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Genesis315
Guest
I’m with you. Free grace and healing, why not go often? But I used to be one of those types that figured I could just confess to God. Thank the Lord our Lady helped show me the light :dancing:
I’m lucky, my parish has it every day. The one I went to during this summer had it twice a day! (granted, maybe one or two people went during those times, but still…).
J
jhardee
Guest
Repent and confess your sins to your heavenly Father , not to a priest who is full of sin. A priest, bishop , pope or any minister cannot forgive sin. Whether you are catholic or evangelical 
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mercygate
Guest
Only God forgives sin. No Catholic would deny that. But Jesus has entrusted to the Apostolic Church the “ministry of reconciliation” (2Cor 5:18 Jn 20:21-23, Mt 16:17-19) which is exercised by Bishops and Priests “in the person of Christ” (2Cor 2:10). You don’t think God leaves the room when we come in for Confession do you? The traditional formula begins with “I confess to Almighty God . . .”Repent and confess your sins to your heavenly Father , not to a priest who is full of sin. A priest, bishop , pope or any minister cannot forgive sin. Whether you are catholic or evangelical
Hey jhardee! As a convert, I can testify that confession is one of the best things about being Catholic.
You should really look into the spirituality and theology of this beautiful sacrament. You seem not to be very clear on what the Catholic Church teaches about it, about repentance, about the mercy of God, about the blood of Jesus Christ washing away our sins . . . I think you would be pleasantly surprised.
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mercygate
Guest
Only God forgives sin. No Catholic would deny that. But Jesus has entrusted to the Apostolic Church the “ministry of reconciliation” (2Cor 5:18 Jn 20:21-23, Mt 16:17-19) which is exercised by Bishops and Priests “in the person of Christ” (2Cor 2:10). You don’t think God leaves the room when we come in for Confession do you?
Hey jhardee! As a convert, I can testify that confession is one of the best things about being Catholic.
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cargopilot
Guest
Hi ByzCath,
You’re right. I don’t know where and when the several thousand families in my parish choose to avail themselves to the sacrament of reconcilliation. They probably are all doing it, as much as ever, just not here. Here on the regularly scheduled day, there are usually less than ten people for the whole hour.
Of course, if they’re all going to another parish, I would expect to see some come here from other parishes. But I don’t. I hope you’re right that the sacrament of reconciliation is alive and well and thriving better than ever, and I’m worried about nothin’.
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cargopilot
Guest
I would like to add that I do worry about the future of the sacrament of reconciliation. If nobody comes, why should the priests?
If I had a favorite flavor of ice cream that happened to be very unpopular with everybody else and only one or two in a thousand ice cream eaters liked it, how long would I be able to get that flavor? I think that flavor would have been cancelled long before sales slipped that low.
In the face of an acute priest shortage, why should we expect so many of them to just sit there, alone, just waiting for penitants to come, when there are so many other things they can do?
If I had a favorite flavor of ice cream that happened to be very unpopular with everybody else and only one or two in a thousand ice cream eaters liked it, how long would I be able to get that flavor? I think that flavor would have been cancelled long before sales slipped that low.
In the face of an acute priest shortage, why should we expect so many of them to just sit there, alone, just waiting for penitants to come, when there are so many other things they can do?
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mercygate
Guest
If I were a busy priest, I would schedule myself for 4 hours of confession a week – just to have quiet time to do spiritual reading, to pray, to work on my homilies – that is, if I were in a place where nobody showed up.
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cargopilot
Guest
Ya’ know? That’s not a bad idea. I never thought of it that way, but a priest could get some serious quiet time where no one would ever bother him. GREAT idea.
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Pentecost2005
Guest
Yes, wow, that’s really convincing.Repent and confess your sins to your heavenly Father , not to a priest who is full of sin. A priest, bishop , pope or any minister cannot forgive sin. Whether you are catholic or evangelical
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scjmb03
Guest
Wow! For starters, confession is alive and well. At my parish we have at least two hours each Saturday with two priests hearing confessions with a continual line in addition to hearing confessions after Mass when asked and private appointments which seem to be numerous. Our priests mention confession at least twice a month during their homilies and what constitutes sin. Another local parish has an hour of confessions on Saturdays plus prior or after almost every Mass offered in addition or private appointments. This does not include those who go to the local abbey or a spiritual director for confession.
