Does a habit during childhood continue during our later years? Does going to confession often during the grade-school years make it easier to go to confession during our later years?
I know that at a few rare parishes there is often a long line for confession. As one guest of ours said, the line at one church he goes to for confession wraps all around the entire church! But most parishes have only a few persons waiting in line during the time for confessions. One priest friend told us recently his concern: many Catholics wait in long lines to receive Communion but they are rarely if ever in line for confession.
This got me thinking. I don’t know what Catholic schools are doing to promote confession. I do know that I did ask about the policy where our children once went to school. I was told that all the children were taught to go face to face with the priest. They were not taught the option of using the screen. That upset me as I prefer the screen. We had a convert friend who always went face-to-face and later discovered the screen. He preferred the screen.
I started thinking about my school days. The Thursday before First Friday we all went to confession. On First Friday we all attended Mass. Afterwards, we celebrated with a donut and milk or orange juice. We didn’t have donuts at home so that was a real treat. At the end of the school year, every student who went to Mass and Communion for the nine First Fridays received a certificate.
When I started our Catholic homeschool organization I instituted the same policy. Those who make their nine First Fridays received a certificate at the end-of-the-year ceremony.
Can grade-school children develop a habit of going to confession? I know that it’s been easy for me to go to confession as needed during grade school, high school, college and today. And I often wonder if that was due to my upbringing at my Catholic grade school. Would more teenagers, young adults and older folks go more often to confession if they had the habit of going every month during their grade-school years? I wonder…. Any comments?
Sheila Kippley