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DoGodsBidding
Guest
Great point.I find it ironic that we are so willing to harshly judge priests when we are looking for forgivenessā¦
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lil_flower_luv
Guest
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Mrs_Sally
Guest
Absolutely! Which is also why I always try to arrive at the beginning of the scheduled time. Even with just a few folks ahead of you, you could potentially wait an hour and still not have your confession heard!
It is important to be prepared and to be as consise as possible in the confessional. However, you have no way at all of knowing how long someone elseās confession will take.
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fred_conty
Guest
The Cure of Ars, the parish priest of France, heard confessions up to 18 hours each day.
Just a little info.
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Faith1960
Guest
I did find it amusing when someone said the priest was sitting there for a whole hour and a half!
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ByzCathCantor
Guest
Sorry to be jumping in on this one after such lively exchange, but this is a most important subject, and its so very easy to feel hurt, rejected or otherwise. Last thing we need is a faithful Catholic to drift from the faith ā¦
To err is human, to forgive divine. So long as the priests were āpoliteā in informing you they could not stay, we should give them the benefit of the doubt. It is unfortunate, however, to be in such a predicament from either side.
I wrote not so much to give simple, somewhat obvious advice at this stage, but more so because I was moved by the most touching part of the OP ā¦
Be forgiving, and receive the newborn Savior in your heart!
To err is human, to forgive divine. So long as the priests were āpoliteā in informing you they could not stay, we should give them the benefit of the doubt. It is unfortunate, however, to be in such a predicament from either side.
I wrote not so much to give simple, somewhat obvious advice at this stage, but more so because I was moved by the most touching part of the OP ā¦
Angeline, you were well named! It certainly seems that you went with penitant heart, and despite not being able to confess to a priest, you made a sincere act of perfect condition (contrition) by confessing in prayer to God. In Eastern tradition, even in the case of mortal sin (or grave sin, as we would say), this sincere act together with a commitment to confess as soon as possible thereafter would suffice for the moment and permit you to receive the Blessed Sacrament with a clear conscience. After all, you could not confess through no fault of your own.
Be forgiving, and receive the newborn Savior in your heart!
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
And?
This is something to strive for, to live a live worthy of the Saints, but it is not something that we should expect of others.
To do so is to set up others to fail in our eyes. No one can live up to that nor should they have to.
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Annabelle_Marie
Guest
And yet people would still be turned away at the end of the dayā¦just a little infoā¦
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paperwight66
Guest
And other priests were brought in to do the normal parish work which he was not able to do while he was doing that.
He is held up as a saint for parish priests because of his devotion to his people, not for how he worked this out in practice.
He also used to boil up a pan of poatoes at the beginning of the week, then eat a few of them each day as his meal, even though they got mouldy. Iād be wary of suggesting that to any priest I know, quite frankly.
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Semper_Zelare
Guest
Worst!?! Wellā¦ 2 of the churches I go to normally schedule confession only once a week. I didnāt realize how bad that was. I mean, I thought it wasnāt awesome, but I make do.
Anyways, there is a more traditional church I visit sometimes, and one of the main reasons I visit is that they do confessions 30 minutes before every Mass. I think every parish should strive to do that.
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Annabelle_Marie
Guest
My daily parish does 30 minutes before Mass but they always have to turn people away because they have to say Massā¦
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Chaplain777
Guest
Maybe someone in your parish could suggest they start 60 minutes before Mass? Especially if they turn away folks every time.My daily parish does 30 minutes before Mass but they always have to turn people away because they have to say Massā¦
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Elizabeth502
Guest
I think reasonable compromise is essential. (See my earlier post.) I mean that very much as a two-way street, and on many levels.
The primary task of the ministerial priesthood is attention to the souls of parishioners, with the sacraments being primary in that respect. Everything else should be secondary. Naturally, though that spiritual oversight encompasses many things (not only regular administration of the sacraments), such as spending time with grieving families, counseling spiritually troubled or questioning parishioners, making hospital visits when called to do so, etc. All of these would fall in the category of his primary responsibility.
Given the breadth of the spiritual needs in any parish, a priest is a busy man, even if he is partnered in that effort with an assistant pastor. We lay people cannot expect unlimited access to confession, but neither, i.m.o., is one hour at a fixed time each week (usually Saturday) reasonable. The āmeetingā referred to here may (again) have been urgent enough to be rigid about the confessional time, but too often priests are being called upon to consume lots of their work-week in administrative tasks which do not require the charism of Holy Orders. The situation has intensified with the scarcity of priests in many locations, as well as dwindling Mass attendance leaving parish funds low, and sometimes resulting in closed or cluster parishes.
I have personally known pastors who have spent 80% of their week as business managers. This is actually not necessary, since most such tasks could be assigned to lay people, who very often, if experienced as managers, can frankly do a better job of it than a man whose whole adult life has consisted of theological and pastoral training. A competent lay professional can manage the prioritizing, organizing, coordinating, and communicating, as well as the handling of personnel. (The latter task is something that pastors are often especially ill-equipped to do, with disastrous consequences.) If a lay administrator is good enough as the Right Hand Man of our local bishop, this should be good enough for any pastor.
Every active priest has a legitimate need for spiritual time (his own prayer & reflection) spent apart from serving others, just as we all do. And that spiritual time makes him (and us) better able to serve. I wish that dioceses would see the advantages in paying at least one full-time administrative staff member for each pastor or large parish. Right now, the trend has been to āsave moneyā by keeping multiple part-timers on staff, to avoid the cost of subsidizing employee benefits, but it seems to me that that is penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to the most precious commodity of all: the priestās time.
