There's an old saying, I believe, that speaks a truth. "If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you get." I have come to the unhappy conclusion that such is the case when it comes to the times I make the Sacrament of Reconciliation available to all who recognize the need for us to be reconciled to God and His people, the Church, on a regular basis. I can attest to more than a few people who tell me that they don't come to Confession more often because: "At my age, I don't sin like I used to." I want to analyze such a statement. I will say that sin happens through our thoughts, words and deeds which covers much ground for all of us to ponder if our entire being is continually giving praise to God and doing good in the name of Jesus for others.
I challenge all of us to consider going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation more often in this new year and be blessed with the graces we receive from God, the opportunity to practice humility (especially as we confess our sins), and the opportunity to do our part to make the Body of Christ whole and healthier than it is. To that end, I have decided to change scheduled times for the Sacrament as follows. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will offer the Sacrament after the morning Mass until 10:00 a.m. On Wednesdays and Fridays (and Mondays when we have Mass), I will continue to offer the Sacrament from 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. On the weekends I will offer the Sacrament on Saturday from 1:00-2:00 p.m. and 3:30-3:45 p.m., and on Sunday from 7:30-7:45 a.m. and 9:30-9:45 a.m. Finally, the Sacrament will be offered on Tuesdays when we have one of our Sacred Heart Men's meetings - from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. If I need to increase those scheduled times by some minutes, I will gladly do so.
I promise to make your experience of Reconciliation a positive and helpful one. Also, if you are at the stage of life when your memory is not so good, I encourage you, if you would like, to have your sins written down before you come and/or be ready to say a general confession that you have sinned and want the blessings of forgiveness and peace that God and the Church are so ready to give.
I hope those who agree to participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation more often (at least monthly or bi-monthly) will come out and go around echoing the words of a song which say: "Peace is flowing like a river, flowing our of you and me. . ."
I challenge all of us to consider going to the Sacrament of Reconciliation more often in this new year and be blessed with the graces we receive from God, the opportunity to practice humility (especially as we confess our sins), and the opportunity to do our part to make the Body of Christ whole and healthier than it is. To that end, I have decided to change scheduled times for the Sacrament as follows. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I will offer the Sacrament after the morning Mass until 10:00 a.m. On Wednesdays and Fridays (and Mondays when we have Mass), I will continue to offer the Sacrament from 8:30 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. On the weekends I will offer the Sacrament on Saturday from 1:00-2:00 p.m. and 3:30-3:45 p.m., and on Sunday from 7:30-7:45 a.m. and 9:30-9:45 a.m. Finally, the Sacrament will be offered on Tuesdays when we have one of our Sacred Heart Men's meetings - from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m. If I need to increase those scheduled times by some minutes, I will gladly do so.
I promise to make your experience of Reconciliation a positive and helpful one. Also, if you are at the stage of life when your memory is not so good, I encourage you, if you would like, to have your sins written down before you come and/or be ready to say a general confession that you have sinned and want the blessings of forgiveness and peace that God and the Church are so ready to give.
I hope those who agree to participating in the Sacrament of Reconciliation more often (at least monthly or bi-monthly) will come out and go around echoing the words of a song which say: "Peace is flowing like a river, flowing our of you and me. . ."