On The Sacrament of Confession

The Holy Sacrament of Confession has become a lost sacrament in the eyes of many Catholics. When I visit a parish and I see their bulletin, I am not surprised by the fact that any given parish may have confession for merely 30 minutes on a Saturday afternoon. It has been greatly de-emphasized. There are probably many reasons for the de-emphasis that has happened in recent years. The biggest reason, I believe, for the loss of this Sacrament is that the world somehow got the idea that sin does not really exist. And if sin did not really exist, then why is there a need for a sacrament to forgive sins?

Now, I am not pointing blame to the parish priests, who were probably taught this by rogue theologians of the last 40 years. Joseph Fuchs, a very well known moral theologian, propogated the fundamental option theory, saying essentially that a person is like a ship, and if our fundamental option is to choose Christ, then it would take a lot of the turning of the ship to not choose Christ. Essentially, a mortal sin might only slightly veer us off-course. Fuchs was one of the great moral theologians that was taught in the seminary, and his theology did a lot of damage.

Among the younger Church, we are blessed to be having a resurgence of the Sacrament of Confession. Unlike the older generations of baby-boomers, which were by and large individualistic, youth and young adults of today recognize the importance of community, and they recognize sin as a separation from that community. This community is the Holy Catholic Church, and grave sin separates us from it. We recognize that Confession is the reconciling of our sins so that we might be freed of them and enjoy the graces we obtain through the Sacraments of the Church.

Some may make the following argument: "Why offer confession? Youth and young adults don't really know about it, or appreciate it anyway. They would never come." For the last few years, I was privileged to take part as a volunteer at Mount 2000 and Beyond. This was a Eucharistic based retreat that was not only centered on the Eucharist, but also on the Sacrament of Confession. At any point of the day, from 7 AM to 11 PM, there were around 10 priests hearing confessions at any given point. The only exception was during Mass, where the priests concelebrated. The seminarians in charge of the confessional area and the line for confessions were asked to count all of those going to confession to get a rough number of the number of confessions that were heard throughout the weekend. Now, I must say that we capped the number of participants at 1,600 for the weekend. We do this because of the space issue we experienced. And wouldn't you know, that those keeping track counted 991 confessions that were heard throughout the weekend? And these were youth in high schools! Not only did we make confession amply available, but we also talked about confession the entire weekend and the importance of it. We also supplied confession guides called an examination of conscience. We recognized that a lot of these kids may not have been to confession in a long while, so out of pastoral charity we nurtured them and helped them along, that they would make good confessions. It was really moving to see the number of people who had their sins forgiven that weekend. It was very uplifting.

When I was in high school, I went on a retreat that one night offered the Sacrament of Confession. It had been a long while for me, and there were many things I had to confess, things that had collected over a number of years. What a great relief it was, that after confessing my sins to a priest, that he offered me absolution! I was freed of my sins. It felt great. And you know, now I am in the habit of goes at least once every two weeks, and every time I go to confession, I leave feeling spiritually refreshed, knowing the sins I committed were no longer there to weigh me down.

Now, going to confession can be hard. There have been many times for me where I think about going, but there is a little voice in my head trying to persuade me not to. Perhaps it is the evil one trying to put thoughts in my head; perhaps it was me trying to avoid the shame my sins bring. But let me tell you, of the hundred plus times I have gone to confession (I don't even try to keep track any more the number of times I had gone), I never had a priest tell me that I was an idiot, or that I should have a lot of shame. Every time, the response was a response of love and forgiveness. So really, my excuses for not going because of some sort of shame was completely unfounded. What I am saying is that, no matter what your sin is, you will be met with love and forgiveness by the priest who meets with you. The reason why priests post times to hear confessions is that they want you to go. It is an invitation to you and I to take advantage of this great gift of God to man, the forgiveness of sins in a very literal way.

Now, I do have to address this: some readers may have had a bad experience at one time or another of a priest who yelled at them, or some other insult. I am not going to condone or try to explain why a priest may have done that; I don't know why a priest would be condemning when you are seeking love and forgiveness. I will tell you though, that if you are afraid of going to a priest, please contact me, and I will give you the name of several priests I know, and you can arrange with them a meeting for confession. I know good priests in the Archdiocese of Washington, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia.

