Priest ran out of time to hear my confession... twice!

  • Thread starter Thread starter armstrongwannab
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

armstrongwannab

Guest
I went to confession 2 weeks in a row and each time my priest ran out of time. While I do understand that he needed to prepare for mass, what bothered me the most was the fact that he did not even say anything to me or the other parishioners as he walked out of the confessional. The first week this happened I stayed for mass and I did receive the Eucharist. I am a fairly new catholic so I wasn’t entirely sure if what I needed to confess was a mortal sin or not. During the following week I studied up on what a mortal sin actually is, I still am not sure about my particular sin. I got to the parish earlier than normal just so I would have a chance to confess my sins. But this time my priest was very late to confessions and only heard 1 persons confession(that person was there before me). Same thing happened, he came out of the confessional and totally ignored us and started preparing for mass. Now I am very upset with my priest, I was so upset I just walked right out of the church before mass started! At this point I am so discouraged I wonder if I will ever go back to church. A little courtesy from my priest would have went a long way. I apologize for the rant, but I needed to find out how I should handle this situation. Thanks
 
armstrongwannab said:
I needed to find out how I should handle this situation
Click to expand...
Is there another nearby parish that you can visit, which has confession times that might work for you?

Alternately, could you call the parish office during business hours and request a time to meet with your pastor for confession?
 
When priests have run out of time in my experience they’ve at least offered some kind of apology. That is unfortunate that happened to you twice in a row; perhaps your priest is somewhat shy or that is just how he does things. Either get to confession extra early or try another parish nearby. A good place to find confession times is masstimes.org.
 
I’m sure he has his own reasons but I agree that his actions are very rude and very discouraging especially for new catholic like yourself.
 
  1. Go earlier.
  2. Yes, earlier.
  3. “Or by appointment”
  4. Go to another parish.
  5. Getting grumpy with the overworked priest may be another sin to confess.
 
Last edited:
There must be some other parish you could go to, or another priest you could approach.
 
Good if that can be done, but what if there is no other parish? People who live ‘out in the sticks’, aging people who cannot drive due to vision deterioration and who can’t always find others willing to drive them often for 20 or 30 miles each way to another parish, they’re kind of stuck with ‘what they have’.
 
My priest had morning Mass, funeral, burial at the graveside, wedding, confessions for an hour, vigil Mass all before 6:00 PM yesterday. He does not have any help. Most of the people here for confessions are not part of this parish. As stpurl noted many come because they can not go anywhere else due to their vision. Several nursing homes and retirement villages bring their clients to confession and Mass at our parish.
 
armstrongwannab said:
I was so upset I just walked right out of the church before mass started! At this point I am so discouraged I wonder if I will ever go back to church. A little courtesy from my priest would have went a long way.
Click to expand...
While I can understand your frustration, please try to keep in mind that many pastors are extremely busy and as such, they have to stay on schedule to make sure they can get done all of things that they have to get done. Also, I’m assuming you were waiting to go into a confessional behind a screen? That may be part of the reason why he did not acknowledge anyone standing in line - to keep some semblance of an attempt at anonymous confession. I’m just saying there could be a multidue of reasons why things happened as they did, so please don’t jump to conclusions about htis priest. If it’s really bothering you, make an appointment to talk to him and ask him.
 
Yes he could have been more courteous but as far as people not being able make confession and consequently having to refrain from receiving the Eucharist, this is something I think we will have to get used to with the priest shortage that is only going to get worst. The temptation will be to talk ourselves into receiving the Eucharist when in fact we should not.

As for the priest I would make my feelings known to him. He probably thinks just by him leaving the confessional is all that is needed to let people know times up but yes I think he should be a little more considerate and at least acknowledge the situation.
 
I never understand why new Catholics in particular, but any Catholic, say they will leave the Church over the actions of one imperfect priest, or a couple of imperfect parishioners. It makes no sense to me that you would throw everything away that you learned about Christ and receiving the Real Presence because of one priest.

OP, make an appointment, go to another parish, but don’t stop going to mass. If you do not know if your sin was mortal at the time you commited it, then it most likely wasn’t. You are encouraged, but not required to go to confession more than a couple of times a year, so I am not sure why you see this as a big stumbling block. Please reconsider your position.
 
Last edited:
Assuming Sunday and you haven’t been to Mass and can’t get to one now you’ll need to confess missing Mass as well.
 
I would then confront the priest and ask him if there is anythinh troubling him that he can’t concentrate on listening on confessions. Maybe he is sick, or his family is in trouble or…there is no reason and if he does.not change his atitude then write to the bishop a complain. What else can one do? Abduct him and force him to sit and listen?
 
I would like to add this: look at the title of this thread. Priest ran out of time to hear my confession…twice.
I don’t know what difference it would have made had the imperfect priest come out and said “Sorry, that’s all for today, I have to get ready for mass.” The OP still would not have been to confession, so how does that change anything?
 
Hi. I’m sorry to hear this happened to you. It is very frustrating. How you handle it very much depends on how greatly you desire to advance spiritually. God knows you went to confess and twice experienced what is undoubtedly a frustrating outcome. If you want to remain where you are spiritually then you might choose to complain about the priest or approach him to express your feelings or decide to not go back to this church.

On the other hand you might decide to opt for charity, excuse and forgive the priest, understand he may be under pressure or feel overwhelmed and pray for him. And offer up to God the trials you experienced. The first way is the easiest given our fallen nature. The second option is far harder as it involves in a sense a crucifying of our natural impulses. God allows us to be tested with frustrations, trials, setbacks, disappointments, seemingly unjust or unfair situations etc.

How we respond to these makes all the difference and determines whether we become the Saints God calls us to be.

Peace to you.
 
Isn’t it simpler to just talk to him instead of us trying to guess and speculate? He could have said something like sorry you all please come earlier or on another day. A priest is not God, to be taken as it is no matter what, he is just a human trying to find Salvation through priesthood. And his attitude does influence most of the people’s attitude vs the Church. People come to Church to find God not because they already found God. Most of them lack virtues like patience and trust. The Church is for sinners and sin is a sickness of the soul. Asking people to put up with it no matter what and see how good it will feel later is like asking someone with nervous breakdown to be happy all the time because…dixit!
 
Last edited:
Some priests prefer not to look at or speak to people in the confessional line out of respect for their privacy. I can understand that. No matter how frustrating it is there are simply not enough priests and those who are in ministry are very often under enormous pressure as a result of workloads.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top