Sacrament of confession- Bring it back

[the_man]

Hello Everyone, i was wondering if i should send a copy of this article from karl keating catholic.com/newsletters/kke_070320.asp , to a few local priests; anonomously. Confession is really important and i feel this article may help the priests. I would like to know if any of you think this is a good idea or not. i dont want to burden the priests or put them under pressure but i know it may help all parishioners.

Ps. if so, am i legally allowed to print off this article and give it to them or must i obtain permission from Catholic answers.

 

[FCEGM]

Hello Everyone, i was wondering if i should send a copy of this article from karl keating catholic.com/newsletters/kke_070320.asp , to a few local priests; anonomously. Confession is really important and i feel this article may help the priests. I would like to know if any of you think this is a good idea or not. i dont want to burden the priests or put them under pressure but i know it may help all parishioners.

Ps. if so, am i legally allowed to print off this article and give it to them or must i obtain permission from Catholic answers.

It is permissible to make a few copies of any article on Catholic Answers as long as proper attribution is made, but read these guidelines first:

catholic.com/home/permissions.asp

Also, if you are going to send anything to a priest or priest do not send it anonymously. If you believe in something, don’t be afraid to put your name to it. Anonymously sent materials quickly end up in the round file. Why not give (in person) this particular article to your pastor and get his feed-back on whether his fellow priests would find it helpful.

 

[the_man]

Thanks very much FCEGM.

 

[JimG]

From Karl Keating’s article:
"Okay, I said. What’s the secret?

“From the pulpit we tell our people that they are sinners, that they know they are sinners, and that they need to go to confession. We tell them that God loves them and wants to forgive them. We tell them that we will be waiting for them in the confessionals each night and on Saturday afternoon. We tell them this often and always gently, and so they come to confession. Lots of them.”"It really does seem pretty simple. People know that the need to be forgiven, but they are seldom reminded of it. My own parish has confessions every day, usually with a line outside the confessional. If the above practice became common there would probably be even more penitents.

Not being a priest, I can’t speak for them. Our priests are pretty overworked. I wonder if they might not be secretly a little relieved that not many show up for confessions, simply because their time is so limited.

 

[FCEGM]

Not being a priest, I can’t speak for them. Our priests are pretty overworked. I wonder if they might not be secretly a little relieved that not many show up for confessions, simply because their time is so limited.

I certainly hope not! May they all have the heart of St. John Vianney. It’s wonderful that confession is available every day at your parish. In my parish it’s only available twice a week, Saturday and Wednesday.

Which brings me to something that happened recently at our parish. We have four priests who rotate hearing confessions, two priests at a time every Saturday for an hour. Early in the hour one priest had heard the confession of a man who told him that no one else was waiting in line. Father waited patiently for someone to show up, praying his rosary and reading Sunday’s bulletin. After all that time he decided it was a slow day and that he would leave; when he opened the door there were twenty people in line! Turns out the lights, one green and one read, signalling whether the confessional was available had been switched, so while Father’s light in the confessional indicated green those waiting saw red. That must have been some sinner!