How to Encourage Young Catholics to Go to Confession

ConfessionIn 2009, three New York dioceses began the All Day Confessions campaign, an initiative to encourage Catholics to attend confession. Also known as Confession Monday, parishes in the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Center, and the Archdiocese of New York offer the Sacrament of Confession from 3 pm to 9 pm on the Monday of Holy Week. This year, the dioceses have sponsored a student video contest called I-Confess, in which students submit videos on YouTube which encourage others to attend confession. The top prize is $25,000 in scholarships, with another $25,000 going to the winner’s school or parish.

To date, 87 videos have been submitted, and I’ve embedded some of my favorites below:

See the entire playlist here, and learn more about Confession Monday at I-Confess.com.

Tails of the Fishop: A Clever Fish Fry Promotion

Someone at Christ the Servant Parish in Canton, Ohio has an acute sense of pun. To promote their Friday Lenten gatherings, the parish is posting video “Codcasts” featuring some very fishy characters:

    The Fishop
    The Fishop

  • The Fishop Phillip Atolop
  • The Codinal
  • Seamour Shrimp
  • The Monkfish
  • Sister Catherine Margaret Crab

I’m not sure who’s behind the videos, but she sure appears to be having fun. Take a look and see for yourself:

A Message from the Fishop

The Codinal Learns about Helping Japan

The Codinal Talks Taste

What a great way to promote a parish event! And the promotion seems to be working: Christ the Servant Parish sold 731 dinners last Friday, March 25. Not bad for a fun, low-budget project. The videos are made with a Flip camera, which costs under $200, and posted to YouTube where they are then embedded in a free blog from Blogger and promoted on a Facebook page.

You can see all the videos at Tails of the Fishop. You can also keep updated by following the Fishop on Facebook.

How could your school adapt this idea to promote your own events?

Catholic Book Group Reading de Caussade for Lent

Abandonment to Divine ProvidenceToday God still speaks to us as he used to speak to our ancestors at a time when there were neither spiritual directors nor any systems of spirituality. To be faithful to the designs of God then comprised the whole of one’s spiritual life. Religious devotion had not become a science crammed with precepts and detailed instructions” – Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence, translated by John Beever

Spiritual reading is one of the most powerful and oft-recommended Lenten practices. This year, you might consider reading de Caussade’s Abandonment to Divine Providence. Here’s why:

  • It’s an acknowledged classic of spirituality, providing fruitful material for mediation for hundreds of years.
  • de Caussade’s simple message is an effective antidote for a world that tends to complicate things unnecessarily.
  • At 119 pages, the book is a perfect length for the forty days of Lent; 54 short chapters make it easy to divide into daily passages for contemplation.
  • For teachers, its message can profoundly affect the way we approach our students and our teaching, leading to a deep inner peace.

I count Abandonment to Divine Providence as one of the most influential books I’ve ever read, and have gotten into the habit of reading it each year during Lent. As a member of the Catholic Readers group on Goodreads, I’m very glad that they have chosen it as their Lenten book. If you’re looking for some profoundly inspirational spiritual reading this Lenten season, look no further than this classic by Jesuit Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade.

101 Practical Fasting Ideas for Lent

Bread for Lenten Soup Night

Jesus

[Note: I’ve updated this list with 10 more ideas at One Catholic Life – February 17, 2010]

Fasting, praying and almsgiving are the three penitential practices that we are asked to engage in during Lent. In addition to fasting and abstaining with the rest of the Church on Ash Wednesday and the Fridays of Lent, we are also challenged to make individual sacrifices appropriate to our own spiritual condition. However, before we choose something to give up for Lent, it’s important to assess our current spiritual state:

  • What habits do I engage in that are destructive to my spiritual health?
  • To what material things am I too attached?
  • What areas in my life are unbalanced?
  • To what do I devote too much or not enough time?

Only after asking questions like these are we are ready to decide what to give up or what to add to our lives during Lent. The following list is meant to be an aid in this process. Use it as you need based on your current circumstances.

“Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.”

–Pope Benedict, Lenten message, 2009

1-10: The Usuals:

  1. Give up candy/sweets.
  2. Give up television time.
  3. Give up eating snacks between meals.
  4. Give up or limit soda or coffee.
  5. Give up or limit video games.
  6. Spend more time with family.
  7. Give to the poor.
  8. Do an extra chore each day.
  9. Perform a random act of kindness.
  10. Spend more time in prayer.

11-20: Prayer

  1. Pray a book of scripture using lectio divina.
  2. Attend Mass on a weekday (every day if possible).
  3. Pray the rosary each day, alone or with your family.
  4. Prayerfully read Abandonment to Divine Providence.
  5. Make a special prayer notebook and list all the people in your life who need prayers; pray for them each day. Add someone new every day.
  6. Learn to pray the Liturgy of the Hours.
  7. Make a commitment to attend Eucharistic Adoration regularly.
  8. Commit to examining your conscience each evening.
  9. Pray the Jesus Prayer throughout the day.
  10. Pray the Angelus each day at noon.

