Catholics return to confession focused on grace, not a get-out-of-hell-free card

The Lenten period for penance started this week with Ash Wednesday, and some Catholic priests are happily bracing for long lines outside the confessional. The faithful across the United States are embracing anew the sacrament that has shifted from embarrassing recitation of sin to cathartic quest for grace.

“They come to confession feeling as if they are terrible, but … they are displaying the fact that they want to be good,” said Father Patrick Gilger, a Jesuit priest in Chicago. “The fact that somebody shows up to confession is a lived act that they desire holiness.”