Confessions and confessing

It's no secret that the number of confessions priests hear have gone down dramatically.  In the 1950s and 60s, it was not unusual for lines to form on Saturday afternoon and evening [no anticipated Sunday Masses back then!] in churches as the faithful went to confession in droves.  No priest snickered if the penitent said, "It's been one week since my last confession."  The priests, however, did fall asleep, as third-grader after third-grader sing-songed, "I disobeyed my mommy and daddy, I fought with my brothers and sisters, and I pulled the tail of my puppy."

Confession lines have all but disappeared, except for those once-a-year Lenten penance services [is it general absolution or just a long service?] parishes conduct.  Yet, people may not be going into "the box" or "the reconciliation room" to voice their sins to the church's authorized representative in a sacramental act, but the need for confession remains.

All you have to do is watch tv.  Whether it be on Jerry Springer's dispicable show, or 60 Minutes, or CNN with Piers Morgan, people confess to what they have done wrong all the time.  The difference here is that they do their confession in public, not behind a screen confidentially.

Which brings us to Lance Armstrong.  As the whole Western world now knows, later tonight the Texan cyclist will appear with stand-in confessor Oprah Winfrey on her OWN network and confess to taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs and then lying about doing so for over ten years.  He is doing this after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a damning, 1,000 page report last December that accused him of masterminding a long-running doping scheme. 

One of the important aspects of true confession is a sincere desire for repentance.  Many commentators have questioned the timing of Armstrong's tv apology.  It's no secret that he wants to continue to be a competitive athlete  now in endurance triathlons  and only if the USADA rescinds its ban on his participation can he compete.  The USADA will only reduce or rescind its ban if Armstrong spills all the beans, not just gives a weepy interview.

There are also many legal issues.  Since his wins in the Tour de France came as his cycling team was sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, some have claimed that he owes the federal government his winnings and sponsorship money--potentially in the tens of millions of dollars.  Others suggest that coming out of the liars' closet is to protect him from civil suits.

Myself, I was never invested in Lance Armstrong's cycling exploits, or the controversy over doping.  So many sports figures have said one thing for years, and then admitted "I dun it" later, that you get to a point of saying, "They're all liars."  Just check out what the baseball writers did to Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Roger Clemens a week ago in not voting any of these players with great statistics into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But I am sure of one thing.  The need for confession, and its good for the soul, is ever present in human hearts. 

By the way, St. Vitus Church has availability for confessions on Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (two priests!) and 5:30 to 6:00 p.m.  St. Vincent de Paul Church from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m.  Mary Mother of Hope Church from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m.  And St. Joseph the Worker Church has reconciliation time from 5:00 to 5:45 p.m. on Monday evenings.  No waiting!