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While recent studies have shown a significant decline in the number of people who regularly celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, there is another side to the story. Church leaders are trying to address these results, and it appears that something is beginning to change for the better.
In Lent of 2007, the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, initiated a program called “The Light Is on for You.” Through billboards on busy streets, posters in buses and subways, and notices in parish bulletins, Archbishop Donald Wuerl announced that every church throughout the archdiocese would be open for Confession for at least an hour and a half every Wednesday in Lent.
It was a bit of a risk. What if nobody came? What if all the priests ended up sitting in empty confessionals all evening long? What if only one or two “regular penitents” came, but no one else?
Fortunately, the program was a success. People who had been away from Confession for many years—as well as people who had been away from the Lord—found a warm welcome as they came back and unburdened themselves. Parents whose weekends…
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