{"id":13726,"date":"2014-05-23T17:51:01","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T21:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thecrescat\/?p=13726"},"modified":"2015-01-10T21:37:52","modified_gmt":"2015-01-11T02:37:52","slug":"confession-on-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thecrescat\/2014\/05\/confession-on-demand.html","title":{"rendered":"Confession on Demand…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u2026 Have you ever had to jump through logistical hula hoops to have your confession heard? Once I went almost six months between confessions. Turns out that one measly hour a week, Saturday 3 p.m. \u2014 4 p.m., just isn\u2019t enough. For three weeks the line was too long and confession ended before I had the chance to make mine. I even tried two different parishes and arrived 45 minutes early each time. <\/p>\n

With so many penitents seeking the sacrament, I suppose that\u2019s a good thing and I shouldn\u2019t complain. Deo gratias indeed! <\/p>\n

Eventually I got my confession heard. All I had to do was phone up the office and make an appointment for Father\u2019s next available date\u2026 the following month. <\/p>\n

This tells me two things. <\/p>\n

One, priests are incredibly busy people. <\/p>\n

Two, we need more priests. Lots more. <\/p>\n

Catholic families have a responsibility to have lots of babies to potentially meet the growing demand of sorrowful sinners looking to be shriven. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the meantime, while people like that inexhaustible baby maker Simcha Fisher<\/a>, pick up our slack in the creation of future priests department, what exactly are us pathetic sinners to do when confession falls into an hour time slot once a week? Make an appointment for the following month? <\/p>\n

Well, we could try really damn hard to avoid all the big, grave, mortal stuff. Also, we can take advantage of a little Holy Water, the Confiteor<\/a>, and the Eucharist for the remission of venial sin<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Or we could simply walk into a parish, at random, and request our confession be heard. Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry writes<\/a>\u2026 <\/p>\n

So here\u2019s a hack that I\u2019ve used for many years. Not nearly often enough! But when I used it it served me well. It\u2019s very simple:<\/p>\n

Go into a church at random.
\nFind a priest.
\nTell the priest you need a confession now.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

By the way, priests are canonically obligated to say yes when they are asked for a confession. Canon law requires them to drop whatever they\u2019re doing and hear your confession\u2013the only obstacle to that is if they\u2019re performing another sacrament, ie the Eucharist. But you wouldn\u2019t walk up to a priest during Mass to chat him up.<\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

The priests are there. You\u2019re not imposing on them\u2013they\u2019re waiting for you to do this. That\u2019s what they dedicated their lives to. And the Holy Spirit will certainly help you. Go. Grab one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yeah. I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the Southern in me and the fact that woman tend to be more appeasing, but I seriously doubt I could muster the gall to just walk up to a random priest and expect to have my confession heard because \u201che\u2019s canonically obligated to say yes.\u201d <\/p>\n

It would feel like I was implying that a priest\u2019s time is less valuable than my own. <\/p>\n

Also, I can\u2019t even remember the last time I was able to walk into a random church and not find it locked tighter than my mom\u2019s liquor cabinet. Unless mass is about to begin, parishes in the U.S. are typically closed. That\u2019s also the only time you\u2019ll usually find a priest inside them \u2014 and they are hardly just idly sitting around waiting for penitents to wander in. <\/p>\n

Lastly, I would never ever in a million years ever think to stop a priest out in public to request he hear my confession. One time I was at the airport and saw a priest refuse to hear a man\u2019s confession because if he did he would have missed his connecting flight. <\/p>\n

The priest profusely apologized but the gentleman was still visibly upset.<\/p>\n

Did the penitent kill someone on his way to the airport or was he just taking \u201cprecautions\u201d in the event of a crash? <\/p>\n

Of course I don\u2019t want to discourage anyone from seeking out the sacrament of reconciliation. I\u2019m just advocating a more mutually respectful approach. Hear me when I say that confession is absolutely vital. Vital, I tell ya\u2019. If you haven\u2019t made use of it in a very long time please visit your diocese\u2019s website and find a church near you. Here, let me make it easy for you<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m just wondering if the approach Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry suggests is necessary. If confession is a sacrament that is important to us (and it should be) then wouldn\u2019t it stand to reason you\u2019d make the time to go seek the sacrament when it\u2019s regularly offered? Yes, even if it means a few trips. <\/p>\n

Discuss.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026 Have you ever had to jump through logistical hula hoops to have your confession heard? Once I went almost six months between confessions. Turns out that one measly hour a week, Saturday 3 p.m. \u2014 4 p.m., just isn\u2019t enough. For three weeks the line was too long and confession ended before I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[866],"tags":[463],"class_list":["post-13726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sacraments","tag-confession"],"yoast_head":"\nConfession on Demand...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"... Have you ever had to jump through logistical hula hoops to have your confession heard? Once I went almost six months between confessions. 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