No regular confession in my parish

[paperwight66]

Yes, it seems as though the parish thinks confession is something that’s hanging on by a thread for the little old ladies, and is on its way out. To be honest, I really struggle with the concept of God not offering forgiveness unless someone confesses to a priest - that doesn’t seem reasonable or Godlike to me at all. I am trying to give Catholicism another shot, and trying to do things the “right” way. Not even sure what that means since it seems that a lot has changed since I went inactive. If the priest told me to accept communion - do I go by what he said (after all, I am supposed to cofess all my sins to this same man and trust that I get absolution thru him) or is he wrong regarding confession/communion?

I don’t know what was going through your priest’s mind of course, but you rae aware that only mortal sins need to be confessed?

 

[MSSheBear]

All righty…I stopped the priest after mass and told him I needed to book a confession and that I worked most Saturdays… He said not to worry and to go ahead and take communion until I could make a confession. He said quickly that I should just try my best but that they’d offer more during Lent. He seemed to sort of chuckle me off, as though I were being a bit silly or naive.

JackieMom: I can relate inasmuch as I work Saturdays when almost all of the confessions in my area are scheduled. I would guess that your priest is not taking the need for confession. As a convert with one whole confession behind me I found that confessing to the priest adds a whole level of accountability to my actions. Also his advice helped enormously and lifted quite a burden from me.

But try to think of this as a learning process as you progress towards sainthood. That said, I am wondering if there isn’t another parish nearby. Fortunately in my area there is a parish that does offer many confession opportunities. Also what about a Reconciliation Service? Do they have them in your area?

 

[jere610]

To have limited confession times based on the number of priests and the parishes they are covering. . .possibly normal.

To not accept appointments. . . not normal.

I’d maybe call back the secretary or tell her you’d like to speak to the priest directly. If that doesn’t work, just go to another parish.

 

[quiet52]

I’m trying to regain my faith, which is very weak. My parish offers confession once a month for 30 minutes before the Saturday vigil mass. I work most Saturdays so I called the parish to see if I could make an appoibtment for confession at another time. The secretary said no, that more confessions would be offered the week before Easter and I only needed to go then. Is this normal now? I’ve been away for a while.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization seem to realize the lax attitude toward the sacrament of Reconciliation on the part of so many clergy and laity within the Church. Hopefully, as the Vatican communicates to the bishops worldwide what has been addressed at the Synod, your bishop will instruct all his priests to get back on track with regard to making this beautiful sacrament more available to Catholics.

Proposition 33 : THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND THE NEW EVANGELIZATION

The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation is the privileged place to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness. It is a place for both personal and communal healing. In this sacrament, all the baptized have a new and personal encounter with Jesus Christ, as well as a new encounter with the Church, facilitating a full reconciliation through the forgiveness of sins. Here the penitent encounters Jesus, and at the same time he or she experiences a deeper appreciation of himself and herself. The Synod Fathers ask that this sacrament be put again at the center of the pastoral activity of the Church. In every diocese, at least one place should be especially dedicated in a permanent way for the celebration of this sacrament, where priests are always present, allowing God’s mercy to be experienced by all the faithful. The sacrament should be especially available, even on a daily basis, at places of pilgrimage and specially designated churches. Fidelity to the specific norms which rule the administration of this sacrament is necessary. ** Every priest should consider the Sacrament of Penance an essential part of his ministry and of the New Evangelization, and in every parish community a suitable time should be set apart for hearing confessions.**
from: Final List of Propositions of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith
zenit.org/article-35831?l=english

Please do not give up seeking the very needed graces from this sacrament of healing. Your pastor is currently misguided. Please pray for him, and forgive him. In the meantime, I suggest that you phone a nearby parish to make an appointment for Reconciliation.

 

[z_0101]

All righty…I stopped the priest after mass and told him I needed to book a confession and that I worked most Saturdays… He said not to worry and to go ahead and take communion until I could make a confession. He said quickly that I should just try my best but that they’d offer more during Lent. He seemed to sort of chuckle me off, as though I were being a bit silly or naive.

