If you live here you really don't have an excuse for not going to Confession [Bumped]

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Updated on March 26, 2013
[Originally posted August 22, 2008]

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Two of this area's most prolific and respected bloggers, Adoro and Terry, coincidentally posted recently on difficulties in finding a place to go to Confession. Jeepers, you'd think with 230 parishes in our archdiocese, that should be no problem.

Well, the problem is that most parishes seem to make it available on Saturday afternoons between 3:00 and 5:00, before the Vigil Mass. In days of yore, the kids went to confession on Friday afternoons, I believe, and the grown ups lined up on Saturday mornings or during parish missions or Holy Week. Maybe the problem is that we don't see many lines any more so pastors aren't offering it more often.

But a major logistical problem with sin is that it just does not happen only on Friday nights. Sin is a 24/7 event, sadly, for most of us. Therefore, it is great when we can get dash on over to the morning Confessional line, encounter only a few ahead of us and get shriven of our sins so we can face the day with joy.

Therefor the Official Minnesota Catholic Directory (a two year old edition) was scoured for those parishes that offer Confession on a daily basis (bold type) or at other times than Saturday afternoons.

Tape this to your refrigerator along with the kids homework, your workout schedule or your weight loss stats. Isn't your spiritual health as important as other important parts of your life?

Anoka	St. Stephen	Thursdays 7:00 p.m.
Blaine	St. Timothy	Saturday 6:00 pm
Burnsville	MMOTC	Saturday 9-10 a.m.
Carver	St. Nicholas	Saturday 6-6:30 p.m.
Coon Rapids	Epiphany	After M-F Masses; 9-10:00 am Sat
Corcoran	St. Thomas	Sun: 7:30 a.m.; Thurs: 11:30 a.m.
Crystal	St. Raphael	Saturday: 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Delano	St. Joseph	Thursday: After 8:30 a.m. Mass
Eagan	St. John Neumann	Wednesday: 7:00 p.m.
Edina	Our Lady of Grace	Saturday: 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Edina	St. Patrick	Saturday: 1:00 p.m.
Excelsior	John the Baptist	Sunday: 7:30-7:50; 9:30-9:50
Faribault	Divine Mercy	Saturday: 8-8:30; 9-9:30; Weds & Fri: 8:00 a.m.
Forest Lake	St. Peter	M-F: After 8:30 a.m. Mass
Ham Lake	St. Paul	Mon: 8:15 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.
Hastings	St Elizabeth Seton	M-F: 6:45 a.m.
Hopkins	John the Evangelist	Saturday: 8:45 a.m
Medina	Holy Name	Saturday: 8:30 a.m.
Minneapolis	Holy Rosary	Sun: 8:45-9:15; Sun: 10:30-11:00 (Spanish)
Minneapolis	OL of Lourdes	30 min. before weekend Masses
Minneapolis	St. Joseph Hien	30 minutes before all Masses
Minneapolis	St Anthony/Padua	Saturday: 7:45-8:15
Minneapolis	St. Helena	Saturday 2:45-3:15
Minneapolis	St. Lawrence/Newman	Saturday 9:30-10:00
Minneapolis	St. Leonard	Saturday: After 8:00 Mass
Minneapolis	St. Olaf	M-F after a.m. Mass; TThSa after noon Mass
Northfield	St. Dominic	M-F: 4:45 p.m.
Norwood/YA	Ascension	7:30-8:15 p.m.
Ramsey	Katherine Drexel	30 minutes before all Masses
Robbinsdale	Sacred Heart	Tues-Sat: 7:30-7:50 am [change]
St. Anthony	Charles Borromeo	Sat: 8:30-9 am; Weds: 5:20 pm
St. Bonnie	St. Boniface	Tues-Weds: 7:45-8:00 a.m.
St. Louis Pk	Holy Family	Sunday: 8:00-8:50 a.m.
St. Paul St. Paul	Holy Childhood Assumption	Sunday: 9:30-10:00 [new] M-F: 11:30-11:55
St. Paul	Bl. Sacrament	Saturday: 2:30-3:30
St. Paul	Cathedral	M-F: 4:00-5:05 p.m. [change] Lent 2010: March 20, Communal March 29, 30, 31: 3-5 & 7-8:30 [new]
St. Paul	Nativity	M-F: 7:45 & 4:30
St. Paul	St. Agnes	Sat: 7:30-9:00 a.m.; after Tuesday devotions
St. Paul	St. Bernard	Monday: after 8:15 Mass
St. Paul	Francis de Sales	Saturday: 2:30-3:30
St. Paul	St. James	Tuesday: 8:30 a.m.
St. Paul	St. John	Before every Mass
St. Paul	St Louis	M-F:6:30, 9:30; also 6:30; 9:30 & 11:30 Mon 6:45 & 11:30 Tues - Fri Sat: 6:30, 11:30 except Holy Days & Holidays  [New]
St. Paul	Thomas More	Tuesday: 7:00 p.m.
St. Paul	St. Matthew	Tuesday: 7:15 a.m.
St. Paul	St. Stanislaus	Saturday: 2:30-3:00
St. Paul	SVDP (Hmong)	Sunday: 8:00-8:45 a.m.
St Paul St. Paul Savage	UST, St Thomas Chapel St. Andrew John the Baptist	M-F 3:15 - 4:15 (NEW) Sat: 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (NEW) Saturday: 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Shakopee	St. Mary	15 minutes before Masses
Shoreview	St. Odilia	Saturday: 9:00 a.m.
S. St. Paul	St. Augustine	Saturday: 7:30-8:30 a.m.
Stillwater	St. Mary	Saturday: 8:00 a.m.
Stillwater	St. Michael	M-F: 5:05-5:25 p.m.
Taylors Falls	St. Joseph	After all Masses
Victoria	St. Victoria	Saturday: 6:00 p.m.
Watertown	Imm. Conception	Friday: 7:00-7:30 a.m.
Waverly	St. Mary	Before daily Mass
W. St. Paul	St. Joseph	Saturday: 8:30-9:30 a.m.
W. St. Paul	St. Michael	Saturday: 7:00-8:00 p.m.
White Bear	St. Mary/Lake	Saturday: 9:00 a.m.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Confession, but were Afraid to Ask

