, and it took him less than a week to come out. IIRC it was four days and it’s not like we told him it was an emergency or something. We live 14+ miles from the Church and he still found time to come out and visit us, and I think he enjoyed it out here He wasn’t rushed or hurried and spent a bit of time with us. The rectory secretary says he fills his week with appointments that include visiting the sick.

Even in the big city, it wasn’t hard to make an appointment with a priest. There was even an African missionary that had a house a few blocks away and their priest visted our home quite frequently.

And years before that, my mom and I used to pick up a priest at a neighboring parish to bring communion to my grandfather who was dying of cancer, and he came weekly.

 

[beckycmarie]

I attend a parish of about 2600 families, and have never had an issue getting an appointment with the priest within a week.

 

[Joe_5859]

This phrase is used on these forums alot, and I find it to be an increasing joke in the wake of the fact that our priests already have Daily Planners with the margins scribbled well into the 25th hour of the day and it takes no less than two full weeks before an appointment can be made and then add a week until the appointment date is reached itself.

Soon the spiritual life of those of us in the States will resemble that of the Middle Ages or Mexico in the late 19th-early 20th century with the sacraments being received once a year (if fortunate).

I abide in this thing called “mortal sin” while my parish is being depleted of its resources, my pastor and confessor stretched way too thin, and no sign of relief in sight. Sometimes I think Luther was right.

Sorry you’ve had trouble meeting with your priest. Don’t let the fact that priests are busy deter you from trying to meet with them. If it’s an emergency, let them know.

I know a lot of priests, and none of them are so busy that they can’t meet with someone who calls them.

 

[sleeping_gecko]

I abide in this thing called “mortal sin” while my parish is being depleted of its resources, my pastor and confessor stretched way too thin, and no sign of relief in sight. Sometimes I think Luther was right.

I understand priests are busy. I live in a small-er town (50,000-60,000 people) with 5 parishes. The first time I called a parish to try to talk to a priest, I tried 2. The first was out of town, the second met with me in a few hours. The next time I made an appointment, it was a few days, and he met with me for a full hour, at the other parish where he is pastor. There was only 1 time I haven’t been able to get an appointment with him, and that was when I sent an e-mail sort of last minute before heading out of town, he was busy that day.

I would agree that you could try to go in normal confession times and keep it brief. Perhaps you could try another parish? A neighboring town, if need be?

Luther right…about what? Priests being able to marry? As a pastor’s kid who married another pastor’s kid (both raised Protestant), I should tell you that married pastors aren’t as available for their flocks as their Catholic counterparts. If they are, then their families must suffer. Even converts who are Latin Rite RCC priests can attest to this (such as married Anglicans who became Catholic priests). My personal experience was within Protestantism, where the pastor was expected to be married, but the congregation didn’t often recognize that they had family responsibilities.

I’d say Luther was right that there was terrible corruption in his day (see: Church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints, et al.) and not much else.

I can, however, empathize with your frustration at the busy-ness of clergy. I think if all Catholics lived out the fullness of Catholic faith more thoroughly, many more young men would aspire to the priesthood and heed callings that way. Letting priests marry wouldn’t necessarily help. Protestant churches have a shortage of clergy, also. That’s why the average age keeps getting older.

 

[Kassandra]

I have called my parish twice needing to speak with a priest. The first time a priest called me within 15 minutes and the second time the parish office told me to wait and they would find a priest. I attend Mass in a very large parish and I have found that when I have needed to talk with a priest, one was available - whether by phone or in person. :heaven:

Sometimes I think Luther was right.

About what?

 

[ckempston]

I don’t post often here, because quite frankly, I’ve heard it all before just as Catholics have heard from me. Occasionally a thread will catch my eye in my google widget and I’ll check it out.

I gotta say, you guys really know how to counsel. Liza is simply oozing charity and Jmcrae suggests quick, dirty, and what could only be a superficial confession with a “form of godliness that lacks power” as well as anything close to “Godly sorrow that produces repentance.” Nice job!

Whatever confession is supposed to be, I doubt it should feel like you just went through a drive-through when it’s over. The fact that everyone else dismissed this person with the, “We don’t have that problem in my parish,” with the implication that the problem is with the person asking the question. Of course, since we all know the Catholic church has no problems at all, this person must just have alterior motives, and really is probably a closet Protestant. Yeah, that’s it!

Edit: Sorry, I do see that as I posted at least one other person came with a more charitable and helpful response. All of you should follow his example.

 

[ruslan]

:coffeeread:

 

[lizaanne]

Liza is simply oozing charity and Jmcrae suggests quick, dirty, and what could only be a superficial confession with a “form of godliness that lacks power” as well as anything close to “Godly sorrow that produces repentance.” Nice job! …All of you should follow his example.

Well - I feel so much better now that I’ve had my hand slapped.

I have a very big issue with someone coming on here and slamming the Bride of Christ, and saying that the heretic Luther was “right”, but not saying about what. He dropped a bomb and just left. He was on line long enough to see several posts but never responded to any of us asking for clarification on the Luther comment.

We call folks like that Trolls - they swoop in, post an inflammatory comment, don’t explain themselves, and then go away.

Sorry it was not warm and fuzzy enough for you. Had he actually voiced his concern and not just flamed the Church then he would have received an entirely different response.

~Liza

 

[jmcrae]

I don’t post often here, because quite frankly, I’ve heard it all before just as Catholics have heard from me. Occasionally a thread will catch my eye in my google widget and I’ll check it out.

