CHURCHES OPEN FOR CONFESSION ON RECONCILIATION MONDAY
The Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, in partnership with Timothy Cardinal Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York, is reminding New York Catholics that December 17th, the Monday before Christmas, is Reconciliation Monday.
From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., parishes throughout the diocese and archdiocese will be open for walk-in confessions. The goal of Reconciliation Monday is to encourage Catholics to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation in preparation for Christmas.
This day also allows the faithful to confess their sins in anonymity. “One of the advantages is that you do not have to go to your own parish, as you can go to another Church and be unknown if there is some embarrassment in knowing the priest who will hear your confession. This is the time when the priest is merely an instrument of God’s grace and that the real absolver is Jesus Christ, Himself,” said Bishop DiMarzio.
Below are some Reconciliation resources from the Archdiocese of New York:
Resources to help you understand and celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation (confession):
- A Guide to Confession: a short resource from the Archdiocese of St. Louis on the sacrament of reconciliation and preparing for it.
- Let the Children Come: The Sacrament of Reconciliation and Children: using this pdf resource, teach your children the practice of Examination of Conscience.
- Rediscovering the Sacrament of Penance: resources for understanding and celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation from the USCCB.
- Penance: Reconciled to Right Relationship, Called to Heal and Restore: pdf resource from the USCCB.
- Sacrament of Penance: Guides for before, during and after the reception of the sacrament.