There have been calls from some quarters to reform Confession, and a recent Tablet article listed many reasons why Catholics said they had stopped going.
Even a cardinal, Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, has called for “proper reform to the sacrament” – an idea Pope Francis has signalled he does not want to look at.
Recently I came across some models of the life journey.
The first was of a wavy line that began with the ‘I’ at the bottom and ‘God’ at the top.
Life was a journey to God, and was about taking up one’s cross, denying self, acquiring virtue, learning to pray, and stop sinning. That was the way to get to God.
I suspect that model will resonate with older people but I have been told by younger Catholics that they, too, drift into that mind set as well. Weekly confession, especially for priests and religious was part of the journey in this model.
Model two was the same wavy line but right beside the contours was a second parallel line, the God who was with us, from birth to death, encompassing, carrying, accompanying us every step of the way. Continue reading.
Br Kieran Fenn is a Marist teaching Brother who lives in a young adult community in Wellington, and has spent many years teaching the Bible in New Zealand and abroad.
Source: The Tablet Blog
Image: CNS/The Catholic Sun