College students finding ways to go to confession

To fight the uneasiness many collegians feel when talking about their sins to a priest who may be anyone from a complete stranger to a friend of the family, some students are finding refuge in tradition -- or seeking out new ways to put them at ease:

* Ashley Baker, a junior at Oneonta State, likes speaking with a priest in the anonymous safety of a traditional confessional. Even though she was taught that Reconciliation shouldn't be a frightening experience and that "you shouldn't be scared to go," nervousness surrounding face-to-face confession still crops up when she thinks about the subject.

"I get nervous when I see a priest's reaction to what I'm saying," she said. "It makes me uncomfortable. I start to think that he might be judging me. Not that he would, but my mind starts to wander."

One thing that helps her muster the courage to go is seeing other people her age pull priests aside after Mass at St. Mary's Church in Oneonta to set up an appointment for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

"Because of that, I've become a lot more open to Reconciliation. I think that as we get into college, more of us are taking faith into our own hands and deciding where to go," she said. "More of us are thinking about how important the sacrament is."

* For Eva-Marie Schwebel, a student at Sage College in Albany, unpleasant memories of childhood confessions kept her from participating in the sacrament in the past.

"It was a scary thing," she said, recalling classmates' tales and old films. "In the movies, you'd always see this dark, dim little box, and everyone talked about it as being this horrible, horrible thing. I guess I didn't go because of fear."

Now, when she goes, she speaks face-to-face with a priest she trusts. "He and I just sit down in a room and talk, which I think is much nicer," she explained.

* Hartwick physics major Erica Schaefer had a "bad experience" that, in part, eroded her trust in the Sacrament of Penance. Two years ago, she went to a priest who later informed a friend of hers that he did not think she was sincere in her confession.

While she calls the experience a "fluke" and says that she has not run into similar behavior since, the priest's actions left an impression on her. Still, she said that the sacrament remains important to her faith.

"It opens up a lot of things for you. I think that if others knew what kind of possibilities it has, they would start to go, too," she explained.

* Oneonta State junior Matt Houle, who tries to receive the sacrament monthly, prefers the confessional. While he values the one-on-one interaction that comes with talking to a priest, he feels embarrassed in a face-to-face situation. For him, a confessional has become a happy medium.

"It's a wonderful thing to be able to confess your sins and know that you're forgiven," he said. "A lot of people don't realize that it's not just confessing your sins, but it's reconciling yourself with God, repairing that relationship. Sometimes, people go in not knowing if they're really sorry and treat it nonchalantly. Sometimes, I'm included in that. But you really have to be sorry for your sins to be forgiven."

(5/15/03) [[In-content Ad]]