More times for confession

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digitalpapist said:
No, I think it is a fairly logical induction to notice that if 10 people go to Confession a week out of 1500 Mass goers, and 99.5% of those Mass goers go up to Communion, it is quite easy to compare this to historical anecdotes where much of the congregation did not receive and come to the conclusion that most people are receiving in mortal sin.

I can think of no positive interpretation of the facts where, in this day and age, where miniscule Confession attendance + universal reception of the Eucharist=well, I guess they are all in a state of grace.

Fr. John Hardon S.J. once made this same observation, in fact.
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It depends. I know that such behavior is not as prevalent among Spanish-speakers in my part of the country.
 
I think that the sacrament needs to be preached about more from the pulpit plus emphasized in the weekly bulletins too & on the website of the parish (if they have one). Priests need to make people understand the sacrament is important.

I know I was one to neglect the sacrament and go the bare minimum of 1 time per year. But since I’ve gotten more mature, I try to go 3 to 4 times a year for private confession. Communal with opportunity for private is good for those who just do not wish to line up at the scheduled times during Advent & Lent. I was reminded by a priest who was at the Communal with private options when he did a brief homily and his quote stuck with me: " we are ALL sinners ".
 
Pa_Newman said:
I have noticed that if there is ample opportunity to go to Confession people will go. .
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I would agree. Our pastor or associate pastor is in the confessional for a half hour before every Mass, 7 days a week.

We have 3 weekday Masses, ( 7:00am, 9:30am and noon), one Sat am Mass ( 9:30), two Sat evening Masses, and 5 Sunday Masses. PLUS Sat afternoons from 11:00 to 2:00

Even then, you have to get there early, as the lines are long.
 
Our small-town parish has a lot of families but only half an hour a week is scheduled for confession…? Always on Saturday afternoon from 5:15-5:45 pm. This is the only time I see one of my grandchildren, is Saturday afternoon. sigh
I’m not trying to complain, seriously, folks. But I would go to confession a lot more often if it was offered more frequently.
 
I don’t think we can disregard the fact that in many churches the line for confession is non existent many times or sparse at best. In my parish, the confession time frame is 45 minutes. There are usually a handful of people on line.

Oftentimes, we go to another parish 20 minutes away because they offer a more convenient time for Confession (even though there’s a 30 minute window). Again, maybe a handful of people are there including us.

It’s just a trend I have personally noticed. I can say that I NEED to go biweekly if not weekly and can’t understand how it’s only my family needing this wonderful sacrament regularly while others manage to stay in a state of grace indefinitely. 🤷

Peace.

+JMJ+
 
It’s also true of where I grew up that most parishes offer Confession for only an hour or less per week.

There are, however, wonderful exceptions. A parish staffed by Dominican priests actually offers Confession every day: after daily Mass until all are heard, on Saturday for an hour, and on Sunday for 30 minutes before each Mass. They usually take holy days of obligation off, understandably.
 
My parish offers it 2:30-3:30 every saturday. Our priest not only is our pastor, but he has a second job as Dir. of Divine Liturgy at our Archdiocese. He is stretched really thin, time wise
 
Marie5890 said:
My parish offers it 2:30-3:30 every saturday. Our priest not only is our pastor, but he has a second job as Dir. of Divine Liturgy at our Archdiocese. He is stretched really thin, time wise
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My priest is a pastor, full-time theology teacher at a Catholic High School, husband and father of a growing family, and he frequently helps out with Mass and Confessions at a local Latin parish. He’s stretched pretty thin as well. In spite of this, he offers Confessions before every service and pretty much any time someone asks him for Confession. I think it is a matter of priorities.
 
babochka said:
My priest is a pastor, full-time theology teacher at a Catholic High School, husband and father of a growing family, and he frequently helps out with Mass and Confessions at a local Latin parish. He’s stretched pretty thin as well. In spite of this, he offers Confessions before every service and pretty much any time someone asks him for Confession. I think it is a matter of priorities.
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Only God knows if it’s a matter of priorities or other reasons. 🙂

I have no reason to judge my pastor, yours, or anyone else’s.
Just was pointing out we don’t know what is going on each man’s life.
 
I would hope that priests, when ordained, come to the understanding that they are set apart for a special purpose in the life of the Church, and that purpose is to provide the sacraments to those faithful who have a right to receive them. Among these sacraments are the Holy Eucharist, the Anointing of the Sick, and Penance. All three of these should be given special care and attention in the priest’s busy schedule, above and beyond all other concerns, because of the special significance they have in the care of souls.
 
Sadly you do get the impression that there are quite a few priests around that do not seem to rate Confession as an important sacrament.
 
I know for the Lenten season, our Archdiocese has a “leave the light on” (something like that) program

Every Monday evening during Lent, from 6-7pm, each parish makes Confession available for people coming home from work. My understanding is that is was very successful last year.
 
Marie5890 said:
Only God knows if it’s a matter of priorities or other reasons. 🙂

I have no reason to judge my pastor, yours, or anyone else’s.
Just was pointing out we don’t know what is going on each man’s life.
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That is absolutely true, and I’m sorry if I came across as judgmental. It was absolutely not my intent. I don’t know your pastor or any facts about him, and this wasn’t really about him anyway. According to what you wrote, he offers confession for an hour every Saturday afternoon, which seems to be standard practice for nearly every parish these days. Yet, I have discovered that those who have a great love for the sacrament of Reconciliation will go to great lengths to make it readily available. Every priest that I’ve ever heard preach on the importance of confession also offers more than one hour a week, at least at certain times during the year. It is good for a priest to go above and beyond the minimum for this very important sacrament. I’m not saying that a priest who doesn’t is being derelict in his duties, just that a priest who does go above and beyond has clearly prioritized the sacrament above other things.
 
Marie5890 said:
I know for the Lenten season, our Archdiocese has a “leave the light on” (something like that) program

Every Monday evening during Lent, from 6-7pm, each parish makes Confession available for people coming home from work. My understanding is that is was very successful last year.
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Yes! I love hearing stories like this. I’ve heard about this from several dioceses in the last few years.
 
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