This Lent, the Archdiocese of Boston launched “The Light Is On For You,” an initiative inviting the faithful to return to the Sacrament of Penance. Every parish in the Archdiocese will be open on Wednesday evenings during Lent, from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, to hear confessions.
The Archdiocese launched a website to provide information on the sacrament during the season of Lent at TheLightIsOnForYou.org.
The website provides information on how to make a good confession (including how to say an act of contrition), how to make an examination of conscience, as well as individual guides to confession for children, married couples, priests and religious, and teenagers.
To promote the initiative, the Archdiocese aired a series of 15 second radio spots to bring people to the website.
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, said in the announcement, “Our priests are here to welcome you home, to pray with you, to be of service in the name of Jesus Christ, who offers all of us forgiveness for our sins and the gift of His mercy and love.”
Auxiliary Bishop Robert Hennessey, the leader of the initiative, said in a press release, “Confession gives us the chance to start over, to hit the reset button of our lives. It shows how forgiving and kind our God is and it helps us to grow in compassion and love for others.”
According to the Code of Canon Law, “In the sacrament of penance, the faithful who confess their sins to a legitimate minister are sorry for them, and intend to reform themselves obtain from God through the absolution imparted by the same minister forgiveness for the sins they have committed after baptism and, at the same time, are reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by sinning.”
Canon 989 requires that “After having reached the age of discretion, each member of the faithful is obliged to confess faithfully his or her grave sins at least once a year.”
Father Robert VerEecke, SJ, pastor of St. Ignatius Parish, discussed the value of reconciliation in his homily on the Sunday before Lent.
“The reason for the sacramental experience of reconciliation was to be overwhelmed by God’s infinite love for us in the saving mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection,” said Father VerEecke. “The sacrament of reconciliation is a wonderful way to ‘remember who we love and how we are loved.’”
In the announcement for the initiative, Bishop Hennessey emphasized that “God’s love for you is greater than all the sins you’ve committed or could ever commit. […] If you’ve been waiting for a sign to return to the Church or to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this is your chance to reestablish and strengthen a relationship with God that will last forever.”
The Sacrament of Penance at St. Ignatius Parish is available on Saturdays from 3:15pm to 3:45pm, Wednesday evenings in Lent from 7:00pm to 8:00pm (with the Church open at 6:30pm for private prayer), the evening of Monday, March 22nd, and by appointment.
At Boston College, the Sacrament of Penance is available at St. Mary’s Chapel on weekdays before the noon Mass or by appointment through Campus Ministry (McElroy 233 or 617-552-3475).
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