Men's Prayer Group - Thursday, June 20, 2013 at 12:00pm
Undercroft

Baptism Prep Class - Thursday, June 20, 2013 at 7:00pm
Undercroft

St. Vincent dePaul Meeting - Saturday, June 22, 2013 at 9:00am
St. Peter in Chains Cathedral

Tender Mercies - Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 11:30am
Tender Mercies

Tender Mercies - Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 11:30am
Tender Mercies

Rev. Eric Knapp, S.J. Farewell Mass - Sunday, June 30, 2013 at 11:00am

Bridge - Tuesday, July 02, 2013 at 7:00pm

Prayer Shawl - Saturday, July 06, 2013 at 9:30am

RCIA - Tuesday, July 09, 2013 at 7:00pm
Undercroft

wedding - Saturday, July 13, 2013 at 2:00pm
undercroft

Coffee and Donuts/Blood Pressure Checks - Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 7:00am
St. X Undercroft
Coffee and donuts will be served after the 7 AM, 9 & 10:30 AM Masses. It's a great way to meet new people and network. All are welcome!

Posted June 13, 2013

                During Theology studies we learn how to hear confessions and administer the sacrament of Reconciliation.  We study various cases and approaches to fictitious situations, learning what to hear for, what to ask, and how to handle whatever comes into the box.  At the end of the class, our “exam” is called the ad confessiones audiendas (for the hearing of confessions), where we role play hearing confessions, being examined by a faculty member.  We are then given a pass/fail mark.

            When I took this exam, I was given two pieces of advice that I have not forgotten: always say to the penitent the words, “You are forgiven” and give a penance that can be completed in the church following the reception of the sacrament so that the penitent has wrapped up the experience once they have left the church.  The penitent, I was told, ought to know for certain that s/he is forgiven.

            Assurance of forgiveness is something we all need to know and experience as human beings.  We like closure to ambiguous chapters and events in our lives, especially when we are at fault.  Not being assured of absolution leaves us feeling unsettled.  We are also prone to continue a spiral of misdeeds and be guided by an unhealthy spirit when we are unsure or forgetful of being forgiven.

            Today's readings speak about how we know we are forgiven.  The woman in the Gospel story loves boldly.  I will admit I am uncomfortable with the description of her garish display of love for Jesus that is recorded; however, the meaning of her actions are nonetheless profound.  The woman, Jesus tells us, loves much because she understands and accepts her being forgiven.  This frees her to love genuinely and outrightly, a sign of her faith in God’s love and power that forgives her sins. 

            When we pray in the Lord's Prayer for God to “forgive us as we forgive others” do so in the hope that we are free enough to love and to receive the love of God that comes to us in the daily bread for which we pray.  Not to receive God's love or to in turn love correlates directly with our understanding of how we are forgiven; there is no escape.

            Just as we believe in the real presence in the Eucharist, so we must rely on the grace of God to believe that it has the power to absolve us—that is, to remove—our sins once and for all.  This process entails knowing our offenses, asking for forgiveness, and to accept the freedom and its actions that manifest as a result of being forgiven and freed from the captivity of our spiritual and relational growth.

            Let us remember each other in prayer this week!    +Eric J. Knapp, S.J.

Sunday Mass Schedule
Saturday 4 PM
Sunday 7, 9, 10:30 AM, 12 & 5 PM


Weekday Mass Schedule
6 & 11:30 AM

Saturday Morning Mass
7 AM

Confessions
Monday thru Saturday 11 AM - 12 PM