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Saturday, April 19, 2014

DID YOUR PARISH HEAR CONFESSIONS ON GOOD FRIDAY?


Despite the fact that it was a cold, rainy and just miserable Good Friday in Macon, our two sets of Stations of the Cross at 12:10 PM and 3:00 PM as well as the Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord at 7:00 PM saw our church completely full!

At the end of each set of Stations of the Cross, the three of us priests here at St. Joseph Church heard confessions for a total of 3 hours. 

Were Confessions available in your parish on Good Friday?

Here are some powerful words preached to Pope Francis and everyone else in attendance at the Good Friday Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord at Saint Peter's by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the papal household, preaching  on idols, money, mercy, Judas—and the simple (but often forgotten) church teaching that we cannot say for certain that there is any particular person is in hell:

One can betray Jesus for other kinds of compensation than 30 pieces of silver. A man who betrays his wife, or a wife her husband, betrays Christ. The minister of God who is unfaithful to his state in life, or instead of feeding the sheep entrusted to him feeds himself, betrays Jesus. Whoever betrays their conscience betrays Jesus. Even I can betray him at this very moment — and it makes me tremble — if while preaching about Judas I am more concerned about the audience’s approval than about participating in the immense sorrow of the Savior. There was a mitigating circumstance in Judas’ case that that I do not have. He did not know who Jesus was and considered him to be only “a righteous man”; he did not know, as we do, that he was the Son of God.

6 comments:

Gabby said...

No, no confessions on Good Friday. If he sticks to the schedule there will be confessions today from 1-2pm.

Knowing that I wouldn't have a chance to go today, and being at church about an hour before the Mass of the Lord's Supper, I asked Fr. if he'd hear my confession then.

Jacob said...

Father God Bless you. Priests who stay in the confessional are the unsung heroes of the Church. You are imitating Padre Pio and the Cure of Ars. What a wonderful gift your parish has. At my traditional parish we had confessions starting at 1:00 pm before the mass of the pre-sanctified at 3:00. At 1:00 there was already an hour and a half wait and they only just started. We will have two times for confessions on Holy Saturday. It fills me with joy to see long lines at the confessionals. Good job Father !!! I hope the other priests in your Diocese take note. Long confession lines are a sign of a healthy parish.

Anonymous said...

No confessions anywhere in my diocese on Good Friday that I am aware of. Definitely not in my parish. However, confession will be available for 5 hours next Saturday in preparation for Divine Mercy Sunday.

Anonymous said...

I was pleasantly surprised to see just how long the lines for confession at st. Joe's were getting (and still growing!) after seeing so many stories about how there is such a crisis of ignoring this sacrament nation wide. St. Joseph's just seems particularly blessed. I'm thankful that you three priests make such efforts to provide so many services for our parish. I've been to other parishes where te priest rushes through mass and then disappears until next Sunday, so you guys are great!

Anonymous said...

Just watched the movie "Philomena"....Powerful...
disturbing...It deserved the four Oscar nominations it received.

Based on real events....

My wife and I give it two thumbs up.

Anonymous said...

Did anybody else see it?