"I Don’t Give A...."

By DAVID O'BRIEN

Growing up Catholic usually includes the customary First Holy Communion, First Penance and Confirmation moments along the journey. For too many, however, these sacramental celebrations which are meant to launch us into a life of discipleship become quaint memories of childhood, necessary stepping stones on the way to graduation from Church.

Too often, young adults and older Catholics mention that they haven’t been to confession since Sister forced them to for Confirmation in 8th grade. How sad! Here the Lord, who held back nothing to free us from the burden of our sinfulness, gives us this opportunity to experience His healing and forgiveness and we treat the Sacrament of Reconciliation as an uncomfortable memory from our childhood. Confession is such a gift but we take it for granted.

A group of seniors at a Catholic high school retreat were lined up to go to confession. For many, it had been years since their last confession. But, when they complained, they were told it was part of the retreat experience.

So rather than fight the teachers, they decided to make a mockery of the process. Waiting in line, they concocted ridiculous sins to tell the priest. "I ran over my grandmother with my car" one jokester suggested. "I’ll say I locked my baby sister in the closet for a day" offered another.

They laughed and congratulated themselves for their creativity and wit as they awaited their turn. When the door opened and the light above the confessional went on, the first young man irreverently made his way in, leaving the door slightly ajar so his friends could hear his charade.

The priest listened intently as the young man, fighting to suppress his laughter, ticked off his sins. When he finished, the priest offered this penance:

"I want you to go to the front of the church where the crucifix is and look up at Jesus and say three times: ‘You did all this for me and I don’t give a damn’."

"That’s it Father, that’s all I have to do?" replied the young man. "I did run over my Nana."

"Yes, just stand before the cross and repeat those words three times," answered the priest.

Happy to get off so easy, the young man skipped past his friends and up to the altar where he encountered a life-sized Jesus hanging on the cross.

He began: "You did all this for me and I don’t give a damn." Nothing, simple, just two more to go.

Looking up at the cross, he continued: "You did all this for me..." Suddenly his voice broke and he realized what he was saying. He fought to control his emotions and finished the line "...and I don’t give a damn."

Staring now directly at Jesus, he imagined Him looking back at him. Jesus’ eyes are so filled with blood and tears, He could barely see him. The young man began to openly cry, recognizing the gravity of his sin and his lack of gratitude for the immense sacrifice that had been made for him.

Still he pressed on to complete his penance. "Jesus, you did all this for me...." The words barely make it past his lips. "...and I don’t give a damn."

Turning quickly, he wiped his tears and pushed to the front of the confession line. When the light went on, he rushed in and knelt before the priest, weeping as he softly repeated "I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry."

Years later, that young man went on to become a priest. Now he sits inside the confessional, leaving the light on for you and me.

And Christ? He still hangs on that cross, waiting, ready to forgive. He loves us as we are, not as we should be. Do we give a damn?

About David O’Brien
David O’Brien is the Associate Director of Religious Education for Lay Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. His column, Everyday Faith, appears regularly in the archdiocesan newspaper, the Catholic Week. Email David at dobrien@mobilearchdiocese.org.

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Jesuit encourages faithful to 'come clean with God'

By Terry Dickson


The following article originally appeared in the Gulf Pine Catholic, Diocese of Biloxi.


BILOXI – Our Lady of Fatima Parish’s Legion of Mary sponsored a Day of Recollection on Jan. 15.


Newly-ordained Jesuit Father Anthony Wieck, of Spring Hill College in Mobile, was the speaker for the event and touched on a number of topics during multiple talks, including the Sacrament of Penance.


“Confession is ultimately an attitude,” he said. “You and I are called to imitate Christ, who is constantly confessing our sin to the father. So, you and I should also have this attitude of coming clean early and often when we sin. We come clean. We don’t hide it. We don’t try to cover it up or explain it away. We don’t say,‘Well, it was really their fault. They started it. I didn’t fail. I’m innocent.’   Confession is an attitude where you come clean with the Lord and you desire to come clean. You have this desire to be known for who you truly are without hiding things, without covering up.”


Father Wieck, who was ordained in June 2010, added, “There is such a temptation in our weakness, in our vulnerability, to try to hide and cover up for our sin and our selfishness – Adam and Eve’s experience of nakedness and trying to cover themselves up. They played the blame game. Adam said, ‘She made me do it’ and Eve said, ‘The devil made me do it.’’”


Father Wieck said, “Out of our fear and vulnerability, we’re afraid to admit when we do something wrong.”


To illustrate the example “the blame game,” Father Wieck related the story of a theologian who was a student in medical school, whose instructor brought in a very sick patient on a gurney to give that patient an injection.


“He gave the patient the injection and the patient shot up and then fell back dead on the gurney. The doctor, instead of taking ownership for that mistake for giving him the wrong injection, started blaming the nurse. He said, ‘She gave me the wrong serum. She should’ve checked that before she gave it to me.’ He started claiming to the students that he was innocent,” Father Wieck said. “The theologian, who was protestant at the time, was so incensed by his inability to take ownership for that horrible mistake that she began this journey looking for confession. She wanted to know, ‘Where can we truly come clean before the Lord and be forgiven for all of our sins and selfishness?’”


The Sacrament of Confession, Father Wieck said, is that gift.


“Our Lord wants to give us that gift. In fact, it’s so important to him that it’s the first gift that he gives after he’s raised from the dead. He says, ‘Peace be with you. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they are retained.’ It’s the first gift to the apostles – the gift of confession,” Father Wieck said.”


Father Wieck said it’s important to go to confession with a contrite spirit.


“We ask pardon of our sins that we remember and there are probably many sins that we don’t remember,” he said. “After we confess our sins, it’s nice to add something to the effect of ‘For these and all my sins, I am sorry’ because there are probably a lot more sins that we don’t even know we’ve committed that we need to be forgiven for. That’s one of the graces of confession. We’re forgiven for all our sins, even the ones we’ve forgot, which is wonderful. You don’t have to go back because you forgot to confess something. It’s already gone. Don’t go back to it.There’s an Old Testament passage about a dog returning to its vomit. It’s a horrible image, but that’s what we do if we go back to our sin. Don’t live in the past. Live in the present.”


When one goes to confession, Father Wieck said that person “should put it all out there.”


“A priest in confession is given two graces. One is, the more you confess, the more clearly and precisely you confess, the more exalted you will be in the eyes of the priest,” he said. “It’s an amazing gift that we receive as priests. You think, ‘Oh, he’s going to think badly of me.’  It’s the opposite. It is the opposite. The more you put it out there, the more exalted you are in the eyes of the priest. It’s an amazing thing.”


The second grace given to a priest in confession, Father Wieck said, is “amnesia.”


“Blessed amnesia,” he said. “It’s where he forgets the sins you confessed, which is a great gift. I’m really glad for that one too.”


Father Wieck encourage attendees to make confession a regular practice in their lives.


“It’s very important to imitate Our Lord in confessing His sins to the Father,” Father Wieck said

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