I pray that each of you is having a holy and spirit-filled Lenten season, and that you are each striving to grow closer to God through whatever personal disciplines, devotions and sacrifices you are making to mark this penitential and holy season.
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Remember that Lent is a time of penance. We had a wonderful Credo discussion after Mass this past Sunday on the sacrament of Reconciliation, aka Confession. Fr. Voitus made the comment that he recommends people take advantage of this sacrament at least once per month. Remember that while it is necessary that we confess our mortal sins, it is a good practice to confess even our venial sins. If you do not think you have anything to confess, it is helpful to think of the examples of people such as Mother Theresa, John Paul II, and our current Holy Father Pope Francis, each of whom confess weekly.
If you are having trouble identifying your sins, it's a good bet it is not because you are completely sinless! We all fall short of God's ideal of perfection for us, but God wants to help us grow in perfection, and has given us this sacrament to help us along that path. We need to learn to identify our sins so that we can be aware of them, repent of them, confess them, and with God's grace avoid them in the future. To that end, a good examination of conscience is a great tool. Here are a few designed especially with college students in mind:
So once you have made a good examination of conscience and want to make a good confession, then what? How do you find Father? Do you need to make an appointment? You can if you choose to, but it is not necessary. Most priests have regular confession times on the parish schedule. If you need to, you can also ask when you see the priest before or after Mass (though five minutes before Mass starts is not the best time to expect him to hear your Confession - but you can ask him to hear your confession after Mass is over) Remember, it is NEVER an inconvenience to a priest to be asked to hear a confession. This is his vocation, to reconcile souls to God. So be not afraid!
And if it has been a while, don't let that stop you. Just let the priest know approximately how long it has been and if you don't remember exactly what you are supposed to do, he'll help walk you through it. The priest, as God's ordained minister standing the person of Christ, is never going to condemn you for being away from the confessional for so long - instead he will rejoice like the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son, that "my son was lost and now is found!" (Lk 15:11-32).
May God bless you in this Lenten season!
Pax Christi,
Matt
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
(828)293-9374 | POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723
