Greetings in Christ, all!
We are entering one of my favorite weeks, the week that includes June 13th, my anniversary of ordination and, more importantly, the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua.
St. Anthony of Padua is the Patron Saint of preachers and of lost articles. I enjoy preaching and I’ve lost my mind so this guy is perfect for me…We are incredibly blessed to have his First Class relic in our church.
On his feast, I will be praying the normal 8 am Mass and will be happy to bless everyone there with his relic afterward. St. Anthony is a powerful, powerful intercessor and one of my favorite saints. Please, don’t hesitate to go to our reliquary in the front of the church and seek the intercession of these wonderful saints.
In 1998 I was ordained on the feast of St. Anthony and I thank God every day that He lets me serve in this way. Please know that I recognize I am completely, totally dependent on your prayers for me and I thank you with all my heart for your love and prayers.
I had a really cool thing happen in our confessional line that I have permission to share with you.
I had a mom come in with some little squeakers and I started off as I always do when a mom or dad comes into the confessional with little ones: I invited her not to worry if they fuss or make noise during the confession.
She then told me that when she got into church, the line was really long, but the people in line insisted she move to the front because her hands were so full with her little ones. She was moved by the experience and I am moved to share it with you. Thank you so much for your generous hearts; this is what every confession line should be like and I honor you all for it.
I do want to remind you of a couple of things about confession:
First, I do not do face-to-face confessions. I find the spiritual benefits of anonymous confessions to be so vast that I don’t offer face-to-face in my confessional. If you require face-to-face confession, I suggest you let the usher know that so they can direct you to one of the non-anonymous confessions.
Second, please keep in mind that on the first Saturday of the month, we have three or four priests hearing confessions. If you choose to go once a month, that is the best time to go. The line might look really long, but it moves quickly because we have so much help.
Third, please, please go to the next priest in line. Putting it bluntly, confession is confession. The priest doesn’t matter, assuming he is not cruel or a priest not teaching authentic Catholic theology. We strive to ensure that the priests who help us are good priests, so please go to the next guy in line.
Finally, we have ushers to help us with confessions. If they direct you on the rules, please do not be rude or angry with them. They are volunteers and they are doing what I ask.
Thanks so much for your radical dedication to the Sacrament of Confession. I am so terribly blessed to be a priest at a parish where so many take advantage of this wonderful sacrament.
On this, the beginning of my 27th year as a priest, I lack the ability to articulate how grateful to God I am for all of you for letting me be your priest. I believe I am blessed beyond all other men.
Fjk