As for:
“Repent and confess your sins to your heavenly Father , not to a priest who is full of sin. A priest, bishop , pope or any minister cannot forgive sin. Whether you are catholic or evangelical”
Another WOW! The priest is not forgiving your sins! The priest is acting as the community by receiving your confession instead of us having to stand up in front of the parish before Mass and confession our sins to the everyone. This is where the history of confession started with months or a year of penance prior to public forgiveness. So, we are granted privacy by the priest acting as the community in hearing our confession and then in his wisdom as a priest he can direct us spiritually in order to assist us in not repeating our sinful behavior. Then, in persona Christi absolution is granted. This forgiveness comes from God through the person of the priest not from the priest individually. While priests are sinful as individuals, when they act as Christ through the Sacraments such as confession and the Eucharist, their personal sinfulness is not where the forgiveness is coming from. Forgiveness comes from our perfect heavenly Father through the death of His Son, our Lord and Savior expressed through his priest.
As for:
“Repent and confess your sins to your heavenly Father , not to a priest who is full of sin. A priest, bishop , pope or any minister cannot forgive sin. Whether you are catholic or evangelical
”Another WOW! The priest is not forgiving your sins! The priest is acting as the community by receiving your confession instead of us having to stand up in front of the parish before Mass and confession our sins to the everyone. This is where the history of confession started with months or a year of penance prior to public forgiveness. So, we are granted privacy by the priest acting as the community in hearing our confession and then in his wisdom as a priest he can direct us spiritually in order to assist us in not repeating our sinful behavior. Then, in persona Christi absolution is granted. This forgiveness comes from God through the person of the priest not from the priest individually. While priests are sinful as individuals, when they act as Christ through the Sacraments such as confession and the Eucharist, their personal sinfulness is not where the forgiveness is coming from. Forgiveness comes from our perfect heavenly Father through the death of His Son, our Lord and Savior expressed through his priest.
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netmilsmom
Guest
Do I detect a Protestant in our midst?Repent and confess your sins to your heavenly Father , not to a priest who is full of sin. A priest, bishop , pope or any minister cannot forgive sin. Whether you are catholic or evangelical
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Confiteor
Guest
Priests and other sources (see the link to the article posted earlier) have corroborated that fewer people are going to confession and at less frequent intervals. So while, the OP should not presume to know whether a particular parishioner should be at confession or whether he or she is receiving the sacrament elsewhere, the observation is a valid one in terms of the “general” Catholic population. And just as we understand most of us will need purgation someday, most of us need confession now. From what I’ve seen, the more the sacrament is available, the more people come. This is especially true if the priests spending the time in the confessionals are truly proponents of frequent confessions and are excellent confessors. (e.g. in history, St. John Vianney, Cure d’Ars, was one of these). There seems to be a correlation there as well. OTOH, if a parish’s confessors are not often available and not interested in the sacrament, fewer and fewer parishioners will come to them. I’ve seen both types in my diocese, and it is worth driving a distance --even at today’s gasoline prices–for a good confessor.
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
Sorry but I do not even buy into this argument.
Just becuase individual priests see a decline in confession does not mean that people are not going to confession, it just means that people are not going to him for confession.
Again, I would bet that if you asked at the monastery I go to you would be told that they are over loaded in the confession department.
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cargopilot
Guest
Hi ByzCath,
Respectfully, I disagree with your position that the sacrament of reconciliation is thriving and alive and well and that it’s only dead at a few places where the priests are poor confessors.
I ‘get around.’ I have the opportunity to visit parishes around the USA and around the world. In North America and Europe, I can say with certainty, that parishes with short to non-existant lines far, far out number those with a long line. In Central and South America, there are much longer lines.
ByzCath, I hope you’re right that the sacrament is as popular as ever, and I’m just not looking in the right spot. I have read multiple articles about the sharp decline in the sacrament, and I’m hoping you could direct me to some articles that refute that. I really would like to see something that indicates anything other than penitants staying away in droves.
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fix
Guest
You would be hard pressed to make this argument. I think most would agree there has been a dramatic decline in confession. There are several reasons for this, but I cannot see how you can say there is no problem?
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Seamus
Guest
I belong to a great parish that, regrettably, only hears confessions for 30 minutes each Saturday afternoon (and “by appointment” at all other times). In all fairness, however, our parish only has one (fantastic!) priest and he is pretty busy.
Like many residents of Central New Jersey, I live in one town and work in another. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of Catholics who live in my area of New Jersey commute into Manhattan each day for work. ( I am about a one-hour train ride south of midtown Manhattan.) Many churches in the city have daily Mass at times convenient to commuters. In addition, many of those churches also hear confessions each day as well. The priests and bishops at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, for example, hear confession a few times each day. As a result, there are many Catholics such as myself who confess regularly in one parish/city and receive the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday morning in their home parish. That may not explain why so many Catholics have stopped going to confession, but it might mitigate it somewhat.
