Where are our priests most of the time?

Need I say more?

I have been blogging about how some priests spend more time in the public eye (social media, mass media) they think the power of the Sacrament of Holy Orders made them instant "rock stars" (right John Allen?).

And we hear a cardinal calls for more mercy to divorced and remarried Catholics to be re-admitted to Holy Communion, which is an implicit way of undermining the Sacrament of Matrimony, giving the impression to the divorcee and other Catholics that divorcee is not in a state of mortal sin and therefore can receive Holy Communion!

But on the other side, on the issue of dispensing the Mercy of the Lord through the Sacrament of Reconciliation / Penance...where have all our priests gone?  Have you seen them regularly in the confessional?

Here is a great point of discussion from Cardinal Piacenza about the priest's work of dispensing God's mercy.

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Priests should sit and wait patiently for faithful in the confessional at times that are convenient for penitents. Cardinal Mauro Piacenza said this this afternoon during the inauguration of the course on the inner conscience, the private inner space of each individual. The week-long course has become something of a tradition. It will be taking place in the Chancery office and attended by about five hundred priests and seminarists who are approaching ordination. The meeting will conclude Friday with an Audience with [pope] Francis. In the afternoon there will be a penitential liturgy in the St. Peter’s Basilica, when the Pope will confess some of those present, inaugurating the “feast of forgiveness”, during which churches will stay open 24/7 for confessions.  [Has your diocese or parish done something similar?]

The Sacrament of Reconciliation “is possibly the most concrete and real way to renew one’s personal meeting with Jesus Christ,” Piacenza said.  Although it is true that the celebration of this sacrament often comes after a long and trying inner journey and is a destination one reaches after a previous personal Church-mediated encounter with the Lord, there are cases of radical conversions taking place during the very celebration of the sacrament. During this time, a supernatural grace acts through the confessor, working on the penitent’s conscience and can lead to brief instants of unimaginable spiritual highs.”

“When we deal with the inner conscience, what we’re dealing with is God!,” the cardinal said. “The conscience is a shrine where God always speaks to all humans in accordance with creation  and to Christians in accordance with creation and redemption… Accompanying a brother in the process of discerning his or her personal way of acting and receiving everything that emerges from the inner conscience, means entering into sacred territory with this person and one needs to be extremely careful when doing so. It’s like walking on silk.”

Piacenza invited confessors to prepare  for the celebration of this sacrament by “invoking the Spirit of prudence and wisdom, asking the Lord to be his obedient instruments” and to pause for a moment of prayer after confession “to thank the Lord for what he has achieved through our poor persons and always invoke the protection of the Holy Spirit and the powerful intercession of the Mother of Mercy on each of the souls that have renewed their personal encounter with Christ through us.”

[Here is the best part.]
 “What all of us as well as penitentiaries of papal basilicas have noticed, is that the Sacrament of Reconciliation  is going through a crisis, particularly where confessors are facing a crisis. That is, where  the sacrament is only offered to “Catholic adults” who consciously ask for it and may even have the priest’s phone number at hand. But this risks reducing the sacrament to something individualistic  which has nothing to do with one’s personal encounter with Christ,” the cardinal said. [Some people call their priests as if the priests are their own toy dog!]

The Father who sees his youngest child arriving in the distance is a good example of this. [The parable of the prodigal son.] It is a patient, often painful and sometimes disappointed wait but we can always pray, meditate, read spiritual texts and offer our sacrifice as we wait. If even just one penitent finds reconciliation with God because the priest waited for them faithfully in intense prayer possibly, the time spent waiting will have been well worth it. Even if no one turns up, the majority within the Church, that is the angels and saints, will have been witness to our sacrifice and our willingness.”

“Being faithful to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Major Penitentiary concluded, is one of the most efficient ways to be faithful to Christ and his inescapable mandate: “If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." [The mandate given by Christ to the apostles and not just to any Christians as most liberals think it is.] These words are also to be understood “as the personal responsibility of every priest towards all those whose sins have not been forgiven because of the scarcity of this sacrament and the consequent difficulty in celebrating it.”

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I find it disheartening to discover the following things:

1.  Some priest in Quiapo where I regularly go to Mass every Friday morning, give the absolution as if they are speaking like a machine!  My God!  It was lightning fast how he said the absolution!  And it is not just once I experienced that!

2.  Some shrines (diocesan, archdiocesan, national) usually have empty confessionals!

3. Confessions done in retreat houses are usually this:

    a.  write your sins in a piece of paper and then we burn it, and then the priest gives general absolution
    b.  pray and tell God your sins, and then the priest gives the absolution.