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Waiting in line for confession? What to do and not do

Is what we say in confession really private?

Confession – Penance – Reconciliation: Call it what you will, it’s not that hard to go back

Ten Benefits of Confession

Is Confession valid if we don't do the Penance?

What are indulgences and why do we need them?

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 From the Catholic Spirit's Catholic Hotdish blog

Is Confession valid if we don’t do the penance?

Have you ever had to leave right after confession, intending to do your penance as soon as you could—but then you forgot? Or has a priest told you to do a charitable or self-sacrificial act for your penance instead of saying a prayer and because you couldn’t do it at that moment it slipped your mind? In both cases is the absolution valid?
The answer is, it depends.
As with many of the laws and norms governing the Christian life, your level of culpability depends on where your heart is. According to canon law, “the confessor is to impose salutary and suitable penances in accord with the quality and number of sins, taking into account the condition of the penitent. The penitent is obliged to fulfill these personally.” (Canon 981)

What makes a confession invalid

We’re obliged to do the penance, but what  if we accidentally don’t?  The conditions below make a confession invalid, according to a book co-authored by Cardinal Donald Wuerl:

• No true sorrow for sins and lack of intention to avoid grave sin in the future,
• Deliberately neglecting to confess all grave sins, or
• Refusing to do an assigned penance.

So it seems that forgetting to do a penance doesn’t carry the same weight as willfully refusing to do it, and therefore doesn’t invalidate the absolution. But Father John Hardon points out that through centuries of Church teaching, the following have been required of those who receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation:

• They must be truly sorry for their sins, at least out of fear of God’s punishments;
• They must confess their grave sins, or (if there are no mortal sins) at least some venial sin(s) from their past life; and
• They must perform the penance which the confessor gives them.

Importance of the penance

Receiving absolution isn’t the whole story, however. When it comes to making amends for our sins, the penance given in confession plays an important role.
The Catechism states: “Absolution takes away sin, but it does not remedy all the disorders sin has caused. Raised up from sin, the sinner must still recover his full spiritual health by doing something more to make amends for the sin: he must ‘make satisfaction for’ or ‘expiate’ his sins. This satisfaction is also called ‘penance.’” (CCC 1459)
I’m not quite at the point where I’m tying strings around my fingers to remember things like Uncle Billy in It’s a Wonderful Life but I have forgotten to do a penance – or worse, done it half-heartedly. I guess in those cases it might be good to think about why we’re going to confession and who we’re apologizing to.

