Confessing to sins online

Websites where visitors can confess sins are reportedly becoming more popular in a society that has moved away from traditional modes of confession, such as one-on-one meetings with priests. Sites such as IveScrewedUp.com, DailyConfession.com and absolution-online.com reportedly offer ways for sinners to confess. At the same time, online confession sites reportedly give churches a vehicle to get people in contact with faith. What do you think of these new cyber-hubs for confession? Do they bring people closer to religion?

God could have communicated with the human family in any way he desired, but “in the fullness of time, he sent his only begotten Son.” God communicated to the human family in human flesh, that of Jesus his Son.

The Catholic Church has a deep respect that the Incarnation of the Son of God is continued in the flesh of his Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. The sacraments of the Church, including confession, rely on human contact. We take to heart the words of Jesus: “Where two or more are gathered in my name, I am present in their midst.”

There is no substitute for human presence, especially in the context of community. Throughout Jesus’ public ministry, it was his human touch that brought healing to those he encountered.

Hasn’t the world become impersonal enough? Often when we call a business we get an automated voice and menu. More and more, we are encouraged to engage in commerce online whether ordering flowers, refilling prescriptions or making hotel reservations. There is something completely Orwellian about moving toward a world where we have no more human contact but through the medium of modern technology conduct all our affairs.

The Internet can be a wonderful resource for information, instructing church members of its theology, for example. It can never, though, take the place of human touch communicated in the presence of the divine.

FATHER PAUL J. HRUBY

Pastor

Church of the Incarnation

Glendale

When the Israelites were carted off to Babylon after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C., some of them wondered, “Can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” Some of them sat down and wept by the rivers of Babylon — but during that trying time in Jewish history, the synagogue was born.