Those Whacky Confession Habits - Laity and Priestly Comments Welcome

[KCT]

FrMatt:

1. For those who struggle with one particular problem, it can be disheartening to have to come back again and again. Try not to be discuraged. We all fall, Our Lord raises us up agian and again. Remember the words of the Lord, “Come to me, all who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Also, not seven times, but seventy times seven. The mercy of the Lord is infinite, call on Him and know His grace.Fr Matt

I also remember learning that the grace of the sacrament is not only ordered toward forgiveness, but to the distruction of our venial sins. So if you keep bringing those sins to the confessional, you’re working on getting rid of them! —KCT

 

[Lux_et_veritas]

Ooooo - pray for me people!

There are two kinds of confession (no disrespect intended with my analogy).

“Drive Thru” - Typically done quickly before mass or on any other day when regular confessions are taking place. Average time anywhere from 3-10 minutes.

“Dine-In” - Typically done outside of regular confession times with deep dialogue. Average time: 30-60 minutes.

I’m having a much needed “Dine-In” with a parish priest I don’t know some 8 miles from my house. I was referred to meet him for some other reason and an issue kept nagging at me. I felt the need to have a deep discussion and know that absolution will be required. So, I went to that parish, and left him a note, asking him to call me. I’m waiting on that, and am confident he will call soon.

But talk about strange. I had been coming to the conclusion that I had been following many fallacies over a 15 year period and had become a lousy Catholic. I come out of the office after leaving him that note, and there in his bulletin was his column and he was talking about how people live in in so many fallacies. His article shocked me because it was straight to the point and very true because I had discovered in myself the very things he was admonishing people for in his column. I had already made up a list of those fallacies because in my heart, I felt God was directing me to acknowledge those that I was following. Some are listed above. So, the one week I decide I have to talk about something with him, in particular, he writes an article on the subject. Not any other Sunday, but the Sunday I chose to visit this parish I’ve never been to.

How strange is that? I don’t think it is coincidental.

A few weeks back, I told God that I was coming to the conclusion that I needed a priest who was going to make sure I held myself accountable for some serious changes, and not excuse away what I was doing with mitigating circumstances. I told God that I also felt I needed a priest who would ask me questions, gently but firmly, helping me to root out the things that led me down the road I had taken in the first place.

I think the Lord has answered my call. We’ll know in a few days.

Now the wait. I hope I don’t get cold feet, but something tells me that the Holy Spirit will “assist me” if he has to drag me by my coat sleeve. I figured now that I dropped my name and number, and a note indicating that I needed his help through a deep-dive confession, it will be hard to chicken out when he calls.

Now the wait…

 

[ElizaE]

I wanted to share a little anecdote from my childhood when I was going to my 1st confession. I was so scared and intimidated because I thought that I would not be able to say anything or worse wet my pants or cry that my mom advised me to write all my sins down on a scrap of paper and put it on top of my prayer book. I felt so much better with my “cheat sheet” in hand that I made a full confession. I wish I had kept it…

Sometimes I wonder if I should not make a “cheat sheet” now because I always froget something and then feel guilty about forgetting.