I am really sorry that he was so dismissive. How sad it is to read about this… and it makes me much more appreciative of our local parish priests!
Pray for this poor priest’s soul that he may have an increase in faith and deeper commitment to his flock.

Did he make an appointment with you?
IF Not:

• Hopefully you can find a close by parish where the Fr. is much better trained. What you may not be aware of is that in the late 60’s and early 70’s there was very poor training of many of our priests in the seminaries. That has improved; however, the Fr. with the poor training are still out there… they will retire.
• If you are in Mortal Sin, Until you can find a place to receive the sacrament, and before you receive again… go to Fr. again in the next few days and ask outright if he will hear your confession and continue to do so every few days until he does and/or you can make other arrangements. Remember that Mortal Sin requires the matter to be grave, that you knew it was a mortal sin, and for you to have intended to commit the sin thru your own free will. No-one can make you commit a Mortal Sin thru threat to yourself, others, or in material manner.
• Please find time to contact the chancery office for your Diocese - when you do so, explain what steps you’ve taken. You should mention any exceptional hardship you incur should you have to find a priest to administer the sacrament in another parish. I’m fortunate that there are three right here within 10 minutes of each other; however, the next closest is 20 minutes and then much further after that!

 

[Leon_Bloy]

I think you need to call up the Bishop and explain to him what’s going on. This is very serious, and confessions should be offered each week. Unfortunately, in the last few decades, some priests’ seminary formation was very poor indeed.

Don’t be angry at the priest, and do forgive him, but he is not doing his job properly, it sounds like. Confession is important (assuming we are talking about people in a state of mortal sin) because mortal sin damages your relationship to God and the Church, and the intervention of Christ through the sacrament is essential to healing that damage. Of course, it’s a sin to receive communion in a state of mortal sin (see the Catechism on all this).

Here is what the Church’s law (canon law) says:

'Can. 986 §1 All to whom by virtue of office the care of souls is committed, are bound to provide for the hearing of the confessions of the faithful entrusted to them, who reasonably request confession, and they are to provide these faithful with an opportunity to make individual confession on days and at times arranged to suit them.
§2 In an urgent necessity, every confessor is bound to hear the confessions of Christ’s faithful, and in danger of death every priest is so obliged. "

Can you go to another parish or another priest? That’s what I would do in the meantime. Even if that means just showing up at a daily mass and asking if he can do it after mass. Very, very few priests indeed would refuse you.

 

[hwriggles4]

Yes, it seems as though the parish thinks confession is something that’s hanging on by a thread for the little old ladies, and is on its way out. To be honest, I really struggle with the concept of God not offering forgiveness unless someone confesses to a priest - that doesn’t seem reasonable or Godlike to me at all. I am trying to give Catholicism another shot, and trying to do things the “right” way. Not even sure what that means since it seems that a lot has changed since I went inactive. If the priest told me to accept communion - do I go by what he said (after all, I am supposed to cofess all my sins to this same man and trust that I get absolution thru him) or is he wrong regarding confession/communion?

JackieMom:

First, Welcome Home.

My parish schedules confessions on Thursday nights for an hour (and the line is long so the two priests will often stay longer than one hour, and sometimes start early) and on Saturday mornings after the Saturday morning Mass. The Saturday morning line is fairly long too.

Since the pastor at your parish sounds disinterested, check with parishes within a 15-30 minute drive and see what their confession times are. You might be able to go to confession on another day. Some parishes here do confessions on Wednesday and Thursday nights, not just Saturdays.

There is also one local parish that does confessions a few nights a week before the early evening daily Mass - something like that might be suitable. This same parish even has a time scheduled for confession before the Sunday evening Mass. I also like the suggestion about “ethnic parishes” - some parishes do have confessions daily.

Second, I don’t know what city you are in, but there are some parishes in my diocese (and neighboring diocese) that only have a half hour scheduled on Saturdays for confessions, and one I know of that only does a “penance service” once a month on Friday evenings. Personally, I would look for a parish that has more times offered for confession - that usually is an indication that the pastor makes it a priority.