BEND, OREGON - It often happens that the things I write in one week continue to be a part of my thoughts, prayers and readings for days and even weeks afterward. Though it is necessary to move on to other journeys and other events, as I have done this week, the topic of confession in last week's column has continued to plague me. I must say that the ramifications for the Sacrament of Confession, which were implicit in the citations quoted last week, are most distressing. By contrast with that work, I picked up a collection of articles by Father Paul Duffner, OP, titled, To Know Him: The Way, the Truth, the Life. There I read his wonderful treatment and explanation of the Sacrament of Confession and realized anew that the truth is very consoling.

He cites Pope John Paul II on the need to have a properly formed conscience. In his general audience of Aug. 17, 1983, the Holy Father noted: 'Ask yourself if your conscience is telling you the truth or something false, and seek untiringly to know the truth. If we were not to make this necessary clarification, man would risk to find in his conscience a force which is destructive of his true humanity, rather than that holy place where God reveals to him his true good.' There is operative in the Catholic world today a concept, not endorsed by the Church, that one's judgment of conscience is true simply by virtue of the fact that it springs from one's well-intentioned conscience. The Holy Father is very clear that in the objective order it is certainly possible that such a well-intentioned, but seriously defectively formed conscience may in fact be a force destructive of his true humanity. Put another way, one's strong feeling that something is right, while clearly contrary to the clear teachings of the Church, is very difficult to defend and maintain. A conscience that judges that individual, articulated confession is never required needs to listen more attentively to the Church.

Father Duffner writes: 'Those who neglect this sacrament gradually grow insensitive to the little failures of each day that offend God and interfere with the growth of grace. And because of this neglect, they, little by little, become insensitive to greater violations of God's law. For those Catholics who neglect this sacrament, believing they can obtain pardon directly from God, Pope John Paul II stated: It would be foolish, as well as presumptuous, to wish arbitrarily to disregard the means of grace and salvation which the Lord provided, and, in the specific case, to claim to receive forgiveness while doing without the sacrament which was instituted by Christ precisely for forgiveness.' This citation is likewise taken from the Holy Father's 1983 General Audience Address.

The issue which last week's author seemed to omit, neglect or implicitly deny is that sin, whether venial or mortal, is an offense against God. It often does also involve an offense against our fellow man, and there healing and reconciliation must also be sought if possible, but sin is an offense against God and healing and reconciliation must be sought from Him, who is all good and all loving. Since He is perfect goodness, an offense against Him is always heinous and requires genuine repentance and will to reform on the part of the offender, the sinner. Again Father Duffner is very clear: 'When we speak of the fervor of contrition, however, we are referring not to the feelings or emotions, but to the determination of the will to avoid what offends God.' That determination of the will needs to ask, 'What can I do to make amends and what can I do to help assure that I grow in my resolve to avoid these offenses in the future?' The Lord's answer, 'Confession.' Perhaps we ask ourselves the wrong question. I suspect that many of us ask ourselves, 'Do I want or need to go to Confession?' The proper question might sound more like this: 'I know that I have offended God in many little and big ways, why do I fail to recognize my need to go to Confession and why do I resist the grace that draws me to this Sacrament even when I recognize my need?' Paraphrasing and taking some license with the words of the Holy Father, it would be foolish and presumptuous to arbitrarily disregard this means of grace and salvation. We are indeed a foolish and presumptuous people.

I indicated that I included travel in my week, and that travel took me to Juntura and Burns and Crane. It included Drewsey, but the good folks there were considerate in volunteering to come together at Juntura for a combined Confirmation Mass and social. I haven't entirely figured out how the pastor covers both places on a Saturday night, but I know it has something to do with having Masses an hour apart in two different time zones which allows two hours between the beginning of Mass at one place and the beginning of Mass at the other. Given this schedule, it is a bit difficult to encourage more frequent confession, as has been my mission this year, but an effort needs to be made nonetheless. Certainly it is a sacrifice for the priest to arrive a bit earlier at one place and stay after Mass at the other, but I am assured that the priests are willing to make such additional sacrifices if there is some responsiveness to the effort. While it is true that the priest derives the spiritual benefit from the making of the sacrifice even if no one takes advantage of the opportunity, human nature being what it is, priests are more inclined to be willing to make such a sacrifice when it bears some more immediate fruit.

As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the young people at Juntura, Drewsey, Burns and Crane, and I am very much edified by their attentiveness and their interest in matters of faith. I found them very attentive to the instruction on the Sacraments and sensed that the adults too were engaged in the dialogue with the students.

The emphasis of the questioning was on the Sacrament of Confession and particularly the external sign of that Sacrament, namely confession and absolution. It is in the absolution that the external expression of healing and forgiveness is heard, experienced and realized. It is this outward sign that communicates to the entire person the healing, love, mercy and forgiveness of Christ. It is this external sign that assures us that the forgiveness we seek has been received. It would be foolish, as well as presumptuous, to wish arbitrarily to disregard the means of grace and salvation which the Lord provided.