EMPTY CONFESSIONALS
By Oscar Méndez Casanueva
Saint Paul warns us in the following divinely inspired passage: “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” (1 Co. 11:29).
That is why it is necessary to have a soul cleansed from all sin to receive Christ. Thus, Confession is necessary, too, for anyone conscious of being in a state of mortal sin. Receiving the body and blood of Christ in Communion without being forgiven first through the sacrament of Confession is a most grave sin called sacrilege. Anyone who is in a state of mortal sin or who is not in a state of sanctifying grace (which is attained by personal absolution in the Sacramental Confession), and lives in such a state without going to Confession or confessing wrongly, without true repentance and intention of avoiding sin; (i.e. without contrition and purpose of amendment) and dares to receive Holy Communion, is “eating and drinking his own damnation”.
Those who do not believe in or obey the morals taught by the Catholic Church and those who do not desire to follow the moral laws that God demands and the Magisterium guards, should not, under any pretext, receive the Holy Eucharist.
Therefore, it is essential to be in the state of sanctifying grace to receive Communion. How important it is for us to live in God’s grace and to receive Communion frequently! But just as important it is to do it complying with the necessary requirements and with great love of God, being aware that it is precisely God whom we are receiving in the consecrated Host. Let us receive our Creator and Redeemer for what He is: Our God and Savior, our King and Lord.
It is very sad to see how many people live conformed to the world and in a way that is contrary to the Law of God, and without changing their lifestyle nor going to Confession, they receive the living God, present in the Host, without discernment of what they are doing and regardless of what God has to say about it, only for appearances’ sake. It is the wretched ‘modernism’ that has pervaded them, it is the lack of awareness of what it means to receive God, it is the desire of remaining living in their errors and in their life of sin, believing in a false and ‘soft’ God made to their state and convenience.
How sad it is, too, to see that many ‘modernist’ priests no longer teach this Catholic doctrine and through their silence become accomplices in the sacrilege. There is in them a great amount of guilt and God will hold them accountable for that. The ignorance of some faithful will be a mitigating factor (when it is not culpable ignorance), but this will not be the case for priests, who are well-instructed but choose to remain silent in order to accommodate with the world or due to having a weak faith or lack of pastoral zeal and scarce love for the sheep entrusted to them.
There is an urgent need for priests to teach and talk again about this very much forgotten or even unknown doctrine, especially amongst the new generations. If no one follows it anymore, would it be so hard for them to remind it to us, albeit briefly, in every liturgical celebration?
It is contrasting to see so many communicants and so many empty confessionals. Are they really in a state of grace without having to go to Confession first? Without attempting to intrude on anyone’s conscience, this does not add up and it shows us the tremendous reality and significance of this fact. Or, can it really be possible for someone to live for years and years without committing a single mortal sin? This can certainly be the case for some good souls, but how many good souls are there? Only God knows the answer to that question. Even if this were the case for some people, they need to remember the precept of going to Sacramental Confession at least once a year. Or perhaps, all of those who have not gone to Confession for months or even for years have their conscience clean from any mortal sin so that they can assume they are in a state of grace to receive Christ alive and truly present in the Eucharist? Maybe all those priests who are not routinely available anymore at the confessionals contribute to this evil.
On the part of many priests: Omission of teaching this doctrine in addition to very little or no time at all in the confessionals.
On the part of a great number of faithful: Little instruction, which generates, in many cases, culpable ignorance. In other cases, a terrible neglect for matters concerning God and a life in accordance with the maxims of the world, accommodating moral laws and God and the Church’s teachings with their own whims and personal criteria. All the aforementioned lead to sacrilegious Communion, which makes them eat and drink their own damnation.
In both instances: A multitude receiving Communion and the confessionals… empty!
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Source of information: Blog CATOLICIDAD http://www.catolicidad.com/2009/05/comulgar-sin-confesarse.html. Translated from Spanish by Fabiola Lozano. 
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