Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, stated recently that 'one of the most tragic failings that the Church suffered in the second half of the 20th century was to have neglected the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Penance … amongst priests this has caused tremendous loss of spiritual profile'. He goes on to say that when the priest is no longer a confessor he becomes a social worker of a religious kind. From this remark, I was left wondering about parish noticeboards and Parish Bulletin which advertise: 'Confessions – by appointment'. It is becoming rare to see the traditional notice: 'Confessions 4.00pm – 6.00pm Saturday afternoon before the Vigil Mass.' Fifteen and twenty minute slots appear to suffice...Read the rest here.
Thanks to Sue Cifelli for sharing.
2 comments:
Clearly, I'm not Catholic so I can't speak to what is currently the norm, but I do know how rare it was in my teens (when I was actively attending a Catholic Church) to have Confession. I can think of twice, honestly.
I love that we have established times in my Orthodox church to have confession (always after Saturday Vespers, and usually any other Vespers that week, and many Sundays before Liturgy) in addition to the fact that Father will make an appointment if you need to.
I think that Confession is SO VERY IMPORTANT it needs to be everywhere, not hard to find.
I hope my comments are ok, my dear friend.
Mimi, your comments are always welcome my friend! I wish we had Vespers at our parishes. Maybe they do but I don't know about them.
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