Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: February 12, 2017
I do want to thank all of you who listened to my remarks last weekend concerning our Stewardship of Finance. The real measure of commitment is not how often or how loud we say we’re “on board,” but how much of ourselves and our blessings we wish to return to the Lord as a sign of it. I appreciate every gift you can make – especially if you can increase it a bit so that it is a sacrificial gift. As our Parish celebrates its 225th birthday this year, we definitely hope to move forward into the future with the same generosity of spirit that our forebears in the faith exhibited.
I have been focusing more than usual in the past few weeks about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as the Sacrament of Penance or confession. I’ve mentioned how we all should be more mindful of our preparation for the sacrament, and realize that not everything wrong or bad that we do – especially out of habit or ignorance – is gravely sinful. It’s really disappointing when people stay away from God and full participation in the life of the Church when they erroneously think they’ve sinned seriously: in such situations they’re really avoiding the “medicine” that replaces bad habits with virtuous, good ones.
Of course, many sins are purposeful and occasional, definitely not sins of habit. Such grave or mortal sins are ordinarily and properly forgiven only in the context of confession. The sin of presumption errs in thinking that God’s mercy will be shared with us without real interior conversion, that is, repentance from sin (see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2092). If guilty of real rejection of God and His commandments, we really are in dire need of forgiveness – thank goodness the opportunity to turn our perspectives around, choose God again, and be forgiven is there for us.
In this vein my ulterior motive for mentioning all this is revealed. On Ash Wednesday, March 1, Lent begins, and I hope everyone in our Parish can make it a profoundly rich time of encountering God in His mercy. This means, of course, celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You are always welcome to confess your sins at any of the 67 Parishes of the Diocese of Baton Rouge; most of these schedule additional confession-times during Lent. Confessions are heard here at the Cathedral every weekday at 11:30 am and on Saturday at 3 pm year round, but we also add a Lenten Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration and private prayer at 5 pm on Wednesday evenings – during which I or another priest is available for confessions too.
I don’t recommend you wait until the very last minute! Our schedules and priorities change at the end of Lent during Holy Week and the Sacred Triduum. I do recommend you examine your conscience and resolve to be unburdened of the guilt of your sins in confession sometime soon!
Yours in the merciful Lord,
Fr. Paul
