RECONCILIATION

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deogratias

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I was looking up something on the web site of a very big parish.

One thing I thought was interesting on the web page is that it seats 1400 has over 500 families registered and offers reconciliation for a total of 30 minutes each week. What’s wrong with this picture?

Few Catholics at any parish I attend decline to receive communion and most parishes have little time allotted to hearing confessions.

Are we being short-changed on this sacrament? Having it offered once a week and for such a short time does not encourage frequent confession that’s for sure.

A parish I belonged to in Southern Arizona a few years ago offered it 30 minutes before every Mass, every day and it was never hurried.

I read in a bio of John Paul II that when he was a priest he would take as long as an hour if people needed it for confession.
 
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deogratias:
I read in a bio of John Paul II that when he was a priest he would take as long as an hour if people needed it for confession.
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An hour a day? a week? Surely not an hour per person?

Our parish has it 3 times a week - half an hour on Sat. and starting an hour before evening mass on Tues. and Thurs. I really wish they provided it on Sunday but the layout of the church doesn’t seem to permit it.
 
If there were an option for offered by appointment in addition to scheduled times, I would have chosen that one.

There’s always something in the bulletin indicating that for those who can’t make it during a scheduled time, appointments can be made, and the contact phone number is provided.
 
Reconciliation is offered every morning before mass Monday -Saturday for 30 min. and from 4-5 pm. on Saturday. We have a new priest who is encouraging the greater use of this sacrament from the pulpit, the church bulletin and in conversation 👍
 
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deogratias:
Are we being short-changed on this sacrament? .
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I honestly believe that we are not only being short-changed on this sacrament but that the entire concept of sin is downplayed into oblivion.

One of the biggest problems that I have encountered is that in my parish, the first communicants ARE NOT given First Penance prior to First Holy Communion. The thought process is that 7 or 8 year olds can’t digest the concept of sin. For heaven’s sake, what are we teaching them in the Catholic school (where my kids go) or in CCD classes? (Never mind that this is not an optional teaching of the church.)

Too little focus is given to coming to terms with our sins, confessing them to God through his reps on Earth, and working hard not to repeat the same sins again.

Also, in looking into other parishes in the area where we will be moving to soon, I have noticed that the confession time is very limited. Conversely, the indult parish in the area offers confession before each Mass. I assume that this is how it was prior to Vatican II (I’m a younger convert so I don’t remember anything about practices in those days.)

There appears to be a direct correlation between morality not being preached from the pulpit and limited access to confession.
 
Condon

Canon Law today is very clear that parents and parish priests must “see that children who have reached the use of reason are correctly prepared and are nourished by the Divine Food as early as possible, PRECEDED BY SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION” (canon 914,

Also see CCC 1457
 
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deogratias:
Condon

Canon Law today is very clear that parents and parish priests must “see that children who have reached the use of reason are correctly prepared and are nourished by the Divine Food as early as possible, PRECEDED BY SACRAMENTAL CONFESSION” (canon 914,

Also see CCC 1457
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I know only too well. I went through this twice in two years. The first time around, I printed out the appropriate sections of the CCC and the Code of Canon Law as well as Cardinal Ratzinger’s letter on the topic and gave them to both the pastor as well as the principal. They fell on deaf ears. Needless to say, we did it ourselves. (And, I didn’t get a break on tuition, either!) The second time around, when I approached the pastor (because I don’t give up easily), he said that he was sending home a form because he was “giving parents the option”. I nearly burst out laughing in his face. (I never got the form either.) We did it again ourselves. I just feel pity for the parents and children who have been catechized incorrectly.

I wouldn’t want to be the principal for anything. I truly believe, although his heart is in the right place, he is aware of the teaching and is defying it because he thinks he knows better. The pastor, bless his heart, doesn’t want to rock the boat.

So, that’s my sad tale. Both my sons confess regularly. I’ve done my duty.
 
In my Parish Reconciliation is offered for 1/2 hour before Vigil and by appointment. There is never more than 1 or 2 waiting…then of course they may go elsewhere as I do. I go to my Parish priest only if I have to. I go monthly at Mornings of Recollection held in another town.🙂
 
In my suburban home parish, reconciliation is offered for 1 hour on Saturday afternoon or by appointment with the Pastor. I attend daily mass in the heart of downtown. At this wonderful old church, reconciliation is offered for 1.5 to 2 hours a day depending on the line!
 
My Parish had 30 minutes on Saturday and by appointment.
I’m lucky though I have a friend who is a priest who is now retired so I have him on call 24/7 incase I’m feeling crabby. 😛 When I call he asks who is annoying you now. I try to behave but sometimes it’s so hard. :o
Kathy
 
We have confessions offerred for 30 minutes each day (before the weekday Mass), 1 hour on Saturdays, and by appointment. There are usually just about enough people going to fill up those times.

JimG
 
Missed an option…Offered once a week PLUS by appointment. Out parish does it both ways. 👍
 
I chose the by appt. only because I know of one parish that does that and then does not give the option of face to face or anonymous, just face to face, in his office.
 
I chose the by appt. only because I know of one parish that does that and then does not give the option of face to face or anonymous, just face to face, in his office.
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When I was in R.C.I.A., our pastor told us that, no matter which parish we visit or who is hearing our confession, we always have the right confess anonymously. If a priest insists on hearing your confession face-to-face, Monsignor said to go elsewhere (unless it’s an emergency), and to tell him (or the bishop) about it and “it will be taken care of.” 🙂 Both screened and face-to-face confessions are available in both of our reconciliation rooms. I prefer screened myself, but many people like the face-to-face option.
 
My parish has over three thousand families, and offers Reconciliation for exactly one half hour a week…Just prio to the Sat. evening Mass. Short changed? Definitely.
 
In our parish, confessions are heard every Saturday after the 8:00 a.m. Mass and at 4:00 p.m. Confessions are also held on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and the eves of Holy Days after the 5:15 p.m. Mass. I believe that this is unusual for the Los Angeles Archdiocese. We also have a chapel of perpetual adoration of the Eucharist.
 
In my parish we used to have a very holy priest that would hear confessions every week at 3:30 on Saturday. He would be there as long as needed per person. Whenever I went he was usually alone. Many times I found him praying out loud in front of the Blessed Sacrament because no one came.

After we started coming regularly I started encouraging my friends and their families to go to him because he was so very devout and would only tell us the truth. He helped alot of people turn their lives around. Now, unfortunately he has become too old and is in a nursing home. The priest who has taken his place is good but does not offer very much. I also don’t feel as comfortable in sending people to him because he seems to skim over the sins like they all aren’t really that bad.

I think we are getting short changed. It is very hard to find confessions anywhere, the time is too short and the emphasis is not on this anymore.
 
My church has confessions on Monday and Wednesday afternoons and by appointment (which are not hard to get). Other churches in the area offer Saturday morning and Saturday afternoon.

There is a church I know of in Chicago - St. Peter’s in the Loop - that offers confession something like 11 hours a day, Monday thru Friday - great for all the business people that work downtown. I think this church has about 30 Franciscan priests on staff, so it’s feasible to maintain that schedule.

I’m curious - what was it like 40 years ago? I know people went to confession more frequently, so I would imagine that it had to be offered for a longer time each week, or with more confessionals staffed at the same time. When I see older churches with 4 or 6 or 8 confessionals, I imagine that means that sometimes there was more than one in use at a time.
 
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