Diocesan churches open Monday evenings during Lent for Sacrament of Reconciliation

CLIFTON  With the Lenten season under way, every church in the Paterson Diocese will have its doors open starting Monday evening, March 7, for Catholics to participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Through the diocesan initiative, Welcome Home to Healing, every Monday during Lent from 7 to 8:30 p.m. until April 4, priests will hear the confessions of anyone who seeks God’s healing love and forgiveness.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney wrote about Welcome Home to Healing in his column last week in The Beacon. He shared three lessons he has learned from his own experience of going to confession — forgiveness brings healing; God knows us better than we “know ourselves”; and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is not so much about “what I say” than about “what I hear.” He wrote, “We believe that God has given us seven Sacraments. For many reasons the Sacrament of Reconciliation has been misunderstood and is often not appreciated for the gift of God that it truly is. As I believe that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is making a comeback, I hope and pray that, with the help of our Welcome Home to Healing initiative, many Catholics throughout our Diocese will come back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the season of Lent and the experience of healing and forgiveness will lead to an Easter of even greater joy.”

For a dozen years, Catholics from around the Diocese and beyond have “come home” and experienced God’s healing love through the Welcome Home to Healing program. Bishop Emeritus Arthur Serratelli started the program during the Lenten season of 2009. One of its purposes is to draw the faithful closer to a call to conversion as they prepare for the Holy Week and the Easter season during Lent.

Father Jared Brogan, director of the Office of Worship, is the coordinator of the program, said, “Lent is always a great opportunity to experience God’s healing love through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. On Ash Wednesday, one of the formulas for the imposition of ashes is ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ This is a reminder that we are human. As human, in addition to our blessings, we struggle, we are wounded, we have pains, we are sinners. That is why we need Christ. Reconciliation is the place we encounter Christ the healer and we bring our struggles, our wounds, our pains, and our sin.”

Through the years, parishes have witnessed many “lapsed” Catholics come back to the Church through this initiative. Some priests report hearing confessions from people who had not been to church in more than 30 years. Often, churches have had to stay open later to accommodate all those seeking to go to confession.

Because the program receives the attention of those Catholics that have been away from the Church or the Sacrament, the Paterson Diocese set up a website for the program with resources for people on how to go to confession, frequently asked questions, and an examination of conscience to ease fears or answer questions about the Sacrament. A Spanish-language version of the resources is also available. Priests may also visit the site for parish resources.

With all parishes of the Diocese open for confessions on Monday evenings, the program offers a convenient opportunity for those who would like to receive the Sacra­ment of Reconciliation.

Welcome Home to Healing will be advertised on local newspapers’ websites as well as on the Diocesan website, social media pages and in The Beacon.

In addition, parishes will continue to have their regularly scheduled hours to hear confessions and many parishes will host their own individual Lenten Reconciliation services and activities.

The Bishop wrote in his column, “We can and should ask God to forgive us in our hearts, in prayer every day. When we ‘tell God we’re sorry’ and ask him to forgive us in personal, quiet prayer, we hope that God will forgive us. When we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we don’t have to hope — we know that our sins are forgiven, because we hear God (through the priest) say the words. What better words could you hear? The Sacra­ment of Reconciliation is truly an encounter with our loving and merciful God, when we hear God tells us that our sins are forgiven.” Information: https://

welcomehometohealing.org