Lent's coming this Wednesday; Fr. Z has some Confession Tips for You

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Fr. Z’s 20 Tips For Making A Good Confession

We should…

1) …examine our consciences regularly and thoroughly;
2) …wait our turn in line patiently;
3) …come at the time confessions are scheduled, not a few minutes before they are to end;
4) …speak distinctly but never so loudly that we might be overheard;
5) …state our sins clearly and briefly without rambling;
6) …confess all mortal sins in number and kind;
7) …listen carefully to the advice the priest gives;
8) …confess our own sins and not someone else’s;
9) …carefully listen to and remember the penance and be sure to understand it;
10) …use a regular formula for confession so that it is familiar and comfortable;
11) …never be afraid to say something “embarrassing”… just say it;
12) …never worry that the priest thinks we are jerks…. he is usually impressed by our courage;
13) …never fear that the priest will not keep our confession secret… he is bound by the Seal;
14) …never confess “tendencies” or “struggles”… just sins;
15) …never leave the confessional before the priest has finished giving absolution;
16) …memorize an Act of Contrition;
17) …answer the priest’s questions briefly if he asks for a clarification;
18) …ask questions if we can’t understand what he means when he tells us something;
19) …keep in mind that sometimes priests can have bad days just like we do;
20) …remember that priests must go to confession too … they know what we are going through.

The Three Absolvers on How to Make a Good Confession

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 Updated again on March 3, 2013

Don't believe in Mortal Sins?  Francis Cardinal Arinze would like to chat with you, NOW!

Updated a third time on December 20, 2011


Sr. Mary Ann Walsh with the USCCB has ten good, practical reasons for going to Confession regularly, with one really important reason added by Fr. Z!


First Posted on December 9, 2008

Commandments of the Church
III. To confess our sins to a priest, at least once a year.

IV. To receive Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist at least once a year during Easter Season.

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Father John Zuhlsdorf, "Father Z, renowned blogger", has 20 Tips for Making A Good Confession

Father George Rutler, author, preacher and pastor of the Church of Our Savior in Manhattan, has ten pages on "How to Make a Good Confession."
Father Robert Altier, preacher and chaplain in Hastings, MN, has a wonderful "Examination of Conscience" for you. "Keep custody of those eyes!"

and

Father John Zuhlsdorf [Fr. Z.] on "I haven't been to Confession for ten years; I don't know what to do!
Fr. Z, again: Why I still have this blog: a reader’s testimony

And here are two more useful Examinations for children:

Click Here for an Examination of Conscience for Children
Click Here for another Examination for Elementary School ChildrenTip O' the Hat to Catholic Parents OnLine

You say that you think that you prefer to confess your sins directly to God? You don't need to do it to a priest? Read what Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies at Baylor University, former President of the protestant Evangelical Theological Society, and a convert in April 2007 to the Catholic Church has to say on the matter.

Confession: It puts you straight with everyone

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Penance, aka confession, is the sacrament of the forgiveness of sin. You can’t beat it for convenience. It’s available practically whenever.

Tell a priest you want to go to confession and you’ll get his attention. One bishop I know was cornered on an airplane. Another passenger figured out what was going on and asked if he could confess, too. It must have been an interesting game of musical seats. An interesting question for priests might be: Where was the strangest place you ever administered the sacrament of penance?

The answers I’ve gathered include “in a sports bar, at a graduation party” and “on the golf course, walking up the fairway.”

Confession has benefits. Here are 10:

1. Confidentiality guaranteed. There’s nothing like confessing your sins to someone guaranteed not to tell anyone else. Sometimes you need to talk in absolute confidence. Even under subpoena, a priest can’t tell anyone what’s said to him in confession. He can’t even hint at it. Now that’s confidentiality.

2. Housekeeping for the soul. It feels good to be able to start a clean life all over again. Like going into a sparkling living room in your home, it’s nice when clutter is removed — even if it’s your own.

3. A balm for the desire for revenge. When you have been forgiven you can forgive others. If the perfect Jesus forgives me, who am I to want to avenge the slights in my life. Think: “Why did they promote him over me?’ or “Mom played favorites!”

4. Low cost therapy. It’s free, which makes it cheaper than a psychiatrist for dealing with guilt.

5. Forced time to think. Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. To examine our lives and acknowledge failings marks the first step of making things right with God, others and ourselves. Life can be more worth living when you ponder the meaning of your own life.

6. Contribution toward world peace. “Gaudium et Spes,” the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, said that the imbalances in the world that lead to war and tensions “are linked with that more basic imbalance which is rooted in the heart of man.” Peace of soul leads to peace of heart leads to peace beyond oneself.