Dear priest, you were ordained for the purpose of forgiving sins!

Spend more time in the confessional rather than in your TV shows, di ba?

Confessions at WYD.

It is a good thing to know that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is still regularly being offered at WYD.  And better yet that confessional grills are installed instead of the usual "come sit beside me and look me in the eye or Can I give you a hug while you confess" kind of set-ups like this one in Madrid.

But notice how some priests "dressed" up for Confession.

We have to take into consideration that some priests here did not pack much for the travel for World Youth Day since most came from other parts of the globe.

I was just wondering...

If some priests can pack their cassock and alb into their luggage, why not the others?

Excuses...excuses...excuses...

But notice the difference in how they dressed up.

The priest in the foreground unbuttoned his clerical shirt and placed the purple/violet stole on top of his street clothes while he hears confession.

The most troubling of all if you look closely to the left of the photo is the priest wearing jeans, t-shirt and sneakers while the rest are in their cassock and alb.  And he wears sunglasses!

Hooha!  Vacation mode!

My take on this?

Tip of the iceberg.

This is what happens in all parts of the world in our Liturgy.  Not just confession, but in the Mass as well.

I remember seeing a "world renowned theological expert" talking all this supposed teachings of Vatican II which you certainly could not find anywhere, wearing nothing but this for Mass.

That liturgical abuser is theologian Daniel Pilario, CM.

Take note of that name.

GULP Alert: The Mass is more than just vestments

The Liturgy is both words and actions.

And in this case, it is really not just about the vestments and the ill-positioned crucifix.

(Goodness me!  They placed the cross to the side?!  Why would they even do that?  We can clearly see you kutis artista skin Father!  There is not even harmony or order in your arrangement?!)

Look at how the priest on the left side looks like.

Compare it with the priest immediately on his left.

Action do speak louder than words eh?

One is praying...

While one looks so boooored to death he can't wait for the Mass to finish!



Dear cross-armed Father,

Please have the decency even if you hate your cassock, but by your actions at Mass, please, we BEG of you...

SHOW us that you love what you are doing!

What you are at right now is more than kings and presidents can ever do.  Not even angels, not even most of the saints could do!

THIS IS THE MASS!


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"Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy than to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God's people in the Church.

That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest.

Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope."

                                  ~ Blessed Pope John Paul II ~

 "Priest of God, celebrate this Mass as if it were your first Mass, as if it were your last Mass, as if it were your only Mass."

Soccer guys brought to tears...

Not because of scoring a goal, but because of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

from this link

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*Names of students have been changed to protect their privacy.

As I was walking up the stairs at Loras College on a bright September day, I saw a young man with a diamond stud in each of his ears, baggy plaid shorts, and a yellow t-shirt doing sweet tricks on his Razor scooter. [kinda common nowadays in malls in Manila.] I had seen Chris before. He is on the soccer team. Little did I know that in March, six months later, on a FOCUS retreat in Middle-of-Nowhere, Iowa, Chris’ actions, as well as the actions of three of his teammates, would bring my wife, Dene’, and me to joyful tears in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

I have to admit that I may have judged the trickster on that late summer’s day. He seemed cool, too cool to want to know anything about Jesus. I still talked to him when I could at practice, but we never got very far. So when I began in late January to invite people on FOCUS’ Spiritual Impact Bootcamp, it did not even register to me that he would be a future participant.

Healing from past emotional or spiritual wounds, personal discernment of the different gifts of the Holy Spirit, and spiritual reawakening in Christ are just three aspects of this powerful retreat. When I was a college student, I remember feeling burdened not only by papers and exams, but also by temptations and peer pressure. Before I had experienced Christ’s love and forgiveness, more often than not I gave into those things. Having spoken with many student-athletes at Loras College, I realize that many of them are going through the same joys and struggles that I experienced. Because of this, I began to pray that the entire men’s soccer team and women’s soccer team would attend the “Bootcamp” so they could experience Christ’s mercy and peace individually and as a community.

Shoot for the moon and land among the stars – God put it on the hearts of three men’s soccer players to give up a precious weekend of rest and relaxation to see what this retreat had to offer. [How many of us do this?  Give up something we love to do, for something, even greater, if we even know that what we wanted is something greater.]  They, along with most of the attendees, signed up well in advance. I was happily surprised then when, with three days left before the retreat began, Rick, one of the men’s soccer players, asked,

“Hey dude…Did Chris sign up for the retreat?”
“Chris!” I thought excitedly. I responded, “No…did he want to come?”

