Posted on 01/03/2013 7:09:26 AM PST by marshmallow
Here I will tell a story that I suppose is rather personal but what the heck, todays not a bad day for the personal. Yesterday I went to St. Patricks for confession and mass, to start the year off on the right foot. Walking through the cathedralit was jammed with tourists taking pictures of statues and architecture and also, and with some startling excitement, of the regular New Yorkers in the pews taking part in the noon massI remembered something I experienced there last summer, at confession.
I add here that I like going to confession; I always find it quenching or refreshing or inspiring. Usually I go at my local church. But sometimes if Im walking by St. Pats and its confession time Ill go right in, because the great thing about St. Pats is that in terms of priests you never know what youll geta gruff old Irishman from Boston, a mystic from the Philippines, a young intellectual just out of seminary in Rome. Once I think I heard, through the screen, the jolly voice of New Yorks cardinal. But whoever I get always seems to say something I need to hear.
Anyway, last summer Im at St Patricks on a weekday afternoon and I go to the confessional area and stand on line. In the confessionals at St. Pats you kneel in a small, darkened booth and speak through a screen. You can sort of see the shadow of the priest on the other side.
The door opens and I enter and kneel. I outline my sins as I see them, share whatever confusion or turmoil or happiness Im feeling. Then I was silent, waiting to see what bubbled up. What bubbled up was a persistent problem that was spiritual at its core. We talked about it.....
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Even though I am not Catholic, I like this writing of Noonan’s. Time marches on, and technology does so exponentially.
If only Peggy had a Windows Phone 8. She could have bookmarked the readings using the Catholic Companion app:
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/catholic-companion/cbb74b4b-fb20-42d7-a5b7-24ef56ae43a0
Even my parish priest has his own iPhone. :)
While the article is an amusing anecdote, I sometimes wonder if technology isn't the 'false wonders and miracles' that so many will follow to their doom...
It might be instructive to consider what all this would look like to someone from the 1700's (or anytime prior to it's use).
Antichrist? There's an app for that...
That is a sweet story.
It IS possible to use technology without being enslaved to it.
I am very happy that the Good Priest provided Bible Verses instead of just issuing a penance.
Happy and Blessed new year, marchmallow.
I have been to St Patrick’s confessional. The last time the priest I met was a tough one. He told me to throw out the computer with the scant woman on it with advertising. Lol!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.