7. A better neighborhood. Confession leaves you feeling good about yourself, thereby cutting back the inclination to road rage and aggressive shopping cart driving. With the grace of the sacrament you’re energized to, as Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “go and sin no more.”

8. Realistic self-perception. Confession helps overcome arrogance when you have to admit you’re as much of a sinner as anyone else. It helps build tolerance for others’ perceived shortcomings.

9. One more benefit of being Catholic. There are lots of benefits, including a sense of community, liturgical rites to help us encounter God in prayer, and the wonderful sense of humanity exemplified in the saints, from Mary, the loving Mother of God, to Augustine, the exasperating son of Monica. The sacrament that leads us to inner peace is among the greatest boons.

10. Closeness to God. Confession helps you realize that you have a close connection to God and receive his grace through the sacraments. What can be better than knowing God’s on your team, or, to be less arrogant about it, that you are on God’s. Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, USCCB

What is the biggest liturgical abuse?

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The biggest abuse at almost every parish is the nearly 100% reception of Holy Communion by the congregation in parishes that have minuscule Confession opportunities and lines.

I would think that the Communion Fast from food before reception should be increased from one hour to three hours. This would make it much more likely that many parishioners would not be able to keep the fast and if they were adequately catechized, they would not want to receive Communion.

This requirement and that of being free from Mortal Sin should be announced by the celebrant immediately before Communion in every Mass for several years before the habit of sacrilegious reception can be minimized. [A similar announcement is generally given at Christmas and Easter Masses and at marriages and other events where large numbers of non-Catholics might be present].

Ushers should cease guiding communicants "row by row" up to the front. Let them go up as they want, or don't want. Then it won't be so conspicuous if some don't receive, putting an end to idle speculations as to which mortal sin ones neighbor or pew-mate had committed.

Confession opportunities must then be increased for parishioners to more than just 30-60 minutes before the Saturday Vigil Mass.

Confessions after Mass: Is It Confession That They Want?

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Fathers (and Penitents):

Father Bill Baer, now of Transfiguration in Oakdale, is providing some wonderful sacramental thoughts. Spread the word.

from Transfiguration Today by Fr. Bill Baer

As I noted yesterday, many pastors have become wary of hearing confessions after daily Mass on a regular basis.

The principal reason is this: Confessions after Mass have a tendency to become extended spiritual direction or counseling sessions, and sometimes a rather small circle of parishioners, including those with significant emotional and psychological needs, or an unhealthy attachment to the priest, tend to take over this time slot.

The pastor should first assess whether he is providing sufficient time before Mass for confessions. If he is not hearing confessions throughout the scheduled time before Mass, yet finds a significant number of people wishing to make their confession afterwards, this may be a sign that parishioners are developing a two-tiered approach: a quick sacramental “clean-up” before Mass, or a lengthy conversation in the Confessional afterwards.

The pastor who has scheduled confessions after Mass may then wish to do two things: First. . . . [More]

Reconciliation: The Lost Sacrament

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Last summer, as distant church bells tolled at 12:00 p.m., I heard a group of ladies recall stopping to pray the Angelus as Catholic grammar school students. One said she could not remember the prayer’s words. Another replied that she could barely remember the words of the Act of Contrition. The first rejoined, “But we don’t need to know the Act of Contrition anymore. No one goes to confession these days.”

She was right about that last point: compared to the number of people at Sunday Mass, penitents at Saturday confession today are very sparse indeed. But the comment conveys something more profound: the Act of Contrition now seems irrelevant because so many Catholics have lost a sense of sin. If there is no sin, then the sacrament of reconciliation – also called penance or confession – that was given by Christ to forgive sins and to reconcile the sinner with God – to say nothing of Christ’s Cross – all seem curious oddities.

On this page, Brad Miner has described the contemporary loss of the sense of sin, just as, in a different way, Pope John Paul II did twenty-five years ago. According to John Paul, a “sense of sin” is “an acute perception of the seeds of death contained in sin” that the Christian mind has developed from man’s closeness to God and immersion in the Gospel. In the pope’s analogy, a sense of sin is the thermometer of man’s moral conscience. Today the thermometer does not register the presence of sin because sin has been clouded over by social sciences that blame unjust social structures for our ills. Lingering guilt pangs should be treated in therapy. The tide of secularism and sexual license have also contributed to consigning sin to the dusty recesses of the Church’s past, so that in today’s dictatorship of relativism the only sin one can commit is to call someone else’s act a sin.

