Things can be very frustrating these days for frequent sinners such as myself. There has been a disturbing de-emphasis on confession in church parishes, at least the ones I have been to. Most parishes and churches I know have only 45 minutes a week for confessions, on Saturdays . 45 minutes a week!!?? Are they kidding me? There is the downtown shrine in my hometown that has confessions several hours a day, but that is during work hours and it would take up my whole lunch time just to find parking. I need a lot more time than this what with my busy schedule and all. Saturday is a particularly busy day for me. I do make it, but I shouldn’t have to go through hoops to get to confession, at least the church shouldn’t put the hoops there!
A puzzling question
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Why is this? Was it Vatican II? Can’t be. The Vatican II documents do not talk about confession much but it did not really need to. Anything one needs to know about confession is in other councils and documents and was not abrogated. So what is it? A perceived change brought about by Vatican II? Perhaps. There have been changes in outlook in the Church since that council. But , so far, I have not seen any of these changes in the Vatican II documents themselves. (Of course I may be eating crow in the coming months) If indeed Vatican II did not abrogate the need for confession then this de-emphasis on the need for confession is indeed puzzling!
The Catechism?
Perhaps the Catechism? This is what it actually says;
"Without being strictly necessary, confession of everyday faults (venial sins) is nevertheless strongly recommended by the Church. Indeed the regular confession of our venial sins helps us form our conscience, fight against evil tendencies, let ourselves be healed by Christ and progress in the life of the spirit."(1)
So while the catechism says it is not strictly necessary, it does encourage its frequent use. There is certainly no indication that confession time should be severely limited.
Getting the word out
It may be that the reason there is not much confession time is that not many go to begin with. Come to think of it, this makes sense. Even with the limited time for confession not many go, maybe two or three people. Why is this? Perhaps it is because the need for confession is not emphasized in the churches.
This reminds me of something I saw on EWTN a couple of years ago. On this program a priest related a story of a priest in this certain parish who noticed that not many people were going to confession. He started preaching the need to go to confession and soon the lines were out the door! It seems that if confession were to be emphasized more then people may be stimulated to pay more attention to their spiritual health.
Relationship with Christ
The Christian journey is a relationship with Christ, not merely living by a set of morals. Alfred A. Hubenig, O.M.I., had this to say about St. Eugene De Mazenod;
"And to the Galatians he says, ‘ from my mother’s womb he called me by his grace to reveal his son in me so that I might preach the good news about him to the gentiles.’ (Galatians 1:15) Note Paul says ‘God chose to reveal his son in me,’ not ‘to me’ This means that the grace received by Paul, like the grace received by Eugene, is not mere intellectual knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is a spiritual gift that reaches the very depths of the heart, bringing about an unshakable conviction and a strong attachment to the person of Jesus."(2)
No complacency
So we can’t be complacent concerning venial sin. A lackadaisical attitude towards it could lead to a weakening of our relationship with Christ. I look at venial sin like a tick on a dog. One tick may sting and suck out a little blood. If it is extracted there is no harm done. But if it is left to fester it will suck out more blood and weaken the dog more. More and more ticks will weaken the dog further and seriously compromise its health. Then, when a major illness comes along it will be too weak to fight it off. So it is with venial sin. If we ignore them and don’t deal with them they may accumulate and weaken our souls to the point that our attachment with Christ is compromised and our resistence to mortal sins will be greatly weakened. This dog knows something about this.
Conclusion
So, in my humble opinion, the churches should emphasize confession more. It doesn’t even have to be fire and brimstone, at least not yet. All they need to do is to emphasize that venial sins need to be dealt with in order to improve the spiritual lives of the faithful and to strengthen them from temptations to mortal sins. This is not so the people will obsess about venial sins, but so that they won’t obsess over them but instead form a deeper relationship with Christ.
If confession is emphasized more then it could very well be that more people will take a greater interest in caring for their souls and from there develop a greater interest in the teachings of the Church.
1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pauline Books and Media, 1994. P. 366
2. Hubenig, Alfred A., O.M.I., Living in the Spirit’s Fire, Novalis, Ottawa, Ontario Canada, 1995, P. 32.
Note
I am sorry I haven’t posted anything in almost a month. I have been a little busy and also I have been studying about things I am not sure of. I have been pursuing a study of certain things that I don’t wish to bring out at the present time. I need to be sure of things. I hope to be posting some more things in the future.
Frank.
1 comment:
I like the tick analogy. How true. Venial sins that get enough of a foothold in us can become mortal sin, which separates us from God's life, which is the extent of what most podiums I've heard from mention, too. It's funny that our lack of penance is attributed to the Council, as it was the first thing Bl. John XXIII asked for universally prior to the Council. Above and beyond the sacrament, he asked for penance (Paenitentiam Agere), and in looking at the Popes who've followed, all have very strongly upheld the need for sacramental confession, documentedly so. The greatest number of penitents I've encountered in recent years (apart from individual confessions offered after penitential services) was on the Saturday that John Paul II lay dying, when hearts were ripped open. It was like the old days, except for the pain whose easing only time passing could give.
Indeed, confession is not just a Lenten need for sinners. Good post, as always.
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