On Christmas Eve Eve, Saint Anne’s in Richmond Hill, Georgia had our Christmas Confessions. I no longer do a liturgical service (Penance Service) but rather have numerous priests hearing confessions.
Last night we had five priestly types hearing confessions for two solid hours, from 6 PM to 8 PM.
One of those priests, formerly a transitional deacon, was our new bishop, Bishop Stephen Parkes.
That’s the bombshell, our new bishop wants to be invited to parishes for confessions. How great is that!
3 comments:
Yes, our pastor did away with the "penance service" after he arrived a few years ago. What he does is usually has a second or sometimes a third priest on two or three afternoons/evenings in the week or so before Christmas and Easter. This gives people a variety of opportunities to go to confession and a greater option of priests that just himself.
Bee here:
He sounds like a pretty good bishop, just by his willingness to sit in a confessional for 2 hours.
We have a priest at St. John Cantius who is elderly, Fr. Al Tremari. Fr. Al was one of those men who became a priest late in life, after his wife had died and his kids were grown. He joined Fr. Phillips as a Canon Regular early in Fr. Phillips establishing the new religious order of priests.
Fr. Al is our Cure of Ars. He has made it his own mission to sit long hours in the confessional. Father will normally take his place in the confessional about 7am on Sunday morning, and will be in the confessional until the end of the last Mass, around 1:30 pm. On most Sundays he has a long line before Mass, even though there are other priests hearing confessions, which tapers off as Mass progresses and usually no one is in the confessional at the Consecration. Any other day when there are special Masses, such as on the First Friday and First Saturday, he is in the confessional, and has long lines.
Anyway, please say a little prayer for Fr. Al, whose health is declining, and who was recently hospitalized (I think he is out now.) He is very much loved. And pray for all priests who minister to the sacramental needs of the Faithful with care and devotion. Without them, we would be Protestants. :-)
May all of you have a very Blessed and Merry Christmas, and may God bless you in the New Year.
Bee
It is laudable that the Bishop devotes so many hours to rescuing the souls of his flock. May God Bless him and his efforts. Spending so much time on pastoral endeavors exposes his rear area, in military terms, to being undermined or attacked by the staff to whom he has delegated administrative, financial, and even Liturgical duties. They can mess up in a huge way and leave him a legacy that does not remember his good deeds. So you, Fr. McDonald, can return the favor and keep tabs on that rear echelon and report if you notice anything this good shepherd should address.
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