Sorry, this'll have to be brief.
Lots going on, including hours of confessions (which are more tiring than you may realize), planning for Holy Week (have to call lots of folks -- to serve, to have their feet washed, to assist in other ways), plus tending to normal parish business.
In a few minutes, will head over for Stations, then have Mass later for Cursillistas; in between, I hope to stop at Fish Fry. Am waiting for a load of laundry to dry -- ran out of clean black shirts, haven't done laundry for awhile.
5 comments:
Father,
You are right; we have no idea of how tiring hearing confessions must be. I do imagine it must be extremely exhausting, and quite demanding mentally and physically. In our parish, confessions are heard in the lower chapel. The confessionals are old with heavy curtains as doors. In summer it gets so hot in there that the newly assigned pastor had to get out of there once in a while to be able to breathe. (I guess the old retiring pastor was doing his penance inside those boxes!)
It would be most interesting to hear from the point of view of priests on the aspects of confession generally not talked about. May be you could have a post about it. Your readers could tell a funny story or two. I have some of my own to add :)
As for a funny story... here is mine. Having a hard time remembering the act of contrition I often practiced it while waiting in line. One particular time during the Advent penance service I actually tried to insist on saying the Act of Contrition during individual confession time even though we had done the act of contrition )in a diffrent form) as a group the priest even chuckled when I went to the Lenten penance service when he was about to absolve me saying something along the lines of 'thats it? ok... well since we already did the act of contrition ..." and absolved me.
I've always imagined that confessions were exhausting for a priest.
At least if he does them well.
Father,
When you're asking people to have their feet washed, do you include women? We include women at my current parish because it's supposedly symbolic of service to others; but at my previous parish, the priests only selected men or alter boys because the action was supposed to symbolize the institution of the priesthood.
Ann
Ann:
The rubric in the Mass is very specific that men are to have their feet washed, and so I follow that rubric.
I have done a bit of research on this, and found nothing that gives me a clear conscience about setting that aside.
Unfortunately, this rubric is widely disregarded.
Some will likely think I am "making a statement." The thing is, I will be making a statement no matter what I do.
My choice was to make as little of a statement as possible: I am continuing the custom of this parish, where Holy Thursday Mass will be celebrated, and I am following the direction of the Church.
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