What better way to prepare for a special celebration of the Senior Week of the Catholic Church – the Holy Week – that fully reconciled with God? To that goal, the “marathons” of confessions that two important Mexican cathedrals organize during these Lent days.
This is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City and the nearby Cathedral of Puebla, two historic Catholic temples in the center of the country. In both cases, for a day, a large number of priests will be available for several hours to acquit the sins of the faithful.
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The idea of a marathon of confessions “is born of the desire to provide our community with a unique space of encounter with divine mercy, especially in this time of Lent, which invites us to spiritual conversion and renewal.” This is explained to ACI Press on Fr. Ángel de Jesús Cruz Saldaña, Vice Chancellor of the Cathedral of Puebla, about the event that will take place on the Archdiocese of Puebla on holy Monday, April 12, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm
It is in the case of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City a tradition of several years, especially in the times of Advent and Lent. This jubilee year dedicated to hope – in which you can obtain plenary indulgence -, the primacy archdiocese of Mexico decided to raise the bet: the “confessaton” will take place on the fourth Friday of each month throughout 2025. The appointment this month will be on Friday, March 28, from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm
It is an occasion, says Fr. Juan Carlos Guerrero, a penitentiary canon of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City, to deal with the fear that some experience the penitential sacrament. “There are people who even refer ‘I had not come to confess because I was afraid,’ when precisely reconciliation is to lose fear, that is, to get rid of all the images of God false, and meet again with the true God that Jesus announces us, which is a merciful presence that always awaits us.”
Each of these days of reconciliation, he acknowledges, “is an experience that always overwhelms us, because the people who go are numerous.”
“Realize that God loves them”
Fr. Guerrero indicated that “a good percentage of those who come” are people “who for different reasons of his life” have not confessed for years. “Most of the time it is not because they have not wanted, but because they have some impediment”, from those who have crossed various spiritual circumstances to those who have suffered from difficult diseases for years.
In many of these cases, he said, “they are people who come with an impressive inner disposition, that is, they yearn for inner peace, they yearn to approach the practice of faith.”
For the penitentiary canon – soured that has the faculty to absolve sins of utmost gravity, including desecrations -, it is important in pastoral work to help the baptized “to go from an experience of faith understood as a precept, that is, it is something that I must fulfill, to an experience of faith that is to realize that God loves them and that loves them much more than they imagined and that the love sins ”.
“That experience of free love of God who receives us, accepts us, forgives us, generally has an impact on the lives of people very important so that (…) decide to open the door to the Lord who is always there playing. So that is the experience we usually live there in Cathedral,” he said.
In that line, Fr. Ángel de Jesús Cruz Saldaña stressed the importance of “educating and sensitizing the community” about the importance of regular confession practice. “It is essential to integrate this sacrament into daily life, seeing it as a means to maintain a living and continuous relationship with God,” he said.
In the marathons of confession that have been organized before in the Cathedral of Puebla, he stressed that the response of the faithful “has been deeply encouraging and full of gratitude. Many have expressed how this space has allowed them to experience the peace and relief that God’s forgiveness brings, helping them to leave emotional and spiritual loads behind.”
“The reception has exceeded our expectations, strengthening the faith of the community and reaffirming our commitment to continue offering spaces for meeting, accompaniment and spiritual healing”; Indian.
“It’s not just receiving forgiveness”
Fr. Juan Carlos Guerrero said that the sacrament of reconciliation is not “a kind of magical space” to remove the faults of the faithful, but is used to “enable and put yourself again in the follow -up of Jesus. ”
“It is not only to receive forgiveness, but it is to become a witness to God’s love for other brothers who do not know him.”
“In fact, the stories we are reading of the Gospel these days constantly refer us to that, that Jesus has come not for the healthy, but by the sick. (…) And this is already like a first discovery that gives us confidence, isn’t it? The Lord does not come as a judge, but come to rise, to give us our hand, to (that we can) feel again children of God.”
David Ramos
Graduate in Communication Sciences by the Private University of the North in Trujillo, Peru. With more than 12 years of experience in Catholic journalism working in ACI Press, I am based in Mexico since 2018. I have covered the trips of Pope Francis to Ecuador, Paraguay, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Panama.