Advent Adoration and Penance Service
Monday, December 10th
5:30pm to 6:30pm
 
“He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.”  Deep within every human heart, there is the desire to be good. We all want to be our best selves.  Yet often we fail — ourselves and others — in ways both small and significant.
 
And so, we are blessed in our imperfect humanity to have a sacrament which tells us that God still loves us, even though we have not been our best selves.  Confession is good for the soul.  It demands something for which there is no substitute: that we be honest with ourselves.  Confession frees our hearts and minds to live a happier and fuller life.
 
So, confession may not be an easy thing but is a good thing.  And praise God on Monday, we will have some wonderfully compassionate men hearing confessions.  I hope the following questions will help you in the examination of your conscience so that you will be able to state your sins in a brief and straightforward manner.
 
Do I take time to nurture my relationship with God in prayer or does God usually get my leftovers—a few quick prayers as I go to bed?
 
Do I speak to God honestly from my heart or do I tend to just ‘say prayers’ without ever sharing with God what is going on inside of me? Is my relationship real or is it superficial?
 
To what extent do I try to seek God’s will when it comes to decisions? Or is it my tendency to rarely, if ever, take the time to search what might be God’s will in a particular situation?
 
To what extent do my Christian beliefs impact the way I live my everyday life—the way I relate to others, deal with hurts, work and finances?
 
To what extent am I a positive presence in my family, extended family, work place and church family? Do my words and actions build up or tear down, foster unity or division?
 
Do I tend to be judgmental of others, ever ready like the Pharisees to expose the sins of another while forgetting to face and confess my own sins?
 
Do I tend to abuse food, alcohol or drugs? Do I look at or read pornographic materials thinking, “It hurts nobody?”
 
Have I abused the gift of speech by using vulgar language and by being verbally abusive of others?
 
Do I remain silent when the good name of another is being attacked, forgetting that “all that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing?"
 
Do I tend to be proud, vain, egotistical, lie, steal or cheat?
 
Whether married or single, do I seek to be chaste in mind word and deed?
 
To what extent am I a wise and generous steward of the Lord’s gifts of time, treasure and talent? Or do I tend to be stingy with the Lord’s blessings in my life? Do I share a portion of my time and treasure or talent with the larger community to which I belong, remembering those to whom much has been given and much is to be expected?
 
Where am I when it comes to the great issues of our time: protection of human life, born and unborn, poverty, war and the environment? While I cannot be actively involved in all of these, am I supportive of those who are involved, and do I try to be personally supportive insofar as my time, talent and treasure allow me?
 
We should have absolutely no doubt that ‘confession is excellent medicine for our soul’. It is good for us psychologically and spiritually. The sacrament properly prepared for and received helps us to make choices that will strengthen and not weaken our commitment to Christ. So if you have not received the grace of this sacrament in years, I am especially hoping and praying that God will give you the courage to ‘bite the bullet’ and come to confession on Monday.  If you are not sure what to say to the priest, just say: “It’s been a long time since my last confession, and I am not sure how to proceed.” The priest will help you to make a good confession and experience the healing love of God.

Fr. Jerry Ragan