In this atmosphere, how are Catholics to understand the sacrament of reconciliation? The triumph of the therapeutic has not diminished suffering in the world and in individual lives. Individuals still make deliberately wrong choices that inflict pain and harm on themselves and others. Catholics call these choices sins because they transgress God’s order. To sin is to choose our way over God’s. Our sins cause the kind of pain and suffering that, as Miner wrote, affirm we need more than treatment: we need salvation. That is, we need something from outside of ourselves to save us, to lift us up, and grant us true and certain peace. Enter Jesus Christ and the sacrament of reconciliation.

Since Vatican II, the Church has called this sacrament “reconciliation” to emphasize its role in restoring one’s relationship with God. Sin, depending on its gravity (venial or mortal), damages or even destroys one’s relationship with God. Through the ministry of the Church (“Whose sins you shall forgive. . .”), Christ Himself established this sacrament whereby one receives forgiveness and is restored to harmony with God. The sacrament requires three acts by the penitent (the one seeking forgiveness): first, contrition (genuine sorrow for sins committed and the resolution to sin no more; this is the fruit of examining one’s conscience); second, confession of sins to a priest; and third, penance (prayers or works done to make reparation for the confessed sins). The priest, acting in the name of Christ Himself, imparts absolution, by which confessed sins are pardoned forever.

It is often asked why Catholics must confess their sins to a priest rather than directly to God. The answer lies in the very nature of sacraments themselves: sacraments are visible human signs of God transmitting invisible grace to man. When penitents confess their sins to a priest, through the words of absolution – the “visible” sign – they know without doubt that God has forgiven their sins. Even if penitents still feel some remorse or guilt, their souls have been washed clean in the Precious Blood of Christ that was poured out on the Cross. (What was the Crucifixion about if not to redeem us from sin?) They have the Church’s guarantee that this is so. Those who confess their sins “directly to God” receive no such assurance. Just as God the Father sacrificed His Son to make us visibly certain of His love for us, Christ has established the sacrament of reconciliation to make us visibly certain of His forgiveness of our sins.

It is common today to consign serious sins – and therefore the sacrament of reconciliation – to murderers and bank robbers. There’s no need, it seems, for a “good person” to go to confession. St. Thomas Aquinas and countless other saints assert the opposite. Reconciliation is a sacramental step toward living a holy life, and as a result we should seek it often. Because by examining our consciences and confessing regularly, we see where we must improve on the long road of Christian charity. The sacrament of reconciliation, in addition to forgiving sins, also imparts spiritual strength to grow in virtue and witness for the faith.

As we know, the Devil’s greatest trick was convincing the world he does not exist. Satan has done himself one better in short-circuiting our belief in sin. Recovering a sense of sin is vital for full appreciation of Jesus’ love for us, and His mission of reconciling us with God – which we relive each time we approach the sacrament of reconciliation. The Catholic Thing

Confession: Go to where the people are

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Statistics show decreasing numbers of Catholics going to confession, but rather than discouraging churches those numbers are only encouraging them to be more creative in their outreach.

A 2008 study conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University in Washington revealed three-quarters of Catholics reported they never participate in the sacrament of reconciliation or they do so less than once a year.

The Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colo., has taken an innovative approach to remedy this: Go to where the people are -- the shopping mall.

Located on the upper level of the Citadel Mall in Colorado Springs, between the Burlington Coat Factory and Dillard's department stores, the Catholic Center, which offers Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation, is a place shoppers can find solace away from crowds.

"Some people are hesitant to stop into an organized church, but the Catholic Center offers a 'no strings attached' approach," Msgr. Robert E. Jaeger, vicar general of the diocese, told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview.

"The Capuchins wanted to make contact with those who have fallen away from the church. Visitors to the center are anonymous and can either stop in regularly or just once," he said. "People can say, 'Well, I've finished my shopping. I think I'll stop inside for a moment for myself.'"

Staffed by five Capuchin Franciscans, the Catholic Center at the mall is financially supported and promoted by the Diocese of Colorado Springs, the Capuchin Province of Mid-America and the Knights of Columbus.

The center operates during mall hours, providing information on Catholic charities and parishes. It also houses a Catholic bookstore and a chapel where Mass is celebrated twice a day and confessions are heard from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m.

