Seeking God's Mercy

This week I wanted to go to confession. It had been about 4 weeks, so I felt I was due. The problem was with my 50-hour work week, when can you find a confession time available? The priest I usually confess to was gone during the week (the Mass being replaced by a "Communion Service"). He is one of the few that hears confessions on week-day evenings.

The only other weekday alternative is to go to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, but they're on the other side of the metro area, and it's a long slog through commuter traffic. They hear confessions several times on weekday evenings. Finally, I found a confession time on Saturday afternoon. I got there early enough, so the line wasn't too bad The schedule only allows an hour for confessions, and the woman behind me was very concerned that the priest would stop before she could make her confession. I prayed that she would make it in time.

I have often heard remarks that mostly it's just older people that go to Mass and confession regularly. I believe it. Most of the weekday Mass times and confession times are during the day when most people are working. With increasingly long hours for work and shorter lunchtimes/breaks, there is no time to slip out to Mass or confession.

At first I thought it was just a liberal West Coast thing, but I checked the Mass and confession times in other locations, including St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. It was the same: no weekday confessions in the evening and a some limited time on Saturday. About the only place that offered daily confessions was the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, but they ended at 6:00 pm (have you ever been in commuter traffic in the Washington DC Metro?). So what's the average working stiff to do?

Most parishes fly on the caveat that you can always schedule an appointment with the priest for confession. Going to confession is scary enough for most people that scheduling an appointment just to make their confession is a huge deterrent.

Another excuse I hear is that nobody comes to confession, so the valuable time of the priest is wasted just sitting in the confessional. This is an empty excuse:

1. Is a priest wasting time on one of the two main channels of mercy and grace that only a priest can provide? (the other being the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass). Even if only one lost soul wanders off the street in only one of ten times he sits in the confessional, is that time wasted? I wonder what Our Lord Jesus Christ would say is too much time wasted? For the answer refer to Luke 15:4-7.
2. If you don't have confession lines in your parish, when was the last time you heard about mortal sin from the pulpit? Or the grave consequences of mortal sin?

I remember hearing a homily from a very old Jesuit priest on the topic of people not going to confession during Lent. He said something I will never forget:

"When you have mortal sin in your soul, you are one heartbeat away from hell."

During Lent of 2013, Pope Francis urged priests to be generous in offering confession:

"Open the doors of the Church, and then the people will come in…if you keep the light on in the confessional and are available, then you will see what kind of line there is for confession."

In Lent of both 2014 and 2015, the Vatican called for a program of 24 Hours for the Lord, where churches would remain open for 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration and confession. I couldn't find anywhere in the local area where this was done.

When Pope Francis publishes and Encyclical on the environment (Laudato Si), everyone is slobbering all over it. When the Synod on the Family is announced, everyone is booking their flights to see if they can give Holy Communion to divorced people. However, when the Holy Father asks priests to make confession more available... crickets chirping.