Sunday, June 24, 2007
The Sacrament of Confession
In your opinion, how often do you believe Catholics should go to the Sacrament of Confession? Should this decision be based on your spiritual needs, on the teachings of the Catholic Church found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church or based on the availability of a priest in your parish or diocese?
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6 comments:
Why do we always need to ask question with the "or" ... to do one "or" the other. Surely there is room for a combination of more than one of the alternatives presented. What is important is that people make use of this great gift of God and the church. People need to avail themselves and priests need to encourage the sacrament.
i have been unable to go to confession since Ratzinger became Pope. I simply cannot reconcile this man with the Papacy; he is such a stretch from the Holiness of PJII. I don't have a priest near me that I feel I can talk this over with; and don't know how to express this fact at confession. it is all very confusing to me and i desperately need guidance from somone
I loved John Paul II. He was pope during most of my young life. This new pope is so foreign and seemingly removed from America. I know he's supposed to visit us.
Please go to confession, Jean. Your confession is separate from your feelings about this pope. You are allowed to feel this way I think, because the rapport and communication we were so used to from John Paul II seems sorely missing. Feeling that way may not be a sin, but rather, a feeling, which may be considered neutral.
I suspect that the media is not as enamored of this pope and so we are not hearing all of his goings on like we did with our beloved John Paul II. Do not be afraid of telling your priest in the confessional how you feel. God knows us as human beings..We were so drawn to the warmth of our former pope. We have not gotten that feeling from Pope Benedict...it may not be in his capacity to be able to project what John Paul II projected so easily.We must try to reconcile that within ourselves. And, we must be hopeful that this pope will be able to reach us, and we must try to find any and all means to know him. There's EWTN, and the church bookstore/gift shop (if you have one) is a good place to start.
Jean & Margaret: Perhaps you both could elaborate on how Pope Benedict XVI seems "foreign". Certainly, he is different, but I found that reading his first encyclical gave me an insight into his individuality.
If you suscribe to the Zenit service, then you would get a daily dose of what this Pope is doing.
Not "knowing" a Pope is a strange reason to not go to confession. Also, we are required to go to confession once a year.
When I read the question, I thought, "It's a combination of all of these". Fortuneatley, I live in a metropolitan area. There are enough Catholic churches, I have no trouble finding a time to go to confession nor finding a priest to whom to confess. I attend at the Cathedral, but also enjoy participating at the Parish church.
Don Snow
Fort Worth, TX
I think 3 or 4 times a year is a good goal for most Catholics, based on what I've heard from confessors, and from my own experience that going less frequently than that leads to lax moral discipline. The real go-getters might strive for once a month.
Of course, you shouldn't confine yourself to a fixed schedule if a grave sin weighs on your conscience. In that case, you should go as soon as possible, regardless of when you last went.
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