21-30: For Those Addicted to Popular Culture

  1. Switch from regular radio to Christian music radio or Catholic talk radio.
  2. Avoid shows with gratuitous sex or violence.
  3. Give up or limit watching sports on television.
  4. Listen to only classical music for the next 40 days.
  5. Drive to work in silence each day.
  6. Read a work of classic literature.
  7. Read a Catholic classic.
  8. Read a story to a child.
  9. Sit in fifteen minutes of silence each day.
  10. Write a letter to God each day.

31-40: For Internet Users/Bloggers

  1. Set time limits on overall online time.
  2. Limit Facebook time.
  3. Limit Myspace time.
  4. Resist making or adding to lists that rank people.
  5. Share one spiritual video with your online network once a week.
  6. Blog about the poor once a week.
  7. Add a spiritual blog to your blog reader.
  8. Subscribe to a prayer podcast like Pray As You Go or Pray Station Portable.
  9. Leave an encouraging or positive comment on a different blog each day.
  10. Help a new blogger by sending traffic their way.

41-50: For Those Who Need to Be More Grateful

  1. Each week, write a letter of thanks to a different member of the clergy, beginning with your bishop and parish priest.
  2. Each week write a thank-you note to your parents.
  3. Write a poem of praise for each person in your family.
  4. Get a stack of sticky-notes and write one sentence of thanks each day and stick it to the bedroom door of each person in your family so that by Easter they each have 40 sticky-notes.
  5. Find the psalms of thanksgiving or praise in the Bible and pray them.
  6. Write a list of the ways God has blessed you and add to it each day. This could be done in a notebook or on a big poster hanging on your wall.
  7. At dinner each evening ask your family to share one thing for which they are grateful.
  8. Make a CD or iPod playlist of praise and worship music and listen to it each day.
  9. Make a point of saying “Thank You” a certain number of times per day.
  10. Help your children write thank you letters to their teachers.

51-60: For Those With Lives Out of Balance

  1. Go for a walk each day with a loved one and talk about life and faith.
  2. Take the kids to the park each week for some carefree time.
  3. Give up fast food and give the money to charity.
  4. Exercise each day.
  5. Spend at least half an hour each day in meaningful conversation with your spouse.
  6. Go on a Lenten retreat.
  7. Pray with Sacred Space each day.
  8. Commit to a daily 3 Minute Retreat.
  9. Begin the online 34-week Retreat for Everyday Life.
  10. Give up your most unhealthy habit.

61-70: For Those Who Need Spiritual Nourishment

  1. Read the documents of Vatican II, especially Gaudium et Spes.
  2. Read The Cathechism of the Catholic Church or The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults.
  3. Sign up for adult formation classes at a local parish.
  4. Join a Bible study.
  5. Attend Stations of the Cross at a local parish.
  6. Find a spiritual director.
  7. Read The Imitation of Christ.
  8. Listen to a free Catholic audio book from Maria Lectrix.
  9. Read Introduction to the Devout Life.
  10. Read a spiritual autobiography (i.e., Augustine’s Confessions, Story of a Soul, Journal of a Soul, Witness to Hope)

71-80: For Those Who Need to Increase Their Service to the Needy

  1. Volunteer at soup kitchen or other food program.
  2. Coordinate a food drive at your parish, school or place of employment.
  3. Find out who in your parish is sick and offer to visit them or bring them food.
  4. Call your local Catholic Charities office and volunteer.
  5. Begin making visits to a nursing home.
  6. Help an elderly or disabled person in your neighborhood with yard work or other difficult chores.
  7. Become a hospital volunteer.
  8. Become part of a prison ministry team.
  9. Coordinate a clothing drive.
  10. Make rosaries and give them away.

81-90: For Those Who Need to Be More Active in Their Parish

  1. Become a lector.
  2. Volunteer to become an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist
  3. Volunteer to help with the parish youth group.
  4. After each Mass stay awhile and introduce yourself to someone you don’t know.
  5. Join the Knights of Columbus.
  6. Offer to be a Confirmation sponsor.
  7. Volunteer to be an usher.
  8. Offer to help with funeral dinners.
  9. Help with the RCIA program.
  10. Volunteer to do lawn work, cleaning or other needed maintenance for the parish.

90-101: Potpourri

  1. Begin to receive the Sacrament of Penance weekly.
  2. Give up foul language.
  3. Give up gossiping.
  4. Read and study Healing the Culture.
  5. Study the life of a different saint each day.
  6. Cook dinner each night for your family if someone else normally does.
  7. Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
  8. Carry extra food in your car, purse or backpack to give to street corner beggars.
  9. Begin practicing socially conscious investing.
  10. Spend a week meditating on each of the seven principles of Catholic social teaching.
  11. Make breakfast each morning for your family.

Conclusion

Lent is a tremendous opportunity for spiritual growth. I hope these suggestions re-energize you on your spiritual journey. If you try one or more of these ideas, or if you’d like to share your own Lenten practices, please leave a comment.