The topic came up today, but its been on my mind for some time, regarding general absolution services. The church has never approved these as a substitute for sacramental confession, except in extreme cases, such as soldiers going out to battle. The absolution for these services is not valid. For those who are upset that these illicit services are no longer available, I say, if you want a communal absolution service, than do what the ancient and medieval church used to do, and confess your sins in front of the whole congregation. It is typical of our culture, where people expect to be forgiven for something, but are unwilling to say they are sorry. Kudos to Bishop Serratelli for putting a stop to this. We have something very good and beautiful in private confession, but I guess for some that just isnt good enough. To put things in perspective: Confession used to mean, going before the entire congregation, and confessing your sins. Once you received absolution, you were then given a penance, which many times involved flogging, or kneeling for long periods of time, or making pilgrimages on your knees. In other words, for those who feel inconvenienced by the burden of the confessional, count your blessings, because youve got it easy.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 03:48:38 +0000
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