Catholic Life

2015-09-20 13.40.11

How many are the souls, in distress, anxiety or loneliness, whose one need is to find a being to whom they can pour out their feelings unheard by the world? Tell them out they must; they cannot tell them out to those whom they see every hour. They…wish to tell them to one who is strong enough to bear them, yet not too strong to despise them; they wish to tell them to one who can at once advise and can sympathize with them; they wish to relieve themselves of a load, to gain solace…If there is a heavenly idea in the Catholic Church, surely, next after the Blessed Sacrament, Confession is such.

 -Blessed John Henry Newman

Cream City Confessions | Milwaukee Catholic Life

An integral part of Milwaukee Catholic life is the availability of Confession. We hope that this information will make it easier to experience such a wonderful Sacrament. This information will be regularly updated, as confession times change, and as the confession times at other parishes are made known.

Blessed Sacrament Parish:

Saturday: 3:00PM

Christ King Parish:

Thursday 6:00-7:00PM; Saturday: 9:00AM

Church of the Gesu (Lower Church):

Monday – Friday: 11:30AM – 12:05 PM, 4:45 – 5:30PM

Holy Apostles Parish:

Saturday: 3:30 – 4:14PM

Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians at Holy Hill:

Monday – Saturday: 10:15AM; Saturday: 3:45PM; Sunday: 45 minutes before each Mass

Immaculate Conception Parish:

Saturday: 4:00PM

Sacred Heart Parish:

Saturday: 3:30PM

Old Saint Anthony Parish:

Thursday: 6:00 – 7:30PM; Saturday: 4:00PM – 6:00PM; Sunday 9:30AM & 11:30AM

Saint Bernard Parish:

Saturday: 3:15PM

Saint Dominic Parish:

Saturday: 3:30 – 4:00PM

Saint Gregory the Great Parish:

Saturday: 3:00PM

Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist:

Wednesday – Friday: 4:30 – 5:00PM (in Reconciliation Room in the Day Chapel)

Saint John Vianney:

Saturday: 8:30AM

In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance. 

-Saint Thomas Aquinas

Basilica of Saint Josaphat:

Saturday: 3:00PM; weekdays after 7:00AM Mass

Newman Center (UWM):

Monday & Tuesday: 3:00PM; Wednesday: 8:00PM

Old Saint Mary Parish:

Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 11:30am

Saint Margaret Mary Parish:

Tuesday & Thursday: 7:30AM; Tuesday – Friday: 12:00PM; Tuesday & Wednesday: 6:30PM; Thursday: 6:00PM; Saturday: 400PM; Sunday: 8:15AM & 10:15AM

Saint Mary’s Visitation Parish:

First Tuesday of the month: 6:15 – 6:45PM; Friday: 2:00 – 5:00; Saturday: 8:45 – 9:15AM

Saint Monica Parish:

Saturday: 8:30AM

Saint Patrick Parish/Our Lady of Guadalupe:

At Saint Patrick site, Saturday: 10:00 – 11:00AM

Saints Peter and Paul:

Saturday: 4:00 – 4:30PM

Saint Pius X Parish:

Saturday: 4:00 – 4:30PM

In the Sacrament of Penance, the simple confession of one’s guilt is presented with confidence in God’s merciful goodness. It is important to do this without falling into scruples, with the spirit of trust proper to the children of God. In this way confession can become an experience of deliverance, in which the weight of the past is removed from us and we feel rejuvenated by the merit of the grace of God, who each time gives back the youthfulness of the heart. 

-Pope Benedict XVI

Saturday: 3:30 – 4:00PM

Saint Sebastian Parish:

Saturday: 9:30AM

Saint Stanislaus Oratory:

30 minutes before every Mass

Saint Therese Parish:

First Saturday of the month 4:15 – 4:45PM

Saint Veronica Parish:

First and third Sunday of the month at 3:30PM before the 4:30PM Mass and every third Thursday following the 8:15AM Mass

Three Holy Women Parish:

Saturday: 3:30PM at Holy Rosary Parish

Queen of Apostles Parish:

Saturday: 4:00PM

One word best sums it up for us when it comes to confession: liberation. There is an indescribable encounter with authentic freedom that flows from this Sacrament, which makes perfect sense, as the worst form of slavery is the bondage of the soul to sin. Confession is an amazing gift given by Christ to His Church. Make good and frequent use of this Sacrament.

Props to those priests who generously avail themselves to the Milwaukee faithful for this vital Sacrament. You know who you are. Hopefully we’ll soon see others follow your great example. While preparing this rundown, we were pretty disappointed that so many parishes offer such scant times for confession, you know, like 30 minutes a week, or only “by appointment.” There’s no reason why much more time cannot be given to make this Sacrament more accessible.

Pope Francis recently observed, “Open the doors of the Church, and then the people will come in … if you keep the light on in the confessional and are available, then you will see what kind of line there is for confession.”

So, Milwaukee-area priests, please, be available, open up your churches, and turn on that light!

~ Jake, Adam, James

Blase Pascal

Blase Pascal

The Catholic religion does not oblige us to reveal our sins indiscriminately to everyone; it allows us to remain hidden from all other men, with one single exception, to whom it bids us reveal our innermost heart and show ourselves for what we are. There is only this one man in the world whom it orders us to disillusion, and it lays on him the obligation of inviolable secrecy, which means that he might as well not possess the knowledge of us that he has. Can anything milder and more charitable be imagined? And yet, such is man’s corruption that he finds even this law harsh, and this is one of the main reasons why a large part of Europe has revolted against the Church. 

Blaise Pascal on Confession, Pensée 978