He said therefore to them again: “Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them; and He said to them: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.”—St. John 20:21-23.
Most of my articles are directed to Catholic laity, but this is one of the rare ones where I am writing to other priests. The only message of this article is: Please add more confession times. If you do, the penitents will come.
In rural areas, it might take some penance on the part of the priest to drum up penitents. Even though the rural areas of the United States are clearly more conservative than the urban areas, it is my experience in parish life that confessional lines are shorter in rural areas than urban areas.
However, St. John Vianney was also sent to a rural parish. By time he had offered mountains of penance and heard a million confessions, even post-Revolution France had to build a new railway from Paris to Lyon in order to accommodate all the penitents still coming. So, it can be done, even in an unbelieving environment.
In urban areas of the United States, I have recently noticed in all my travels (and in my eight parishes before becoming a hermit) that there is always a line for confession in cities. I mean, this is the case in 98% of Catholic parishes found in every medium to large-sized American city. Imagine this: A long line of Catholics who can go from mortal sin to sanctifying grace at only and exclusively the help of a priest. This is the line from hell to heaven. Brother priests, the salvation of souls is the only reason you ever became a priest.
What better thing could you do? A meeting with the financial board? A golf game with the bishop? A phone call to your friend? Or, is life so hard that you need to call it quits after 30 minutes of confession? If you would just sideline your “Dare We Hope That All Men Be Saved” heresies, you would see that offering ten hours of confession at your parish a week (especially if urban) would be met with unending lines of people.
St. John Vianney had to live on a potato a day to entice such a catch of fish into his boat in the 19th century. You, however, do not have to do any such hard-core penance to gain penitents in 2025. Why? Because the people are already starving to come to confession for some reason beyond my understanding. You need to switch the mindset from comparing yourself to other priests in your diocese to comparing yourself to Padre Pio and St. John Vianney.
Sit in that box every day not until you are absolutely exhausted, but until the line is absolutely exhausted. Follow my advice if for no other reason than this: If you put your golf game before the lines of thirsty souls, you’re going to have a hot coal to sit on in hell forever. This is especially true since you don’t even have to work for the penitents during this time of renewal of the faith. It’s a free gift to you. Your penance is just to sit there. They will come to receive the blood of Jesus mystically applied to their souls, as only a priest can do.