Evidently Chris had thought he had signed up, but after rummaging through all the retreat registrations, it was apparent he had not. I sent Rick a text asking him to let Chris know that he would be more than welcome to attend. That would make four men’s soccer players on the retreat.

Have you ever been forced to come on a retreat? Have you ever thought to yourself at the beginning of a retreat how much you do not want to be there? This was the attitude I saw on the faces of the four soccer players the second they walked into the door on Friday before Mass. Slowly but surely, however, this façade began to wear away and they began to smile more and socialize with others. Then, on Saturday afternoon, it happened.

When was the last time you experienced the joy of God’s mercy? For those four young men, it was on Saturday. We spent five hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament in adoration on Saturday, and during the first hour, the Sacrament of Confession was offered. One by one, each of the four soccer players lined up, and upon returning from the Sacrament, each of them began to cry. As I remembered my experiences of being set free from those burdens that hold me back from becoming the person I am meant to become, I began to cry with them. Then, I looked over at my wife, and she was crying too.

“What are you crying about?” I asked.
She whispered, “The soccer guys.”

For the rest of the weekend, those four men who, just hours before had seemed too tough and too cool, now looked like little boys who had been held in the gentle and loving arms of their Father for the first time. They were at peace in Christ’s love.

It is a very powerful thing the Sacrament of Confession. A person walks in a sinner and walks out a saint, completely free of sin for the time being. If you haven’t been in a while, may I humbly ask, what is holding you back from experiencing the freedom of Christ? I am so thankful I was able to spend time with Chris, Rick, Ken, and Dave this past weekend. It was a reminder of just how powerful God’s love and mercy is.


Question: When was the last time you experienced God’s love and mercy?

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When was the last time you went to Confession?

I know a guy who is so proud of himself he says he goes to confession ONLY once a year.

When you go to confession, prepare by making a good examination of your conscience.  There are some good guides available online like this one.

Christ is waiting in the confessional box.  Get in there.

The best way to observe Lent

Christ Himself instituted it.

If you cannot keep up with your penitence, get back in the box and approach Jesus there.  He is waiting!

And don't forget to pray this prayer!

Great new Facebook Group

I found this great new group on Facebook.  "GET BACK IN THE BOX".  It is a "Movement to Encourage Catholics to frequent the Sacrament of Reconciliation / Penance".  It was recommended to me by a very dear friend and I encourage those with Facebook accounts to join in.



When was the last time you received this sacrament?

See the guy behind the confession screen?

Other great FB groups are SLAP (Survivors of Liturgical Abuse of Parishes), GULP (God's Undercover Liturgical Police).  Come and join!

Pass the word!

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Just in...from Zenit


Benedict XVI Invites Faithful to Confession 

Notes 25 Years Since John Paul II's Document on Sacrament

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 2, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today encouraged the faithful -- and particularly priests -- to trust in God's goodness and approach the sacrament of confession.

The Pope spoke of this sacrament today as he concluded the general audience in St. Peter's Square. In his customary greeting to youth, the sick and newlyweds, he observed that today marks the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's apostolic exhortation, "Reconciliatio et paenitentia."

The document "called attention to the importance of the sacrament of penance [hmm interesting term the Holy Father used.] in the life of the Church," the Holy Father said. And he pointed to some "extraordinary 'apostles of the confessional,' tireless dispensers of divine mercy: Sts. John Mary Vianney, Joseph Cafasso, Leopold Mandic, Pio of Pietrelcina."[Another reason why Papa Benny declared the Year of the Priest!  I personally experience priests who are devoted to this Sacrament exude an aura of holiness around them.  And related to that, they celebrate Mass, solemnly!  Do you notice the same in your priests?  Share your thoughts.]

Turning to youth, he expressed his hope that the witness of these saints would be an encouragement "to flee from sin and to plan your future as a generous service to God and neighbor."

The Holy Father continued: "May it help you, dear sick people, to experience in suffering the mercy of Christ crucified. And may it solicit you, dear newlyweds, to create in the family a climate of faith and of mutual understanding."[Calls to mind the great apostolic letter of John Paul II, "Salvifici Doloris".  Worth reading!]

Finally, the Pontiff expressed his wish that these saints -- "assiduous and faithful ministers of divine forgiveness" -- would be for priests especially and for all Christians "an invitation to always have confidence in God's goodness, approaching and celebrating with trust the sacrament of reconciliation."

Who's REALLY on the other side when you go to Confession...