On Tuesday the Church celebrated the Memorial of Saint Jean-Marie Vianney, known as the Cure of Ars; he was a parish priest in France and died in 1859. He was known as a great spiritual leader and people traveled from all over to have him hear their confessions—spending 11 hours a day in the winter months and nearly 16 hours a day in the summer in his Confessional box. He offered absolution of sins as well as wonderful spiritual counseling to those in need.

I speak of him because our readings recently at Mass have been highlighting Christ’s mercy and love, His concern for people’s needs, both physical needs with the multiplication of the loaves and fish and the curing of every disease and illness and for their spiritual needs, with the forgiveness of sins.

Christ is all about our healing—and nothing is more important to God then the healing of our soul and the creation of a right relationship between us and the Father, so that we may be with Him forever in the Kingdom.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation— or Confession in today’s culture— might be considered the least “used” Sacrament of the Catholic Church. For far too many Catholics—even “good Catholics” as defined by regular Mass attendance, the last time their Confession was heard was either before First Holy Communion or Confirmation. Sadly and I say sadly because of all the things we consider “valuable” in our lives—our homes, our jewels or golf clubs, even our favorite cars—the immortal and invaluable soul is the only thing that we take with us into the eternal Kingdom—and the care we give to our soul here on earth is vitally important.

But to begin the conversation about our soul and the value of Confession, we must consider the creation of and reasons for the Sacrament of Confession. Let’s look at the facts:

Fact: the Sacraments of the Catholic Church—all seven of them—were instituted by Christ Himself. They were not created by a committee of priests, bishops, nuns or a pope. Christ considered it important for us to have a way to clear our souls of our spiritual weaknesses and to provide us with the graces we need to be strong—loyal and committed to Christ—in this world, a world of great temptations.

Fact: the human person, while able to be good, compassionate and full of hope, can also be selfish and full of anger, lacking in joy and desire only what is good for the self. But that is not our calling nor is it our true destiny.

Fact: For more than 2,000 years the Church has been loyal guardian of Christ’s Sacraments and has sought ways to encourage people to be drawn to them for strength and eternal hope.

Fact: Truth does not change. What was true—an “excellence” for the human condition—in 33 AD remains the truth in 2015 AD. What changes are cultural mores and conveniences, not the Truth—for that is absolute.

Fact: God loves us. Christ loves us. The Holy Spirit loves us. The desire of God is to have us join Him for eternity in the Kingdom which He has prepared for us from the foundation of the world. And He has given us the conduit to be forgiven of our sins, to be replenished with Grace, and to be strengthened with His love for the journey back home to Him: sacramental absolution and grace in Confession. Part of the obstacle to the frequent use of the Sacrament is convenience.

If reconciliation is only offered once a week—on Saturdays from 4-4:30 p.m.—when everyone is busy then how can it be part of our lives? Here at Saint Catherine, the Sacrament is offered every Monday night all year long from 6-7 p.m., and Saturdays from 4-4:30 p.m. for the convenience of those coming to the Vigil Mass, and by appointment by calling the rectory. We also offer it during Advent and Lent through our parish-wide Penance Services. This helps to limit the power of the excuse that “I can’t get there at that time.” Like the Mass, we are here all-year-long and multiple times each week. If only Broadway had such a schedule!