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b'Today\\u2019s host(s): Scot Landry\\nToday\\u2019s guest(s): Fr. Michael Harrington\\nLinks from today\\u2019s show:\\n\\n\\n\\nToday\\u2019s topics: The Light Is On For You\\nSummary of today\\u2019s show: Lent is a time when we can hit the reset button on relationship with God, to start anew in the the spiritual life and confession is a perfect way to do that. During Lent, the Archdiocese offers the initiative The Light Is On For You in which every church and chapel will be open on Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30pm for confessions. Scot Landry and Fr. Michael Harrington discuss the beauty and joy of confession and look at some of the resources and reflectiosn available about the sacrament at TheLightIsOnForYou.org.\\n1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show and reminded Massachusetts listeners that today is an election day. He said that each Advent and Lent the Archdiocese of Boston offers The LIght Is On For You. He compared Lent to baseball\\u2019s spring training as a time to return to the fundamentals. Every Wednesday evening this Lent, every church and chapel will be open for confession.\\nScot welcomed Fr. Michael Harrington back to the show. He said the best confessors are those who frequent the sacrament themselves. Fr. Mike said the sacrament is one of the gifts for him personally and to the whole Church. It is an expression of God\\u2019s merciful love.\\nScot began the show with the words of Bishop Robert Hennessey as he launched The Light Is On For You this Lent.\\n\\nHello. I\\u2019m Bishop Robert Hennessey. Cardinal Sean O\\u2019Malley asked me to lead an important initiative to encourage Catholics to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This initiative is called \\u201cThe Light is On For YOU.\\u201d Each Wednesday evening this Lent, from 6:30-8:00pm, the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston are going to be opening EVERY church and chapel to welcome back Catholics to the sacrament of confession. Jesus once said, \\u201cHeaven rejoices more for one repentant sinner, than for 99 that never needed to repent.\\u201d Every time someone returns to the sacrament of confession, heaven celebrates and that unbelievable experience of joy becomes ours when we\\u2019re forgiven.\\nIn Jesus\\u2019 great parable of the Prodigal Son, we see how much the father rejoices at his child\\u2019s return home. The father runs out to greet him, restores him to his full dignity as an heir, and exclaims, \\u201cMy child was lost and has been found. He was dead, but has come back to life again.\\u201d This great story describes what happens in the sacrament of confession. The sacrament is God\\u2019s great lost and found department for his sons and daughters. We find ourselves enveloped in God\\u2019s love. We experience the full measure of Jesus\\u2019 resurrection. We who are dead to sin are brought back to life again.\\n\\nScot said too often Catholics view confession as the judgmental face of God on our sins. Bishop Henessey tries to change that image by looking at God as the shepherd who rejoices in finding the lost sheep or the loving father who welcomes home the prodigal son.That\\u2019s how God rejoices in heaven when we return to his loving arms.\\nFr. Mike said he gave a talk a few years ago to parents of second graders about to receive the sacrament of first confession. A teacher approached him later and said that most of the parents had the image of the judgmental God and the priests would be harsh in the confessional. Fr. Mike told her that they were projecting an image that is no longer there. He doesn\\u2019t find that image in confession any more. There is great care taken today by priests to express the Father\\u2019s love and that\\u2019s what the children when encounter when they go to confession. Perhaps a lot of these parents hadn\\u2019t been to confession in a long time and were projecting a stereotype.\\nScot said going to confession, you could be preoccupied with many other things, but we should focus first on the loving face of God. Fr. Mike said if the priest acknowledges we are sinners, he is not being judgmental. We acknowledge our sinfulness in the Hail Mary. We do so in order to open ourselves to the love of the father.\\nNow continuing with Bishop Hennessey\\u2019s address:\\n\\nOne of the great joys of being a priest is being God\\u2019s instrument to reconcile one of His children to Him through the sacrament of confession. The priest sees the tremendous joy and relief that people experience in being freed from their sins. Confession is one of our greatest gifts from God. I go to confession frequently myself, not only to confess what I\\u2019ve done wrong, but also to receive the grace to become a better disciple, a better priest, a better bishop. I\\u2019m a sinner and I need God\\u2019s grace.\\nConfession gives us a chance to start over, to hit the reset button of our lives. It shows how forgiving and kind our God is and it helps us grow in compassion and love for others. Come to confession to receive God\\u2019s mercy, for peace of mind, to deepen your friendship with Jesus, to receive spiritual healing, to increase your sense of joy, and to experience Christ\\u2019s saving grace.\\nIf you say it\\u2019s been too long, or God couldn\\u2019t possibly forgive me, you\\u2019re wrong. God\\u2019s love for you is greater than all the sins you\\u2019ve committed or could commit. Now is the time to come and have God take away the burdens of sin and guilt that can so often weigh us down.\\n\\nScot said Bishop Hennessey says it\\u2019s one of the greatest joys in being a priest to see the joy of the penitent in being forgiven and experiencing God\\u2019s love. Fr. Mike agreed a lot of people think God wouldn\\u2019t forgive them. He\\u2019s heard confession in prisons and in juvenile delinquent homes. He often heard that God could never forgiven them for what they had done, especially young 16 and 17-year-olds. He said, of course, God could forgive them. When they said God couldn\\u2019t possibly forgive them, Fr. Mike challenged them that they are not greater than God. God\\u2019s mercy is greater than any sin you can commit.