For the priests who may be reading this, I have offered some tips that I hope you can use for the promotion of confession. Let me give you a few well defined ideas:
1. You must preach that sin is a grave reality of the human condition, and only through the mercy and love of God will it be possible for those sins to be forgiven. We have a deep experience of the love of God and the forgiveness of God through the sacrament of confession, since it is the priest who is "in the person of Christ". Preach this often, preach this every day, and tell your school kids. Tell everybody you meet of the redeeming power of Christ found in Confession.
2. You can't just tell everybody about confession, but you must provide resources to your parish and those to whom you minister that will help them make a good confession. The first resource you provide is your own priestly example. People recognize holiness, and when they do, it inspires them to do better. In addition, a good examination of conscience is essential; please invest in something like this. The investment will be returned 100 times over if even one good confession is made, which results in the salvation of a soul.
3. We must remember that Jesus did not hear confessions merely from 4-4:30 on a Saturday afternoon. Whenever the need for forgiveness was there, he was ready to give it. He didn't tell the people he met, "come back on the Sabbath, since I am not scheduled right now." If a priest is truly "in persona Christi", and if he is truly all things to all people, he needs to be ready to hear confession at any point of the day. When a priest is too busy to hear a confession, then he is too busy. The celebration of Mass and Confession should be the top two priorities of a priest during the day. Please expand the amount of time confession is heard. Do it before daily Mass, have a special night of Eucharistic Adoration with confessions available once a week. Be creative in the scheduling of times for confessions. And also be on call for that lost soul who may come up to you at the most unexpected time. When this happens, we must recognize this as a true moment of grace for that person, and if you turn him away because you are busy, you may have just lost a soul. Offer confession as much as possible.

Now, there is also a role for the family in the formation of what the Sacrament of Confession is. In the family, there is an essential role in the formation and catechesis of Confession. Here are a few easy, applicable tips that parents can use when talking to their children.
1. Pick up the Catechism of the Catholic Church and become familiar with Confession yourself. Understand what it is, why we do it, and what exactly happens. Also, before you can truly explain what Confession is, go to it yourself and see firsthand what it is. This is especially poignant if you haven't gone in a while.
2. At the dinner table, start a discussion and catechesis on the Sacrament of Confession. Start with the notion that sin is a reality, and that God loves us so much that He lets His priests forgive those sins, precisely because a priest is in the person of Christ.
3. Schedule a time with a priest when your whole family can go to confession. Of course, the confessions will be individual, but when you go as a family, you can further stress the importance of it. You can also use this as a nice family activity one evening, and family activities are important. Doing this stresses the importance of not only confession and reconciliation, but also it stresses the family. Also, invite your local priest over to dinner every now and then. They really appreciate that, and it gives your kids an example of a priest who really cares, which would further encourage them to frequent the Sacrament of Confession.

Now, I also want to address young men and women who may be reading this. You may not be a parent yet, or you still may be in high school or college.
1. Also pick up a Catechism and learn about confession.
2. You are at a special time in life when you are trying to figure out God's call for you. The best way to figure out God's call for us is through prayer and the frequent reception of the Sacraments. If you are serious about discerning the will of God on your life, then you mus be serious about the sin that may be holding you down. It is important, that when discerning and praying, to know that sin distorts our relationship with God, and so it is important to know that sin will affect our prayer life. We must, as a result of this, realize that going to Confession often will spiritually make us disposed to hear the voice of God. As a result of this, one of the best things we can do spiritually is by going to Confession frequently.
3. Know that even though you may be the only young person in line for Confession at your Church, there are other young adults who go to Confession. We are called to spread the joy and love of God with people we know, so we must act as sacramental missionaries, sharing the joy of Confession with others and encouraging them to go as well. You are called to be Christ to your friends, so next time you go to confession, invite a friend to go as well. There have been so many conversions that happened because of simple gestures like this. Be Christ to others.

And now, for everybody, we must realize that it is a priest who can hear and forgive sins in the Sacrament of Confession, or Reconciliation. As a result, we must continue that the grace of God moves the hearts of young men everywhere, so that they may offer themselves as candidates for the priesthood. And if you are a young man reading this, please consider such a charge for your life. We need men to offer themselves as candidates for the priesthood.

I hope that in my musings I have moved some of you to consider going to Confession. I like to say, that if my writing and actions move just one person to repentence, then my writings and actions are a success, but not because I made them successful, but because Christ made them successful. May you always remain close to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sacrament of Confession.

Our Lady, help of Christians, Pray for us.
St. Augustine, pray for us.
St. Raymond of Penafort, pray for us.