The above picutre is of St. Joseph's Catholic Church in downtown San Antonio, Texas. There are many historic and beautiful Catholic churches in and around downtown San Antonio but this is my favorite. The primary reason is not because it is beautiful but because of the priest who is its pastor: Fr. Mario Marzocchi.

Fr. Mario has been my confessor, mentor and friend for the past 3 or 4 years, basically, ever since I first went to confession at St. Joseph's. He is a wonderful priest who is definitely not one of those namby-pamby types. So, if you are ever in downtown San Antonio visiting the Alamo or walking down the Riverwalk (St. Joseph's is very close to both) then I highly recommend that you stop in for confession and stay for the daily Mass. Confession starts at 10:45 and Mass is at noon.

But the primary reason for this post isn't to give accolades to Fr. Mario. The primary reason for this post is to talk about confession. I go to confession on a regular basis: at least once every 3-5 weeks. I am not letting you know this to pat myself on the back. I am making this public in the interest of practicing what I preach, or rather preaching what I practice, because I think all Catholics should go to confession on a regular basis.

The official rule of the Church is that all Catholics are obligated to go to confession and confess their grave sins at least once a year. (See the Code of Canon Law #989.) But 988.2 states that it "is recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess venial sins." Notice, though, that it doesn't say you can only go once a year. Rather, that is our obligation. (Meaning that you must do it - a hint for those for whom it has been years since your last confession.) But why only go once per year?

Having grown up without confession as a Baptist I can say, looking back, that confession is a very crucial aspect that was missing from my Christian Faith. I am not saying I would now be a saint if I had confession while growing up, but I know that it would have helped me a great deal. After all, through confession we are given the forgiveness of post-baptismal sins. And we can be sure of that forgiveness based on Christ's promise to the Apostles, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven." (John 20:23a) If that is the case then why wouldn't we avail ourselves of this Sacrament on a regular basis?

But I think we can easily understand why some people don't - because it is painful to face our own sinfulness. Some people want to think that they are basically good and don't do anything that is really wrong. But if we are basically good then why did Christ have to die for us on the Cross? Christ died for us because all mankind was completely separated from God by a chasm that we could not cross over on our own effort. Therefore, if a particular man says "Well, I'm basically a good person", implying that he doesn't need to go to confession, then he is also in effect saying that Christ didn't need to die for him. And if that is the case then why would this same man call himself a Catholic or even a Christian?

But I believe most Catholics are aware that they are in fact sinners in need of forgiveness. And if you are a part of that majority and haven't been to confession in a few years, or even a few months, then why not go this week?

One thing that really, really, REALLY bothers me is when people change the masculine pronouns that refer to God during the Mass or other liturgies. For instance, when the priest says, "Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours etc." And then the response is changed to "May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of God's name, for our good and the good of all God's holy Church." Now in both instances where I inserted God's the word is of course supposed to be 'his', which is referring to God. This is especially noxious when it is done by one of my namby-pamby brethren. And why do people do this? I suppose they're afraid of offending some ultra-feminist nun that wears a pant suit instead of a habit.

I will admit that God is neither male or female, except of course for our Lord, the second person of the Trinity, who is still a man even though He has ascended into Heaven. But, even though God is neither male or female, to omit the masculine pronoun and change it to God doesn't make sense for the following reason. Christ, when His disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, taught them to say "Our Father...". Are not fathers referred to with masculine pronouns? So why is it that some people, even some priests, insist on changing the words in our sacred liturgies? Well, I don't know why they do it, except for the reason listed above, but I can tell you that they are not supposed to do so.

First of all, in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), it states in instruction #24, "the Priest will remember that he is the servant of the Sacred Liturgy and that he himself is not permitted, on his own initiative, to add, to remove, or to change anything in the celebration of Mass." (For those who don't know, the GIRM is the rule book for how priests are required to celebrate Mass.) And attached to this is a footnote that directs you to Sacrosanctum Concilium #22 which states, "no...person, even if he be a priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority." In other words, for those who are guilty of doing this - stop it!

The words of the Mass have been carefully translated from the Latin original into a multitude of languages for a reason: to convey the same beliefs to all Catholics around the world. And when namby-pamby priests and the sheep they have led astray just change the words on a whim then that meaning is lost. As a result we begin to worship differently than our brothers in other parts of the world. If you want that then why do you want to be Catholic at all? I know I have asked that question in a different post and I will probably ask it many more times. It seems to make sense that if you want something different than what the Catholic Church is then why not just go somewhere else. On the other hand, you could stop trying to change what the Church is, and instead, become a part of it. Please, for your own sake and for the sake of your fellow Catholics, stop interjecting your own false opino.