Occupy...a confessional near you

Unfair! About 25 percent of Catholics seem to have more graces than the rest, according to latest data.

Are you listening, Catholic majority? Well, are you just going to sit on your sofas? Claim you’re too busy with the holiday rush? Give in to unwarranted fears?

We say it’s time for action. And Advent is the perfect time to do something about it.

You see, we know exactly where many of these minority Catholics will be in the coming days. At church. In the confessional or a reconciliation room. Obtaining forgiveness, peace, and grace they know darn well was earned by someone else.

Unfair!

So let’s do it. Let’s occupy the confessional. In numbers that will make a pastor’s head spin.

Here’s the plan. Find out your parish’s confession schedule. (Many will be having expanded times in the coming days.) Then not only show up yourself, but organize a veritable forgiveness flash mob of fellow Catholics -- active or inactive -- in your community. Why stop there? Share this challenge broadly on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

You might want to tell your friends and family that only 2 percent of Catholics across all generations reportedly participate in the sacrament of reconciliation once a month or more, 12 percent do so several times a year, and another 12 percent seek it once a year.

What’s fair about that? What about the other 74 percent? Why should a minority get extra spiritual healing and renewal?

Do something about it. Occupy a confessional near you. Set everything right, and take a step toward everyone's ultimate goal of "occupying" heaven. -- Thomas J. Dermody