\\nScot said too often we project human reactions and expectations on God. Fr. Mike said God offers us a chance to begin again, to start over. Scot asked who wouldn\\u2019t want peace of mind, friendship with Jesus, healing, and joy? Fr. Mike said he\\u2019s heard many people who said the high point of their spiritual conversion was the moment of going to confession.\\n\\nJesus came to the world to save each one of us. He loves you so much and wants to help you now with whatever issues you face. He wants to fill you with joy, love and freedom. Every priest in every Church and Chapel in the Archdiocese of Boston will be waiting to welcome you. Please see to it that we are busy \\u2013 share this message with family and friends by inviting them to come with you on any Wednesday evening of Lent, from 6:30-8:00pm. If you\\u2019ve been waiting for a sign to return to the Church or to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this is your chance to reestablish and strengthen a relationship with God that will last forever. Please visit to learn more. Thank you and God bless you.\\n\\nScot said Bishop Hennessey said Jesus came to save each of us individually. He loves us so much that he wants to help us with whatever issues we face. Fr. Mike said when Jesus said Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, he meant those words for each and every person. If you were the only person on earth, Jesus would have died for you. Fr. Mike says in talks in parishes that God knows you, loves you, and calls each of you by name.\\nScot said he hears stories about confessions on Wednesdays that are scheduled to end at 8:30 and go on until 10pm.\\nScot and Fr. Mike played a message from Father Robert Reed, president of the CatholicTV network, on confession.\\n\\nScot said he was shocked when he first heard this message at how powerful this message was, saying that confession literally saved his life. He recommended everyone go to The Light Is On For you, click on the videos link, and recommend the video of Fr. Reed to friends and family to show them a priest who would hear their confessions not judgmentally.\\nScot introduced a humorous video from Matt Weber about going to confession.\\n\\nScot said it\\u2019s a truly funny story about why he goes to confession face to face instead of behind the screen. Fr. Mike said those are the two types of people, but what\\u2019s important is that you go. But what\\u2019s true is you always feel so much better after confession. He talked about how he can usually guess how nervous the people coming into confession are and how much he wants to express God\\u2019s love for you. Scot quoted Matt: \\u201cIt\\u2019s the best feeling in the world being liberated from sin.\\u201d Fr. Mike said the greatest experience is hearing confessions at World Youth Days or major youth events, hearing confessions of young people for four or five hours at a time. Given the opportunity and understanding of the sacrament, young people want to make use of it.\\nScot recounted the story of his daughter who went to first confession in January and will have her first communion on Saturday and how even she wants to avoid going to confess to a priest she knows.\\nScot recommended website and smartphone app to help you find a church to go to for confession, especially if you want to find one on your commute home.\\nAlso on The Light Is On For You website is a video that explains How to Go to Confession:\\n\\nScot said it\\u2019s humorous and was aimed at a young adult audience. Fr. Mike pointed out that if you are unsure in the confessional, every priest will walk you through the examination of conscience or the exact ritual for confession. The priest is there to help you in your particular needs, making you feel comfortable. Scot said he often hears people ask what happens if they forget to confess a sin. Fr. Mike said we do the best we can. We try to bring forward everything we can remember, but if we forget it honestly then it is taken up by God. Scot said he ends his confessions by saying, \\u201cFor those confessions and any I can\\u2019t remember\\u2026\\u201d\\nFr. Mike said the first step in the video is developing a good conscience. He said it is important for parents to help children develop a good conscience.\\nScot said some people don\\u2019t go to confession, don\\u2019t want to confess sexual sins. He said some priests say that it might be easier to say it in a less embarrassing way like \\u201cI\\u2019ve had impure thoughts\\u201d without going into detail about it exactly.\\nOn the Act of Contrition, Fr. Mike said the priest will help the penitent and the person can even just offer a personal heartfelt act of sorrow in their own words. He said the most beautiful acts of contrition have been that sort.\\nThe priest then says the prayer of absolution. Fr. Mike recited it and said it was one of the most beautiful prayers he prays:\\n\\nGod the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of your son, has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the church, may God grant you pardon and peace. And I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.\\n\\nLast year during Lent we saw on TV the advertisements from the Catholics Come Home initiative, including this one:\\n\\nScot said the message in this commercial goes back to the idea of hitting the reset button in Lent. God gives us a chance to get back in his loving embrace again today. Fr. Mike said one of the reasons he loves to administer the sacrament is how much he needs it himself. Scot said he loves that the commercial talks of life with God as an adventure.'