I gotta say, you guys really know how to counsel. Liza is simply oozing charity and Jmcrae suggests quick, dirty, and what could only be a superficial confession with a “form of godliness that lacks power” as well as anything close to “Godly sorrow that produces repentance.” Nice job!

Confession is not supposed to be a counseling session. If she needs to go to Confession, she shouldn’t wait how ever long it’s going to take her to get in for counseling; she should just go, and do what she can to make it thorough, yet not take up the entire period set aside for Confessions.

My attitude is, instead of complaining about what you can’t do, do what you can do. God will take care of the impossible, but He first waits for us to do the possible. No progress will be made, sitting there waiting for the priest to call back, if he really is as over-booked as she says he is.

 

[Monkciate]

About what?

About the sacrament of penance, for starters. I think American Catholicism is entering a phase of evolving spiritual life where the following statements by Luther will become more and more true concerning our penitential life:

“Beware then of trusting in thine own contrition, or attributing remission of sins to thy own sorrow.”

“Therefore whatever good there is in penitence is due, not to the diligence with which we reckon up our sins, but to the truth of God and to our faith. All other things are works and fruits which follow of their own accord, and which do not make a man good, but are done by a man who has been made good by his faith in the truth of God.”

With fewer than 25% of all Catholic regulrly going to confession, Catholicism here in the States has practically demonstrated the following logic already: If it is through faith that we must believe that the words of absolution forgive us all our sins, then, similarly, is it not through faith that God forgives all sins if we recognize His mercy and justice outside the confessional?

Of course, I only commented that maybe Luther was right. [Though I find it incredibly odd that several people here find “one week” to be a short wait for confessing, especially when something that might be considered mortal is at hand. And I don’t trust other priests with their attempt at *in persona Christi: I’ve been given far too many contradictory remedies to believe that my Lord is at operation. My regular confessor will have to do.]

 

[Monkciate]

Confession is not supposed to be a counseling session.

Actually, the evolution of the purpose of confession is changing, focusing more on the needs of parishioners who go to confession not to simply recant past sins but to receive the merciful hand of their healing Lord. Whereas in the past someone might confess the sin of drunkenness and priest might offer a suitable penance, more and more priests are being challenged to provide their drunken parishioners with community options to help fight alcoholism.

 

[jmcrae]

Actually, the evolution of the purpose of confession is changing, focusing more on the needs of parishioners who go to confession not to simply recant past sins but to receive the merciful hand of their healing Lord. Whereas in the past someone might confess the sin of drunkenness and priest might offer a suitable penance, more and more priests are being challenged to provide their drunken parishioners with community options to help fight alcoholism.

If they choose to do that in addition to the Sacrament itself, that’s their prerogative; however, the purpose of Confession is to name your sins out loud in the presence of the priest, and receive the Absolution for them from him.

With fewer than 25% of all Catholic regulrly going to confession, Catholicism here in the States has practically demonstrated the following logic already: If it is through faith that we must believe that the words of absolution forgive us all our sins, then, similarly, is it not through faith that God forgives all sins if we recognize His mercy and justice outside the confessional?

Faith is the conviction of things not seen - things that actually exist, independent of whether we believe in them or not. Faith doesn’t cause things to exist, that didn’t exist before.

God has shown us that in the case of mortal sins, He wants us to go to Confession. Therefore the “faith” that He might forgive us in some other way (barring extraordinary circumstances) isn’t actually “faith” but rather, “fantasy.”

PS: Edited to add: Just because not very many people do what is right, does not change the fact that it is right. God doesn’t “grade on the curve” - we are responsible for doing what we know to be right; not what everyone else is doing. God isn’t going to say, “Oh, well, you’re excused from going to Confession because hardly anyone goes, any more.”

 

[dusza]

And that is why it’s best to refrain from mortal sin until at least Friday night.

 

[RHC]

Speaking as an ex-Protestant - there is no relief like that of Confession. Luther was wrong.

We can’t change the way things work just because we wish it so. God established Confession; this is true Catholic teaching. We humans cannot change it just because it suits us. That authority is not given to us - not to Luther or anyone else.

The advice to “make an appointment with your priest” is still valid, no matter how busy a parish is. Only the priest can absolve; we here at Catholic Answers cannot. Many times, the priest is the only one who can help.

If you are in mortal sin, then you should be able to get to Confession at your parish sometime. Doesn’t your parish have a scheduled Confession time? It’s not a “drive-through” Confession to express your mortal sin (and whatever venial sins you might have) in 10 or so minutes.

Please understand that I mean all this in charity. I was once a Protestant; I know what it is to try to “make a good apology” for my sins. I could only hope that I meant it well enough. For my husband (also born and raised Protestant) and me, it seemed that there had to be “more.” In his words, “Is this all? I just say ‘I’m sorry’?” Imagine our relief when we found Confession. Trust me, as one who lived 27 years hoping I was truly sorry - you don’t want to go down Luther’s road.

 

[SarahR]

FWIW, I also sympathize with first part of the sentiment of OP’s post. Those of you who can get a response from your priest in a short amount of time are fortunate indeed.

I’ve had some problems getting in to meet with my priest sometimes too (sometimes not). Even though it may be discouraging to be told he can meet with me “three weeks from Friday” when I’m needing his guidance on a pressing issue, I figure I might as well go ahead and make that appointment. Two weeks will come either way.

What I’ve also done from time to time is (if there are not many people waiting in line behind me), after my confession has concluded, asked the priest if I may ask a quick question.