Like many residents of Central New Jersey, I live in one town and work in another. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of Catholics who live in my area of New Jersey commute into Manhattan each day for work. ( I am about a one-hour train ride south of midtown Manhattan.) Many churches in the city have daily Mass at times convenient to commuters. In addition, many of those churches also hear confessions each day as well. The priests and bishops at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, for example, hear confession a few times each day. As a result, there are many Catholics such as myself who confess regularly in one parish/city and receive the Blessed Sacrament on Sunday morning in their home parish. That may not explain why so many Catholics have stopped going to confession, but it might mitigate it somewhat.
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palmas85
Guest
Just an opinion, but perhaps valid. Many people if not most have come to believe that sin is an obsolete concept. How many people even on this board still believe in the existance of Satan for instance? Probably not more than a handful if that. The point is, if we don’t believe in the existance of evil, we probably won’t believe in sin either. No sin, no need to confess. Easy answer.
Also it seems that many have come to believe in universal salvation for everyone, regardless of their beliefs, lifestyle and morals. How often have we heard eulogies praising the dead and hearing words like these below:
So and so was a good person and we know that so and so is in heaven with God now or so and so is in a better place, or so and so isn’t suffering any more, or so and so now walks at the right hand of the Father etc, etc. What happened to purgatory? Or of dying in a state of mortal sin and going to Hell? Maybe they are both archaic concepts. I know the church still teaches in their existance but they sure don’t put much emphasis on them.
It is interesting to note that Protestant Churches don’t have the sacrament of reconciliation either. What? Confess my sins to a mere man? Not me. Protestants always did reject reconciliation and penance as man made fabrications and unnecessary in light of the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. They see reconciliation as a lessening of Christs sacrifice and an affront to God, since both are totally and completely unsupported biblically. Coincidence? Maybe, who knows, maybe they are right and we are wrong. Maybe salvation is a one shot deal. Baptized in the name of the the Lord, saved no matter what happens.
Or maybe In the interest of ecumenical correctness we have become Protestantized to the point that we just don’t need the sacrament anymore. And you know it might just offend the sensibilities of someone and we can’t have anything like that happen, can we?.
Also it seems that many have come to believe in universal salvation for everyone, regardless of their beliefs, lifestyle and morals. How often have we heard eulogies praising the dead and hearing words like these below:
So and so was a good person and we know that so and so is in heaven with God now or so and so is in a better place, or so and so isn’t suffering any more, or so and so now walks at the right hand of the Father etc, etc. What happened to purgatory? Or of dying in a state of mortal sin and going to Hell? Maybe they are both archaic concepts. I know the church still teaches in their existance but they sure don’t put much emphasis on them.
It is interesting to note that Protestant Churches don’t have the sacrament of reconciliation either. What? Confess my sins to a mere man? Not me. Protestants always did reject reconciliation and penance as man made fabrications and unnecessary in light of the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. They see reconciliation as a lessening of Christs sacrifice and an affront to God, since both are totally and completely unsupported biblically. Coincidence? Maybe, who knows, maybe they are right and we are wrong. Maybe salvation is a one shot deal. Baptized in the name of the the Lord, saved no matter what happens.
Or maybe In the interest of ecumenical correctness we have become Protestantized to the point that we just don’t need the sacrament anymore. And you know it might just offend the sensibilities of someone and we can’t have anything like that happen, can we?.
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sententia
Guest
I’m lucky enough to go to a parish that ALWAYS has long confession lines. 2 priests usually, sometimes only 1 or 3, but there are always 5 or 6 people in front of me if I get there"on time" and the line has been up to 20 people or so that I’ve seen.
The sacrement is preached during the homily, and posted obviously are the recon. times for our church and others. On sat, we have a sch. 1 1/2 hours, but this usually goes to 2 if not 3 hours, thoughout mass (one priest leaves to celebrate, the other stays until everyone is gone). The wen. night confessions start at 8:30 and go on. I know Fr._ was there until 10:30 one night, and that wasn’t out of the norm for us.
The parish I attended this summer, however, usually didn’t have very many people, I’m hoping it’s just a really holy parish, but I don’t really think so
The sacrement is preached during the homily, and posted obviously are the recon. times for our church and others. On sat, we have a sch. 1 1/2 hours, but this usually goes to 2 if not 3 hours, thoughout mass (one priest leaves to celebrate, the other stays until everyone is gone). The wen. night confessions start at 8:30 and go on. I know Fr._ was there until 10:30 one night, and that wasn’t out of the norm for us.
The parish I attended this summer, however, usually didn’t have very many people, I’m hoping it’s just a really holy parish, but I don’t really think so
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netmilsmom
Guest
Amen, my friend!
One cannot believe that there is light without believing there s darkness.
I am amazed at how many people believe in good but deny evil.
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