ā¦Just some thoughtsā¦
The primary task of the ministerial priesthood is attention to the souls of parishioners, with the sacraments being primary in that respect. Everything else should be secondary. Naturally, though that spiritual oversight encompasses many things (not only regular administration of the sacraments), such as spending time with grieving families, counseling spiritually troubled or questioning parishioners, making hospital visits when called to do so, etc. All of these would fall in the category of his primary responsibility.
Given the breadth of the spiritual needs in any parish, a priest is a busy man, even if he is partnered in that effort with an assistant pastor. We lay people cannot expect unlimited access to confession, but neither, i.m.o., is one hour at a fixed time each week (usually Saturday) reasonable. The āmeetingā referred to here may (again) have been urgent enough to be rigid about the confessional time, but too often priests are being called upon to consume lots of their work-week in administrative tasks which do not require the charism of Holy Orders. The situation has intensified with the scarcity of priests in many locations, as well as dwindling Mass attendance leaving parish funds low, and sometimes resulting in closed or cluster parishes.
I have personally known pastors who have spent 80% of their week as business managers. This is actually not necessary, since most such tasks could be assigned to lay people, who very often, if experienced as managers, can frankly do a better job of it than a man whose whole adult life has consisted of theological and pastoral training. A competent lay professional can manage the prioritizing, organizing, coordinating, and communicating, as well as the handling of personnel. (The latter task is something that pastors are often especially ill-equipped to do, with disastrous consequences.) If a lay administrator is good enough as the Right Hand Man of our local bishop, this should be good enough for any pastor.
Every active priest has a legitimate need for spiritual time (his own prayer & reflection) spent apart from serving others, just as we all do. And that spiritual time makes him (and us) better able to serve. I wish that dioceses would see the advantages in paying at least one full-time administrative staff member for each pastor or large parish. Right now, the trend has been to āsave moneyā by keeping multiple part-timers on staff, to avoid the cost of subsidizing employee benefits, but it seems to me that that is penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to the most precious commodity of all: the priestās time.
ā¦Just some thoughtsā¦
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Annabelle_Marie
Guest
Because even if they started 60 minutesā¦they would still turn people away. Priests have other responsibilities tooā¦
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Cathryn
Guest
Pastors are responsible by virtue of their office to teach, to sanctify, and to govern their parishes. Even if they had a paid, professional, administrative assistant, they would still be responsible for all that goes on in their parish. At the end of the scheduled time of Confession, sometimes they have to go to a meeting where the Pastor is required to be the Presider, such as the pastoral council or the finance council meeting. Some things can not be delegated to the laity, or to a paid assistant. And sometimes they need to go to the restroom, or grab something to eat before going to the meeting. I would take the priest at his word that he had to go to a meeting.
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Elizabeth502
Guest
Many, many of the current administrative tasks being performed by most pastors can in fact be delegated. I know this, since I have worked in administration in parishes, and watched pastors do what any competent lay administrator could do. Key word: competent. When a pastor is spending 80% of his time administering, then he is being misused. My network of associates in numerous dioceses throughout the country confirms this as well. Pastors have become administrators by default, not by necessity. It is not the intention of the Roman Church to make business managers out of local pastors. Again, a competent administrator who is also Catholic and knows what the heck he/she is doing, is capable of partnering with a pastor in such a way as to ensure that oversight remains with the pastor, while trivial tasks are delegated to others. This is what is happening with our local, extremely busy and highly competent bishop. Obviously he needs to govern his own diocese; obviously he is the one ultimately responsible, but by no means does he allow administration to erode his role as spiritual shepherd. He manages nevertheless to be very visible/vocal regarding contemporary moral issues which affect the entire Church body and society, not only his diocese. A pastor has not more responsibility than a bishop.
In a particular case I would also take the pastor/priests at their word. Naturally. On a regular basis, no. Regularly, one hour of confession for an entire parish, on a day and time when many parishioners actually are working for a necessary wage, is insufficient in the year 2011. That pattern is outdated and does not respond to lay lifestyles in the 21st century. Regularly preferring āmeetingsā to sacraments is not what a priest in the active ministry is called to do. And my point is that too often such administrative tasks are taking precedence over spiritual responsibilities.
And by the way, in many parishes it is not even an hour, but 30-45 minutes. For an entire parish, this is absurdly insufficient. In a couple of parishes I know of, there is no regular scheduled confession time period, and also no published announcement in the bulletin of alternative scheduled locations for confessions. That violates canon law, which states that Catholics must be assured of anonymous confession opportunities. (Scheduled confessions compromise anonymity.)
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
Priests are not just āsacrament machinesā. There is more to priestly ministry than just the sacraments. Parish administration is part of that ministry for those who are assigned as pastors.
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Cathryn
Guest
This case had three priests for hearing Confessions and was scheduled for 4 until 6:30pm. The priest says he had to go for a meeting at the end. Even if he had an administrative assistant, he would probably still have had to go to his meeting. Administrative assistants donāt usually work into the evening hours as most parish priests do. Besides, Pastoral council meetings require the Pastor to preside over them. In fact, Canon Law dictates this.
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Chaplain777
Guest
Wow, that really does seem like an issueā¦to me anyways.
Turning that many people away every week seems like there are some time management issues going on.
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Annabelle_Marie
Guest
I would agreeā¦but on the part of people who show up for confession 5 minutes before Massā¦Wow, that really does seem like an issueā¦to me anyways.
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