Confession

This is the narthex of the Shrine.   Narthex is a fancy classical church architecture term for the lobby of the church, kind of an in-between between the front doors and the main part of the Church.  You will see here that what dominates this narthex are Confessional booths.  The Shrine has a handful of them in this area.   There are opportunities in each one for face-to-face confessions, or anonymous ones. 

You can perhaps see on the white sign on the right hand side all the different times they have priest(s) available to hear confessions.   They have them late morning and late afternoon M-F, and mid-day for three hours on Saturday.   Not many churches are able to offer that many hours.  If you are in the Merrimack Valley area, I absolutely urge you to come and go to Confession here, especially if you have not been for some time.   You may not feel comfortable going in your home parish for whatever reason.   You may not have a home parish, which is the case for many today.  Then, this is your place!   Before and after you make your Confession, you can pray in the beautiful Shrine church itself, which is open 7-6 M-F, 7-5 Sat, and 7-1 Sunday. 

There is nothing quite like the feeling one has after having gone to Confession, and received absolution from the hands of a priest who is "Alter Christus" (another Christ).  I can speak from experience.  The priest acts in the person of Christ.  Yes, it is true to say the priest forgives sins, but only because Christ has given him that authority. 

If you have not been to Confession for some time, please consider going today or very soon.  It will make your day, your week, even your year!  You will feel light as a feather, the weight of the world will be off your shoulder, and you will be able to cope with things, even what seems in daily life overwhelming challenges, with the grace of an angel because of the peace Christ has given you.  No sin is beyond God's mercy.   There is nothing you can say the priest has not heard before.  (And remember, the priest is bound by the laws of the Church never to reveal anything he has heard in the Confessional, no matter what.  He can be excommunicated from the Church if he does.  He can only speak about it with the permission of the penitent, and very rare are those cases they will seek that.)

Recently, we celebrated the Feast of Saint John Vianney, the patron of parish priests, who spent hours upon hours hearing confessions in his small parish church in France.   He did not have to bring reading material with him like some priests do today  into the confessional because he had no time because so many people come.  I am sure at least some of our priests today are burdened with a sadness that so few people come to Confession.  They see people at Mass come up to receive Communion whom they have never seen come to Confession.   They are sad because they have the most awesome gift to share, one they have been given to them by God, the ability to hear and forgive sins in Jesus' name, and so few people want to receive that gift!   Let's make ourselves happy, let's make our priests happy, let's make the Lord happy, by going to Confession today!

Joseph, you are the solace of the wretched.   The wretched in sin (which is all of us)  need the grace your child Jesus provides in the Sacrament of Confession.   As you presented him to the Lord at the temple, so present him to us in this Sacrament so that we, too, can be consecrated to the Lord, and be free from the wretchedness of sin.

Joseph. solace of the wretched, pray for us.