"The Catholic Center has been here since 2001 and it has been very successful," Msgr. Jaeger told CNS. "So far, we've had 16,000 attending the 12:10 p.m. Mass and 72,000 attending the 6 p.m. Mass."

Many parishes offer confession at specific times. With busy schedules, parishioners may miss that window. But in Illinois, with "24 Hours of Grace," in which participating parishes are open for a full day and priests hear confessions on a rotating schedule for the 24 hours, time is no longer a valid excuse.

"I've been a priest for 15 years and know about the declining percentage of people attending confession in the last 30 years or so," Father Michael McGovern, pastor of the Church of St. Mary in Lake Forest, Ill., told CNS.

From the mind of Father McGovern sprang an idea seen as so ingenious that the Archdiocese of Chicago wanted to be a part of it -- "24 Hours of Grace."

The archdiocese adopted the idea as part of its outreach. It is usually held before the Lenten season, a time when many make the resolution to start anew.

"It is a bit of a gimmick, but if people think 'If priests can take time out and hear confessions for 24 hours, then why can't I attend the sacrament,' then I think we've done our job," he told CNS. "What a better way to come back to the church and the sacraments after you've gone to confession."

"24 Hours of Grace" has existed for three years and Father McGovern's parish has participated each year.

According to him, the event benefits the priests just as much as it does those coming to confess. As sinners strengthen their bond with God, priests strengthen their bond with each other.

"We have a collaboration among the priests," he told CNS. "It takes at least 13 priests to put this event together. We come from different parishes and we all work together."

Knights of Columbus also are involved in the event; they provide security for the priests and participants throughout the day and night.

Father McGovern told CNS, "A positive sign of success despite these statistics has been the number of people I've seen coming back to the church after an absence of 10, 15 and 30 years." National Catholic Reporter

Has it been a while since you have been to Confession? Read what Father Larry Richards has to say.

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Tim Drake of St Joseph, MN, senior writer for National Catholic Register, interviews Father Larry Richards, Erie, PA, priest, pastor, public speaker and retreat leader, heard on Relevant Radio (1330 AM in the Twin Cities at 7:00 p.m. weekdays). Father Richards also is head of the TEC (To Encounter Christ) Teen retreat program in Erie.

Father Larry Richards wants to cut through the pessimism he finds in the Church.
His audiotapes on confession, the Mass and Truth have been heard by hundreds of thousands of people. A popular retreat leader and public speaker, he recently unveiled The Reason for Hope Foundation and website as a means to reach a wider audience with Christ’s message.
[...snip]
What led you to found the Reason for Our Hope Foundation?
My big thing has been evangelization. I’ve done over 700 retreats for high school students and conducted Teens Encountering Christ (TEC). I’ve been doing these since I was a deacon.
Some years back, one of my retreatants worked for the Mary Foundation. He asked if they could put one of my talks on tape. I didn’t know much about their work, but I agreed and we put out a tape on confession. That went really well, so we did another one on the Mass explained. Then we did one on Truth.
The foundation is an outgrowth from me doing retreats and my work with the Mary Foundation. We repackaged and updated the talks.
We use classical art on our products. Sometimes, we as Catholics don’t package things well. They look cheap. We want to give people something that looks really good and that they will appreciate. Our website is the top of the line. We want to meet people where they are.
With The Reason for Our Hope, we want to bring hope to the world.
Aside from your work with Reason for Our Hope, what else are you doing?
More than anything else, I hear confessions. You have to do so much healing of people who have been wounded by a bad experience with confession. I just did a retreat with 1,500 people. During the evening, we had 18 priests hearing confessions. We went until 12 or 1 a.m. and many of these people hadn’t been to confession in 20 to 30 years.
Would you describe the lack of people receiving this sacrament a crisis?
It’s a crisis because people haven’t been catechized. I taught at Cathedral Prep High School, an all-boys school, for eight years, and there was always a line for confession because I never sugarcoat sin. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. There is only conviction. God loves you and is willing to forgive you. People are afraid of sin because they are afraid of being condemned. Jesus died to forgive you. Let him forgive you, will you? Who doesn’t want to be saved? Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery, “Does anyone condemn you? Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” God calls us all to be holy. That’s the struggle.
There is such a need for people to go to confession, but they are afraid or they haven’t been catechized. There is a great freedom that comes from it. I tell people, when you go to a counselor, you pay, but when you go to confession, the priest gives you new life. [...Snip] Nat'l Catholic Register
The Reason For Our Hope Foundation