Our friend, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the Sacrament of Penance.” (CCC 1415).
Tag: confession
Why you should and should not go to Confession
You read the […]
As the penitent, so the confessor
There is a saying in the seminary: “As the seminarian, so the priest.” While I have thought about this phrase many times during my years in formation, it has recently taken on a new light.
Let’s receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Lent
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A college student wrote in her school newspaper that sometimes she wished that she were a Catholic. She explained that if she were a Catholic, when she sinned, she could go to confession like her Catholic classmates and say, “Father, I sinned. I am sorry!”
The priest would then give her a penance. She would do the penance and feel forgiven.
She added, “But I’m not a Catholic. When I sin, I don’t confess to a priest. I confess directly to God.”
Advent communal penance services in the Diocese of Madison
• Holy Angels […]
A season to receive Sacrament of Reconciliation
An unemployed man unsuccessfully tried to find work. His wife nagged him for his failure. He explained that he was trying his best and he needed the understanding and support she promised to give him in their marriage vows.
New Year’s resolutions for Catholics
The year 2020 is just around the corner. It’s time to make some New Year’s resolutions. How about making a few resolutions to become a better Catholic in 2020?
I found 10 suggestions to improve our spiritual life on the website https://www.beliefnet.com and included some of my own ideas. Even selecting several of these resolutions would be a good start to the new year:
From closed-in darkness into the open light
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| Marilyn Uselman |
As a Catholic child, going to Confession was a scary and anxious time for me. It involved dark small spaces, dirty drapes, and talking to a stranger about things I did wrong — not a good experience!
As I grew up, going to Confession still was anxiety-provoking. I came to realize I do not like small spaces with closed doors, or talking personally with a stranger. I have a hard enough time going into doctors’ offices. Avoidance is certain.
A Catholic approach to forgiveness
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| Msgr. John Hebl |
Editor’s Note: During Lent, a series of articles on Forgiveness will be presented by Msgr. John Hebl, pastor emeritus and charter member of the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI), and Robert Enright, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, author, and founder of the IFI. This will help introduce the first ever International Conference on Forgiveness in July 2017 which IFI is sponsoring in the Holy City of Jerusalem. This is the fourth in the series of seven articles.
A number of years ago, an elderly priest in one of our neighboring dioceses began his Lenten homily by telling the people, “I hope I don’t die in the confessional.”
After pausing to get the parishioners’ attention, he added, “because they probably wouldn’t find my body for three days!”
What he meant, of course, is that many Catholics are not making use of the sacrament of God’s forgiveness commonly known as Confession. So the priest sits there all alone.
Recognizing the need for Confession in Lent
Every Lent — thanks to an idea I found years ago on a Catholic blog listed below — we set up a crown of thorns in our living room. It’s just a small brown vine wreath covered with toothpicks, but it has a very specific purpose.
Each time one of my children performs a small sacrifice, or does something nice for someone else, he or she gets to pull a thorn from the crown of thorns.
Acts of sacrifice
One by one, the number of thorns dwindles, leaving the vine wreath bare. On Easter morning, the crown of thorns, now void of toothpicks, is covered with beautiful flowers, a symbol of how God took away our hurtful sins and replaced them with beauty of eternal life.